If Europe doesn't tackle data sovereignty it risks being left behind

Back in 2006, the mathematician Clive Humby declared that “data is the new oil” pointing to the huge value that lies in its potential. Today that assertion feels almost like an underestimation! We live in a digital world – data powers our innovations, sustains our value chains, shapes our politics, and informs our sustainability plans.

?However, this value can only be realized insofar we can trust and control that data. And too often, we can’t. Cyber-attacks are an obvious and persistent risk; ranked yet again as the top concern in this year’s Allianz Risk Barometer selected by more than a third of all respondents globally.

But on top of this, increasing protectionism threatens to fragment global communications networks, with troubling consequences. If I run a business in Germany and my data is being held in the US, how can I be sure that US policy changes won’t impact my ability to access it? How can I be confident it will be protected to the standards I need?

?Therefore, for Europe to thrive in this digital future, we need to have control of the data that will underpin that success. This is what stands at the heart of the European Parliament 's digital sovereignty agenda, defined as an “ability to act independently in the digital world”.

?But what does this mean in practice? Let’s take a closer look at two sides of the data coin: connectivity and storage.

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Data connectivity and collection

For millennia, wars have been fought to control vital trade routes like sea roads or mountain passes. The routes are now digital, but the battles continue: witness US attempts to block Chinese undersea cable development, which they fear could pose espionage risks ( Financial Times ).

?And those routes continue to evolve. For example, in the laudable push to bring connectivity to every corner of the world and fill out the digital white spaces on the global connectivity map, we are seeing a historic boom in the installation of new satellite constellations – in 2022 alone, the number of operational satellites grew by 45% (thanks to my colleague @David Ziegler for that stat!).

?This is a great development. But the question for businesses who rely on the steady flow of data through these orbital networks is this: can access to and security of our data be assured if those constellations are owned by individuals or states whose goals may not always align with ours??

?The European Commission ’s IRIS satellite project aims to address some of this. By 2027, it intends to provide secure, sovereign, and high-speed networking for EU member state governments, helping those governments address key strategic needs, and build union-wide digital resilience.

Data storage

Did you know that 92% of all data generated in the Western World currently resides in US-based centers ( Oliver Wyman )? That’s a pretty significant hurdle if you want greater sovereignty over data storage and processing! It’s why we are seeing growing public and private sector demand for sovereign cloud.

This is what European policymakers are looking to provide. And along with initiatives like the European Data Act, or the European Cyber Solidarity Act, one particularly relevant proposal is the France’s high-security #SecNumCloud certification, which aims to define and authenticate sovereign cloud operations.

?I’d also like to mention the work of @Dassault Systèmes in supporting this agenda. Our OUTSCALE brand has become the strategic, sovereign cloud partner for governments and companies across multiple industries, while the collaborative NUMSPOT project will provide full stack sovereign cloud services to sensitive sectors like finance, healthcare, and governance.

?Both of these solutions are also being applied in providing a sovereign defense cloud through which Dassault Aviation is working to securely develop a next-generation European fighter plane program; a perfect example of the kind of project where working in a secure and trusted data environment is of paramount importance.

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Towards a sovereign future

The stakes are high, and I do not believe we can afford to wait. We are not without resources in Europe: we are the second largest investor in R&D in the world, and 41% of our 25-to-34-year-olds hold a secondary degree (@Eurostat). Yet too many of our best and most qualified students are taking lucrative and glamorous tech jobs in the US. And while governments and businesses are taking this seriously –?a focus on digital sovereignty has been a feature of multiple national strategies in France, Germany, Italy and the UK?– we need much more.

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The future of growth, of security, and of innovation rests in data. If Europe cannot build a trusted and secure data framework, within which we can innovate around the transformations of tomorrow –?from quantum computing to generative #AI to the industrial #metaverse – then Europe’s role in that future remains uncertain.?

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