Digital Sovereignty Proving Elusive for Large Organizations
AI-generated image · US National Wire
New research suggests most firms are abandoning hopes of total tech independence in favor of 'resilient interdependence.'
The goal of complete digital sovereignty—the ability to control data, software, and infrastructure—is increasingly viewed as an impractical target for large-scale organizations, as The Register first reported. According to research from Capgemini, 59% of surveyed organizations now consider total technological independence to be unrealistic.
Instead of full autonomy, two-thirds of respondents are adopting a strategy Capgemini describes as "resilient interdependence." This approach involves accepting a continued reliance on external technology providers while attempting to ensure those dependencies do not jeopardize critical operations. This shift is particularly evident among European respondents, 75% of whom define sovereignty through this lens, compared to 50% in the US. In the UK, 56% of respondents associate sovereignty primarily with risk mitigation and resilience.
The difficulty in achieving independence stems from deeply integrated supply chains. Capgemini's Digital Sovereignty Index, which analyzed 866 organizations, found that 86% have significant exposure to externally controlled or foreign supply chains. Furthermore, only 14% of organizations reported having end-to-end visibility into the dependencies within their technology ecosystems.
Exiting these partnerships is often a slow or impossible process. Capgemini's survey of 1,300 executives from government departments and companies with annual revenues or budgets exceeding $1 billion revealed that 36% of organizations would take over a year to move away from a critical provider. Most concerningly, 10% of respondents stated they have no viable alternative to their current critical providers.
Despite these hurdles, the issue remains a priority for leadership; 93% of respondents noted that digital sovereignty has been discussed at the board level, and 44% rank it as a top priority. AI has emerged as a primary focus for these efforts, surpassing data, software, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure.