Six building blocks for a digitally sovereign Europe
The majority of digital
infrastructures, platforms, applications and services used in Europe come from
companies based in the USA. So how can the region break free from this
dependency? VNC, a leading developer of open-source enterprise applications,
outlines the basic foundations for digital sovereignty.
Digitalization offers enormous
economic and social opportunities, but Europe is still dependent on the United
States in many respects. Technology companies in the US have long since
achieved a level of market power that enables them to drive development in
their own interests and dictate the framework conditions. European companies
are barely able to compete, and European countries are having a hard time
enforcing their rules and values – in everything from data protection to
interoperability. In order for Europe to become digitally sovereign and make
self-determined decisions about the design and use of systems as well as the
use of the data generated, VNC believes that a number of crucial changes must
be introduced:
- Secure European infrastructure: Europe needs high-performance, high-availability and
secure data centers in order to break free from US dependency. An
initiative that drives forward the construction of new data centers or
certifies existing ones in accordance with European standards would be
ideal. This infrastructure would then also form the basis for a European
cloud platform, because in the future, the cloud will be indispensable.
Although the construction of data centers requires large investments, it
is also the least technically demanding step on the way to digital
sovereignty.
- An open-source cloud platform:The next step should be to provide an alternative to
the hyperscalers through an open-source cloud platform. The technologies
for this – such as Kubernetes on operating systems from Red Hat or Ubuntu
– already exist, and would allow Europe to develop an equivalent, if not
superior, cloud that is protected and certified according to European
standards, thus making it easier to build hybrid cloud environments.
- An ecosystem of open-source applications: Europe needs modern applications or, even better, application
suites that offer a high level of security and data protection and allow
seamless integration thanks to open source. Since there is no way around
the cloud, every application must actually be cloud-enabled by default and
run on browsers of various end devices without plug-ins. Such a software
ecosystem also must include platform technologies such as cloud databases
and cloud storage. In a perfect world, the SaaS applications could also be
operated in a protected instance for a single company if desired – as a
kind of dedicated SaaS.
- Incentives for investments and sponsorships: Extensive investments are necessary to build new data
centers, develop cloud platforms and create an extensive software
ecosystem. In addition to subsidy programs, tax breaks and better
write-off options would provide investment incentives. Similarly,
sponsorships can help many young companies by providing data center
operators with infrastructure in exchange for their participation.
- Attractive jobs: Europe
needs highly attractive IT jobs to prevent brain drain – the migration of
the doubtless already existing experts to other areas – and to inspire
even more young people to take up IT professions. There are plenty of
interesting jobs in software development and DevOps, data center and
infrastructure management, consulting and IT project management, but
companies also need to say goodbye to antiquated management styles,
support agile working methods and be more flexible, for example by
offering work from home options. A lot has changed in this area in recent
months, albeit not always entirely voluntarily.
- Equal opportunities: Europe
can only achieve digital sovereignty if the preference for closed source
ends and equal opportunities are created for open source. Currently, major
contracts are awarded to the big players in the software industry,
sometimes without a call for tenders, which leads to pseudo-standards that
establish themselves through great market power and further increase the
dependence on individual providers. Europe needs transparent contract
awards with a free flow of communication instead of agreements behind
closed doors. And why can’t public authorities serve as a role model and
generally rely on European or open-source solutions? There are so many
innovative European providers that are often ignored – especially
concerning funding, which is mostly focused on the top players and must be
made much more technology agnostic.
„Currently, the digital world is
dominated by large US corporations, whose market power continues unabated
despite European efforts for digital sovereignty. This market power is
increasing even now – with every search, every purchase and every like,”
explains Andrea Wörrlein, managing director of VNC in Berlin, Germany, and
member of the Board of VNC AG in Zug, Switzerland. “This will only change if
Europe builds its own secure and trustworthy infrastructures and platforms with
a high proportion of European technology and software. For this to happen,
however, the framework conditions must be sound, and innovative and
uncompromised open-source based solutions must be strengthened – and perhaps US
technology corporations shouldn’t immediately be brought on board for every
initiative, if we actually want to become less dependent on them.“
Source: VNC media announcement
