Europe, Big Tech, and technological sovereignty

Europe's growing reliance on digital technologies and services developed outside the continent is the focus of a new technological sovereignty strategy presented by the European Commission. On the RSI programme Prima Ora, Professor Antonio Carzaniga — Pro-Rector for Innovation and Corporate Relations and a founding member of USI Faculty of Informatics — examined what this challenge means for institutions, businesses, and citizens.

The new European strategy stems from the urgent need to reduce the EU's heavy reliance on digital infrastructure, services, and technologies developed primarily in the US and China. The goal is to bolster European capabilities in strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, data centres, and cloud services, ensuring greater autonomy and resilience in an increasingly volatile geopolitical climate. According to Professor Antonio Carzaniga, this dependence is clearly visible in the day-to-day operations of businesses, public administrations, and healthcare systems. "Every day, we use services and equipment that we do not produce, do not administer, and whose data we do not directly manage. When these services are deemed strategic, their management, data protection, and continuity of access become critical issues."

The roots of this dependency are both technological and economic. Certain infrastructures, such as microchip and memory manufacturing, are concentrated in just a handful of countries. At the same time, everyday digital services are offered by major international players on terms that are difficult to match. "Big Tech companies can deliver industrial-scale services at highly competitive prices. It is only natural that many institutions and organisations rely on these platforms," Carzaniga notes. This reality also affects Switzerland. "The issues are essentially identical for our country. Communication systems, email, video conferencing, data sharing, and storage are now vital services for a modern economy. Switzerland, too, largely depends on this infrastructure."

According to the USI Pro-Rector, building greater technological autonomy demands investment in both skills and infrastructure. Some initiatives are already underway, also in Switzerland, such as the development of artificial intelligence models promoted by the Federal Institutes of Technology. "There are already highly significant projects out there, such as Apertus, which provide a foundation to build upon. However, alongside model development, we must also secure the necessary hardware infrastructure to make them available on a large scale and put them to work for businesses and strategic sectors."

Yet, the shift toward greater sovereignty is not just about technology; the human factor plays a major role. "Many services could be replaced without any major technical difficulties, but users, businesses, and institutions must be ready to adapt to the change. The organisational and cultural aspect is often one of the biggest hurdles." Finally, Carzaniga emphasises that while legal and contractual frameworks are important, they are not enough to guarantee digital autonomy. "When a service is considered strategic, having an alternative is vital. We need a plan B, which means developing solutions that can be managed directly within Europe or Switzerland."