Dramatic fall in savings interest rates – bank account becomes a losing proposition.
Digital Sovereignty: From Technical Issue to Matter of Survival
Updated: May 13, 2025, 15:17 Published: May 8, 2025, 11:43
As geopolitics increasingly permeates digital infrastructure and AI fuels an escalating demand for data, simply managing systems is no longer sufficient. Today’s business leaders must actively secure control over data flows, platforms, and dependencies. Without clear ownership and digital sovereignty, the stakes are high.
“Digital sovereignty is fundamentally about being able to control your own information and communication – without being dependent on external actors,” says Linda Swärd, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Sweden.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or HPE, originated from Hewlett Packard, founded in 1939, and is now a global tech player. Linda Swärd emphasizes the importance of continuous learning.
“I have worked with AI for several years and constantly ensure that I learn new things. The field changes so rapidly that it is necessary to stay relevant,” she says.
Can Have Security Policy Consequences
One example of an area where ownership and digital sovereignty are crucial is the public sector or critical societal functions such as energy companies, where an interruption in data access or a data leak can have both legal and security policy consequences. It is not only technological development that is moving quickly – regulations and global power dynamics are also changing rapidly. Decisions made in the USA can have a direct impact on European companies, especially in matters relating to data protection and compliance with, for example, GDPR. This makes the question of where data is stored – and under which jurisdiction – an increasingly business-critical issue.
“There is a strategic vulnerability in placing too much in the hands of a few global players. If the conditions suddenly change, it can be difficult to regain control,” says Linda Swärd.
Increased Interest in Flexibility
HPE is now seeing a clear increase in interest in solutions that combine the flexibility of the cloud with local control and ownership. Customers are simply asking for hybrid clouds where sensitive data is stored and managed within Swedish or European jurisdiction, while at the same time they want greater control over the costs associated with storing more and more data.
“Our customers want the ability to segment their data flows – where some information can reside in public cloud services, while other types of information are handled completely privately. It is both about security and about securing business-critical competence and innovation, as well as gaining control over their costs,” says Linda Swärd.
Customers include players from most sectors, from the automotive and defense industries to more specific ones such as research institutes operating in healthcare. Common to all is that they place high demands on both the pace of innovation and data security.
AI Drives the Need for Data Sovereignty
Unsurprisingly, AI requires access to large and high-quality datasets – to train relevant models, companies need full control over both the origin and integrity of the data.
In medical AI, for example, models are trained on millions of X-ray images to improve cancer diagnostics. If these data are scattered across different jurisdictions, both legal and ethical issues become a challenge – obstacles that are important to overcome to facilitate collaboration between institutions and create higher quality AI models.
“Today, data is often stored in public clouds, where as a customer you have relinquished large parts of the control over the infrastructure. But with our solutions, companies can choose a hybrid model; part of the data can reside in the public cloud, while particularly sensitive information is handled in a private environment where the company has full control,” says Linda Swärd.
Will Only Become More Important
Different data management solutions fulfill different needs, but one thing is certain – data is a critical asset for a competitive business and will only become more important over time.
“Companies that want to remain relevant must act now. Those who wait to build the right digital competence and take control risk making a mistake that the business, in the worst case, does not survive. It may be about being excluded from important AI ecosystems, losing momentum in product development – or, in the worst case, completely losing competitiveness in a constantly changing global market,” says Linda Swärd.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE: NYSE) is a global technology leader focused on developing intelligent solutions that enable customers to capture, analyze, and act on data seamlessly. The company is an innovator in networking, hybrid cloud, and AI to help customers develop new business models, interact in new ways, and increase operational performance.
This article was produced in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Enjoyed this post by Thibault Helle? Subscribe for more insights and updates straight from the source.
