Sovereignty in the digital era: the quest for continuous access to dependable technological capabilities

Abstract: In an era where economies and societies are deeply integrated into cyberspace, achieving a robust level of digital sovereignty has become an essential goal for nations aiming to preserve their security and strategic political autonomy, particularly during turbulent geopolitical times marked by complex global supply chains of critical technologies that ties systemic rivals. Digital sovereignty is a multifaceted, interdisciplinary, and dynamic pursuit that fundamentally relies on a nation's ability to have continuous access to dependable technological capabilities (CTCs) for storing, transferring, and processing domestically produced data. This paper identifies how access continuity or technological dependability could be threatened by several malicious actions from cyberattacks, supply chain tamperings, political or economic actions. By examining different approaches adopted by countries like the United States, China, and the European Union, we highlight different strategies to get access to CTCs depending on their political, economic and institutional nature.