Roundtable: Demystifying European Digital Sovereignty

Demystifying European Digital Sovereignty
July 12 – 13:00 / 14:30 C.E.T.

The concept of “sovereignty” (either regarding data or technology), side by side with the notions of “strategic autonomy” or “trust”, has been a key driver for EU digital policies since the end of 2019.

However, there is no “one-size-fits-all” definition for this term: widely diverging understandings persist throughout Europe depending on national traditions, industrial supply chain positioning or business interests.

Also, we have often been able to observe (with regret) that it is not easy to set up Europe-wide discussions on this matter. Since viewpoints frequently diverge from one part of Europe to the other, this situation frequently leads to polarized positions, with the risk of misperceptions due to a lack of understanding about the positions, challenges and constraints European tech players may be experiencing.

Join us for a dynamic and open discussion around the meaning and implications of the notion of European sovereignty in today’s digital world. This panel of experts will join us virtually from all over Europe to give their insight:

• Yann Lechelle, CEO of Scaleway
• Bert Hubert, co-founder of PowerDNS
• Erja Turunen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, GAIA-X board member
• Peter Ganten, entrepreneur, Chairman of the German industry association for digital sovereignty, board member, European
• Open Source Software Business Association
• The roundtable will be moderated by Mr. Chris O’ Brien, European Correspondent at Forbes.

Let’s get ready to take on this complex topic together!