Aug 2, 2026 · 31 min · 9 segments
Digital sovereignty is one of the most talked-about topics in European tech policy right now and according to Alexei Balaganski, most of the conversation is going in completely the wrong direction. In…
Matthias ReinwarthHostI've just been to a tech conference two weeks ago in Munich and that it was really a hype topic that everybody was talking about.
You think, and that's the reason why we're together here, is that this overall sovereignty conversation has gone wrong.
Sometimes they are amusing, sometimes we can actually come to some interesting conclusions, and I hope we will in this one as well.
So yes, digital sovereignty, technology sovereignty, AI sovereignty, cloud sovereignty, any kind of that thing is now a huge buzzword here in Europe.
Although, of course, it's definitely not limited just to Europe because it is very relevant for every country of the world.
I've been listening to all those conversations as well, but I cannot stop thinking about one experience I had a few months ago when I actually traveled to San Francisco and finally visited the famous Alcatraz prison.
You can walk around and you can actually visit the solitary confinement cells.
which are extremely tiny, bare, dark, and well, you are supposed to be alone there all the time.
And this actually suddenly gave me this feeling that this is exactly what many people think digital sovereignty is about.
But you have maximum control, you have clearly defined boundaries, which are impossible to break.
And it is kind of the logical extreme of what some, I would even say quite a few people think is exactly what Europe should be looking for now.
And to be fair, I cannot completely disagree with them because they have their point.
But this is actually not the kind of Europe I would want to live in the future.
Because I can tell you, this feels exactly as it looks when you are staying for a long time in a solitary confinement cell.
I've just been to a tech conference two weeks ago in Munich and that it was really a hype topic that everybody was talking about.
You think, and that's the reason why we're together here, is that this overall sovereignty conversation has gone wrong.
Sometimes they are amusing, sometimes we can actually come to some interesting conclusions, and I hope we will in this one as well.
So yes, digital sovereignty, technology sovereignty, AI sovereignty, cloud sovereignty, any kind of that thing is now a huge buzzword here in Europe.
Although, of course, it's definitely not limited just to Europe because it is very relevant for every country of the world.
I've been listening to all those conversations as well, but I cannot stop thinking about one experience I had a few months ago when I actually traveled to San Francisco and finally visited the famous Alcatraz prison.
You can walk around and you can actually visit the solitary confinement cells.
which are extremely tiny, bare, dark, and well, you are supposed to be alone there all the time.
And this actually suddenly gave me this feeling that this is exactly what many people think digital sovereignty is about.
But you have maximum control, you have clearly defined boundaries, which are impossible to break.
And it is kind of the logical extreme of what some, I would even say quite a few people think is exactly what Europe should be looking for now.
And to be fair, I cannot completely disagree with them because they have their point.
But this is actually not the kind of Europe I would want to live in the future.
Because I can tell you, this feels exactly as it looks when you are staying for a long time in a solitary confinement cell.
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