Silicon Luxembourg interviewed Andre Reitenbach, CEO and co-founder of Gcore and Peter Sodermans, director of global government relations to learn more about digital sovereignty, where Luxembourg stands on this issue and Gcore’s ambitions to become a global player.
What is digital sovereignty?
Peter Sodermans: It refers to a country like Luxembourg or an area like Europe having control over its own digital infrastructure and technology. So it’s a complex issue that involves many factors such as the ownership of data, cybersecurity, and the use of technology in government and society.
Why is this an important issue at the European level?
P.S.: If you look at all the big players such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google, all of these players are non-European. And the question we have to ask ourselves is: Why is that the case? Are we only vassals? Or can we also take the lead?
Digital sovereignty is even more important than it was before because of the entire AI component that is being added to data analysis. Google knows more about you than your girlfriends because we disclose so much of our private information without knowing where it’s stored or how it’s used. But you can be sure that if it’s all disclosed without rules that it will be abused.
If we want to be serious about these issues and not only have subsidiaries of Chinese or American companies in Europe, we need to take things into our own hands and ensure digital sovereignty at the European level.
What are some of the challenges that need to be overcome to achieve digital sovereignty at a European level?
Andre Reitenbach: Europe is quite fragmented in its approach to digital sovereignty, and that’s why we need some European framework to align all the different European countries to orient themselves and make themselves compatible from a legal, infrastructure and technical perspective. Of course, there is also some considerable catch-up involved but we are a hyper scaler with the money and power to approach the market and take a leading position.
P.S.: From a Luxembourg perspective there are already three pillars in effect for ensuring an increased level of digital sovereignty. These are the HPC, the national data exchange platform and the sovereign cloud. Luxembourg also signed the co-declaration for the creation of a European cloud along with Sweden.
We believe that overcoming these challenges requires a vision that goes beyond the borders of Europe, aiming for a truly global European sovereign cloud. Our goal is to establish a network that spans from Tokyo to Buenos Aires. In today’s world where data is increasingly important and the data economy continues to expand, ensuring trust and empowering users with control over their data worldwide is crucial. Thanks to the robust trust established in the EU, as demonstrated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive, and other personal data protection rules, we are well-positioned to make a strong impact as Europeans on a global scale.
How do your services make it easier for countries/companies/consumers to have more control over their data?
P.S.: Our content delivery network for example works across multiple continents and allows you to download your videos straight from the local network without needing to go via San Francisco.
A.R.: When it comes to the European story, our data is stored here, our infrastructure is built here and our decision-makers are all sitting in Europe and consulting European legislation. So we are very much a European company that also only uses open source software without black boxes. For us, it’s really important to move forward and make sure that the data stays in Europe and cannot be compromised outside. We want to build a global player from Luxembourg, which is why we continue to build products and services that can help us reach this goal.
