Mattias Åström casts his gaze out of the office window in France. "Admire the stunning roads and bridges," says the founder and CEO of Evroc.
You can observe the construction of hundreds of years ago. At the same time, we are allowing foreign businesses to construct our essential infrastructure.
He is referring to digital infrastructure, which includes the hardware, software, data centres, and networks necessary to enable contemporary commerce.
Worries about digital sovereignty in Europe, or the region's capability to manage its own data and technology, are increasing.
An illustration of this is that Europe is largely dependent on firms from the US for cloud services, which are mostly controlled by American businesses like Amazon and Microsoft.
Storing European customers' data in a US cloud service can potentially lead to legal issues, as the laws in each region may be in conflict.
Organisations within the European Union must ensure the protection of personal data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the United Kingdom has in place equivalent laws for data security.
At the same time, US laws grant intelligence and law-enforcement services broad authority to access data.
The May ruling signified the acuteness of the conflict, with Facebook being penalised an enormous €1.2bn (£1bn) for failing to have proper protections in place for the exchange of data from the EU to the US.
Mr Åström states that American authorities possess the authority to examine any information situated in an American cloud, regardless of whether the data centre is based in Europe.
It is not desired that any non-European countries gain access to data saved by European clients or businesses.
Åström is the originator and head of Evroc, based in Stockholm.
The company is confident that they can construct what could be known as the first sovereign hyperscale cloud in Europe.
That indicates it falls completely under the dominion of European legal norms, and it's large enough to compete with the important American cloud suppliers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft and Google. According to Synergy Research Group, they collectively control 65% of the worldwide cloud marketplace.
Evroc has obtained €15m in seed funding and intends to construct eight data centres in Europe over the course of the next five years. The principal of these will be a sizeable trial data centre in Sweden next year.
Åström views being free from American technological control as a fundamental component of digital autonomy.
He states, "The US has restricted the export of certain items to China. So what would occur if a dispute surfaced between China and Taiwan and computing power became scarce? Would the US prioritize its own interests or those of its European counterparts?"
Ionos, a cloud computing company, has presented itself as the European option as opposed to American tech giants, outside of the jurisdiction of the US Cloud Act.
The law permits US authorities to access servers owned by US cloud companies, regardless of their geographical location.
Ionos designs and builds all its software in Europe, and their European servers are not connected to those in the US.
"Establishing trust is essential," Straeter emphasizes. "Do we really believe that the Cloud Act will have an effect on the operations of nearby small businesses? We can't say for sure. This uncertainty brings us some uneasiness."
A spokesperson for Amazon Web Services commented that between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2022, no data requests necessitating the release of information saved outside the US to the US government were made.
The firm additionally declared: "AWS will oppose any demand from a law enforcement agency for customer data from any governmental body if the request is in disagreement with EU law, too wide-reaching, or we have any valid grounds to do so."
Despite this, European companies remain committed to developing competing cloud services.
Ionos is among the 377 entities involved in the Gaia-X endeavor, with a goal of connecting cloud service providers through a federated system, enabling the transfer of data while those who own that data maintain control.
Mr Straeter declares that European providers cannot construct the means needed for them to match AWS' capabilities. He contends that the resources available are inadequate and that they must prove to be more ingenious than the rest. He further opines that defining principles and creating a shared ecosystem among the European providers would render them a force to be reckoned with in comparison to AWS, Google, and Microsoft.
Mr Straeter emphasizes the need for Europe to have solid infrastructure in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009, Covid-19, and the war in Ukraine.
Mr Straeter states that federated networks are more robust and reliable, evidenced by the notable dependability of the domain name system of the internet. He notes that this is most likely due to the way it is highly spread out.
Businesses increasingly relying on technology for their operations. They are taking advantage of the newest innovations to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. As a result, companies are able to increase profits and better compete in the marketplace.
A vital component of digital sovereignty is the balance of free speech and security of citizens. The Online Safety Bill, currently being discussed in the UK parliament, outlines requirements for social media platforms to promptly remove illegal content, enforce age verification, and keep children away from dangerous material.
Mark Weston, Partner and Head of Technology Law at law firm Hill Dickinson, pointed out that some of these developments are concerning for US companies, as they typically function under the protection of the first amendment.
The first amendment in the US states that so long as an individual is not doing anything that causes direct harm to another person, they are free to express themselves in whatever way they choose and to set up whatever system they wish. The UK is expressing its own digital control and has argued that these methods of social media use are detrimental to its citizens. As a result, it desires social media companies to abide by certain rules while in the UK's jurisdiction.
He states that UK and EU data regulations apply to citizens regardless of where their information is processed.
Mr Weston states that if there are people from both the UK and the EU whose personal data is stored on US servers, they would fall under both UK and EU legislation.
[Simon Yeoman, chief executive of cloud company Fasthosts, commented that] those who care about digital sovereignty may wish to consider the quantity of businesses that are hosting their information.
He pointed out that the supply chain is where the difficulties begin. Working with a managed service provider based in Birmingham, England, who backs up to Google, will require further inquiry to comprehend one's sovereignty.
Barry Cashman offers comfort to those anxious over the possibility of the US government having straightforward access to enterprise information.
He is employed by Veritas Technologies, an American firm that provides data services to many firms globally.
It is understandable that EU companies and individuals worry about their data being taken to countries where the privacy rules are different, but the EU-US Data Framework that has recently been implemented includes safeguards for the handling of personal data by US security agencies.
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