In our current webinar, we dive deep into a topic that is not only technically but also politically and economically explosive: digital sovereignty in the context of Artificial Intelligence. Central questions were examined, such as how European companies can master the start of AI implementation and what role cloud strategies, compliance requirements, and new EU initiatives play.
Part 1: Technical Overview by Tobias Jonas
A core topic of the first part was the role of digital sovereignty. It was made clear how important it is to maintain control over digital data and infrastructures. The global dependence on US American and Chinese providers also played a central role. The presentation highlighted not only current market participants but also exciting initiatives like the STACKIT Cloud, which emerges as a European solution from one of the largest retail groups.
Additionally, challenges regarding the European AI model landscape were addressed. While global models like GPT-4 or Google Gemini set impressive standards, Europe currently lacks comparable “state-of-the-art” Foundation Models – a circumstance that must also be addressed in the future with concrete investments and strategic alliances.
The first part was rounded off by an outlook on previous and future initiatives: from dedicated AI campus projects to government funding programs to building own infrastructures. The question always looms: how can Europe translate its high innovation and engineering competencies into sustainable competitive advantages.
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Part 2: Legal Classification by Andreas Noerr
In the second part of our webinar, we dedicated ourselves to the legal foundation of digital sovereignty. Andreas Noerr, founder and partner at innFactory AI and specialist attorney for IT law, took us on a detailed journey into the legal aspects associated with modern cloud solutions and international legislation.
Andreas began with a practical example that illustrates how international political decisions – such as Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court – can have direct effects on access to IT services. He explained how Executive Orders in the USA, but also legal instruments like the Cloud Act, can force companies to disclose data even when stored in European data centers – a clear contradiction to GDPR and the desired digital autonomy.
A central topic of the presentation was the extremely high proportion of US products in the German market, particularly the dominant use of Microsoft 365 and other cloud services. Andreas illustrated what scenarios could occur if these services – for example, through short-term outages or political decisions – suddenly became unavailable. Alternative approaches were also discussed, such as using open-source solutions (for example LibreOffice or OpenDesk) as well as government-funded initiatives aimed at creating sovereign European IT infrastructures.
It also became clear that digital sovereignty means much more than just technical independence – it also encompasses data protection, clear usage rights, and ensuring that national interests are not undermined by external actors. Andreas discussed practically how data processing agreements and storing data within the EU can help maintain control. He also addressed future challenges associated with the progressive cloud migration of large companies and authorities, highlighting how important it is to create alternative strategies and a solid legal foundation.
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Want to learn more about STACKIT and other hyperscalers? innFactory has been an official STACKIT partner since December 1, 2024. All information about Company GPT can be found at: https://company-gpt.com