World Economic Forum 2025
Digital sovereignty, cyber sovereignty, technological sovereignty and data
sovereignty refer to the ability to have control over your own digital destiny – the
data, hardware and software that you rely on and create.
Or, as the Center for Africa-Europe Relations puts it: the physical layer
(infrastructure, technology), the code layer (standards, rules and design) and the
data layer (ownership, flows and use).
Digital sovereignty goes beyond technology and data regulation to include fostering entrepreneurship and funding innovation.
But countries have different approaches around governance – and this has
increased geopolitical competition between the US, China and the EU.