Much recent discussion has centred on promoting “digital sovereignty” in order to achieve strategic autonomy over how and where personal data is processed in Europe. While the context of digital sovereignty is broader than data protection, having in fact a geopolitical dimension, is it, however, somehow also a consequence insufficient enforcement of the GDPR? Or is it a way of reframing a solution to our current issues? Why is it that we are striving for digital sovereignty as a norm that we should promote in our online data processing environment? Is digital sovereignty based on the same hope that existed around the draft GDPR proposal: to bring big tech into compliance and a ensure level playing field in the European Union?

The panel will also explore what lies at the crux of our promotion of digital sovereignty: is it issues associated with technological dependency on certain infrastructure and services, does it perhaps have to do with vendor lock-in? In other words, why are we turning to digital sovereignty as something to promote, and what are we implicitly hoping it will bring? And who benefits from ‘achieving’ digital sovereignty?