Digitale Souveränität

Digital sovereignty. Two words that at first glance sound harmless, almost technocratic. But a closer look reveals they lie at the heart of a quiet power struggle. It’s about control. About independence. And ultimately about nothing less than the ability of a state and its citizens to act autonomously in a digital world.

What does that mean in concrete terms? A sovereign actor decides for themselves which technologies to use, whom to trust, where their data is stored and who has access to it. A digitally sovereign state doesn’t run critical infrastructure on software from Silicon Valley, but on systems it understands, controls and can repair if necessary. No backdoors, no forced updates, no dependencies on multinationals whose main interest is hitting quarterly numbers.

And this is where public administration comes in.

Because there, in agencies, ministries, town halls and offices, millions of decisions are made every day, data are collected, stored and processed. They are the digital backbone of democracy. When administrations choose software, it’s not a purely technical decision; it’s a political one. Adopting Microsoft Office brings the U.S. into your institutions. Using cloud services from China hands over control. Deploying SAP, Oracle or Google doesn’t just cost license fees—it costs independence.

It sounds harsh, but it’s the reality: Europe’s public institutions run on foreign operating systems, foreign software and foreign standards. Digital serfdom bought for the price of convenience.

There are alternatives.

Open Source is one of them. The idea behind it is as simple as it is revolutionary: software whose source code is open. Software anyone can inspect, modify and improve. Software maintained by communities, not shareholders. Open Source means transparency, adaptability, control. And yes: security too. Because many eyes see what many hands can fix.

Open Source is no silver bullet. But it is a step toward independence. Many municipalities in Germany (Munich, Dortmund, Schleswig-Holstein) have recognized this and are experimenting with Linux desktops, LibreOffice, and open sector-specific applications. Some fail, others learn. It’s a stubborn path. But one that must be taken if Europe does not want to be digitally colonized in the 21st century.

In the end, digital sovereignty is not a question of technology. It’s a question of political will. Those who make themselves dependent lose room to maneuver. Those who control their digital tools can shape the future. For a democracy that doesn’t rely on foreign servers but on its own strength.

The text was automatically translated from German into English. The German quotations were also translated in sense.