What Is Digital Sovereignty?

Digital sovereignty refers to the ability of a state, a company or an organization to control its own data, digital infrastructures, software, and information flows — in other words, to maintain control over "its digital space". In other words, it's not just about hosting data: it's about ensuring that this data, its processing, its storage, and the associated technologies remain under legal, technical, and strategic control. More formally, digital sovereignty is understood as an issue of technological freedom, strategic autonomy, protection of sensitive data, and control over infrastructures.

Why It's Crucial Today

1. A Context of Technological Dependence

Across the European Union, major cloud platforms are dominated by non-European players. Concretely, American providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud currently hold around 69% of the cloud infrastructure market in Europe. European providers (such as OVHcloud or Deutsche Telekom) represent only about 13%. According to a European Parliament study conducted in 2020, 92% of the data produced in the Western world is hosted in the United States, in infrastructures owned by foreign technology giants. This dependence poses a double risk: on one hand, a loss of legal control (foreign laws, data extraction, non-European regulations), and on the other hand, a strategic vulnerability, especially for sensitive sectors such as healthcare, defense, or public administration.

2. The Challenge of Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Amid growing threats (cyberattacks, espionage, extraterritorial laws such as the CLOUD Act), digital sovereignty becomes an essential lever for guaranteeing the confidentiality, integrity, and security of sensitive data. Furthermore, for states or sensitive organizations (governments, legal sector, energy…), relying on sovereign solutions — sovereign hosting, encryption, traceability — is no longer a luxury but a strategic necessity.

3. An Emerging Trend: Toward Sovereign Cloud

The transition toward sovereign cloud is gaining momentum in Europe. According to a recent study, 84% of European companies using cloud technologies have already launched or are considering a sovereign cloud project. This shift is supported by European states, which are implementing policies to strengthen digital sovereignty and develop local alternatives to infrastructures dominated by American giants. The recent Digital Sovereignty Summit in Germany reinforced this collective ambition among European states to strengthen their position against foreign technological dominance. Digital sovereignty is becoming not only a political and regulatory issue, but also a strategic lever for innovation and competitiveness among European companies, which are now contributing to the construction of a sovereign digital ecosystem.

Europe's Structural Challenges

1. A Massive Investment Gap

The investment gap between the European Union and the United States in cloud infrastructures and digital technologies remains significant. According to an ECIPE study, the gap reached nearly 1.36 trillion dollars in ICT and cloud computing investments between 2005 and 2022. This gap, although considerable, does not condemn Europe to inaction. By taking appropriate measures and increasing investments in digital infrastructures, the European Union could rapidly reduce this delay. By leveraging its strengths, Europe has the means to reinforce its sovereign digital ecosystem, catch up, and also establish sustainable digital competitiveness while ensuring strategic autonomy in essential sectors.

2. A Complex Implementation

Ensuring digital sovereignty is not limited to hosting servers in Europe. The entire chain must be considered: infrastructure, hosting, data processing, protection, flow control, software, identity, compliance. But many actors continue to use "external" solutions (American cloud, non-European SaaS, etc.), which weakens the entire sovereignty framework.

How to Guarantee the Sovereignty of Your Data?

In this context of digital sovereignty, the DIV Protocol drive offers a simple and effective response to the challenges faced by companies. Here's how:

• Secure sensitive data: Thanks to our innovative protocol, we ensure optimal data protection while complying with the strictest security standards and European legislation.

• Build user trust: We implement transparent, ethical solutions that comply with current regulations, thereby strengthening the trust of your clients and partners.

• Reduce dependence: By offering you a sovereign and local solution, you free yourself from risks linked to foreign players and ensure the resilience of your systems in the face of external changes.

With DIV Protocol, you benefit not only from enhanced digital sovereignty, but also from cutting-edge technology designed to meet the current challenges of the market.