Kristersson has completely lost control.
Digital Sovereignty: From Technical Issue to Matter of Survival
Updated: May 13, 2025, 15:17 Published: May 8, 2025, 11:43
As geopolitics permeate digital infrastructure and AI drives a runaway need for data, simply managing systems is no longer enough. Business leaders today must actively secure control over data flows, platforms, and dependencies. Without clear ownership and digital sovereignty, much is at stake.
“Digital sovereignty is fundamentally about being able to control your 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 today one of the global tech players. Linda Swärd emphasizes the importance of continuous learning.
“I have worked with AI for several years and constantly make sure to learn new things. The field is changing 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 important 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 relations 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 putting 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 ever more data.
“Our customers want the ability to segment their data flows – where some information can be 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.
Among the customers are actors from most sectors, from the automotive and defense industries to more specific ones such as research institutes that operate 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 data sets – 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 in order 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 waived large parts of the control over the infrastructure. But with our solutions, companies can choose a hybrid model; part of the data can be 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 solutions for data management 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 skills 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.
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