New Study Reveals the Blueprint for European Digital Sovereignty: Computing Power, Cloud, Open Source and Capital

• A new industry whitepaper, “Digital Sovereignty: Technology Leadership Made in Europe,” developed by GITEX AI EUROPE in partnership with LUE, identifies four focus areas powering Europe’s intelligent economy: compute, cloud, open standards, and capital.
• The whitepaper connects Europe’s digital sovereignty agenda to practical priorities: scaling AI compute, building sovereign first cloud architectures, adopting open source standards, and unlocking growth stage financing for deep tech.
• GITEX AI EUROPE 2026 takes place 30 June to 1 July 2026 at Messe Berlin, convening collaborations across AI, deep tech, quantum, cybersecurity, cloud, and digital infrastructure.

Dubai, UAE | 25 November 2025: A new whitepaper released by Europe’s leading tech, startup, and digital investment event, GITEX AI EUROPE, in partnership with research firm LUE, maps out the foundations for European digital sovereignty and the imperatives shaping the continent’s next decade of technology leadership.

The whitepaper defines digital sovereignty as Europe’s ability to build and govern critical digital infrastructure and technology standards while maintaining transparency, resilience, and control within European jurisdictions.

With Europe’s ICT market now valued at €1.02 trillion, the whitepaper argues that Europe’s long term competitiveness hinges on four connected priorities: scaling AI computing power, establishing cloud infrastructure, embedding open source standards, and mobilising deeper pools of startup capital. Together, these priorities form a new industrial compact aligning Europe’s innovation capacity with economic and energy growth.

Compute and energy: the capacity gap Europe must close

Compute and energy become the new industrial power

The whitepaper positions compute as the next industrial advantage, and it argues that Europe must expand data centre capacity and energy infrastructure in parallel.

While Europe’s data centre capacity is projected to grow by 70% by 2030, the whitepaper notes that demand from AI applications is expected to rise even faster. To keep pace, Europe must expand both compute and energy infrastructure together.

The whitepaper estimates Germany alone may need to triple its data centre capacity by the end of the decade, requiring up to €60 billion in new investment to meet projected industrial and AI workloads.

The analysis also points to initiatives such as the EU’s €200 billion InvestAI programme, which aims to mobilise investment in AI capabilities and infrastructure across Europe, including support for AI gigafactories. These data centres are described as being equipped with 100,000 or more specialised chips, commonly referred to as graphics processing units (GPUs), with access open to large industrial companies as well as startups and research institutes.

The whitepaper adds that compute expansion must move in step with clean energy integration to strengthen resilience and sustainability, linking digital sovereignty directly to Europe’s energy transition.

Sovereign cloud, not cloud dependency

Cloud autonomy emerges as the next frontier. The whitepaper calls for sovereign first cloud architectures that preserve operational, legal, and data control within European jurisdictions.

Today, around 40% of European enterprises have at least 40% of their applications hosted in the cloud, a figure expected to rise to 91% by 2028. Yet non European hyperscalers control roughly 70% of the continent’s cloud market.

The whitepaper argues the goal is not isolation. It is building cloud foundations that enable transparency, auditability, and innovation freedom under European standards.

Open source standards as Europe’s edge

The whitepaper identifies open source based cloud technologies as a practical force in reinforcing sovereignty by improving transparency, portability, and independence from proprietary vendor lock-in.

Cloud solutions based on open source software, typically developed by global developer communities, can offer greater flexibility and control for organisations building sovereign cloud foundations.

Open standards such as the Sovereign Cloud Stack (SCS), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, are highlighted as an approach that enables organisations to build and migrate more freely across platforms, supporting a culture of shared innovation while remaining in control of digital foundations.

Backing Europe’s deep tech builders with growth capital

The whitepaper argues that sovereignty is sustained not only by infrastructure, but also by Europe’s ability to fund deep tech companies through the growth stage.

Despite Europe’s rich engineering talent, only around 5% of global venture capital flows into the EU tech ecosystem, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation. Closing that gap is presented as essential to ensure Europe’s brightest deep tech startups, from AI and cloud to semiconductors, can scale globally without relocating abroad.

The whitepaper calls for an ecosystem of growth stage financing powered by public private co investment and strategic industrial funds. It also points to new financial scaffolding, including Germany’s KfW DeepTech Future Fund (€1 billion) and the Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) on Next Generation Cloud and Services, which channels €3 billion into EU based data and semiconductor projects.

The whitepaper concludes that Europe’s digital sovereignty will be achieved through policy and coordinated execution, in partnership with global stakeholders. Sovereignty is framed as building systems that are open by design and secure by default.

GITEX AI EUROPE 2026 rallies global tech partnerships

GITEX AI EUROPE 2026 is a two day technology and investment event at Messe Berlin, taking place from 30 June to 1 July 2026, connecting stakeholders across AI, deep tech, quantum, cybersecurity, cloud, and digital infrastructure.

Organised by KAOUN International and endorsed by the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, and Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, GITEX AI EUROPE launched earlier in 2025 as a major European tech, startup, and digital investment debut event, convening over 1,400 enterprises and startups from more than 34 European states and 100 countries.

The 2026 edition continues the platform’s role as a meeting point for innovators, policymakers, and investors shaping Europe’s digital future across AI, deep tech, quantum, cybersecurity, and cloud.

GITEX AI EUROPE is part of the GITEX global network of tech and startup events, taking place in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia, Singapore, Türkiye, and Vietnam.