From AI and Quantum to EuroStack and Digital Commons: Which Way to Digital Sovereignty?

  • Panel
  • Café
  • Wednesday 20.05 — 08:45 - 10:00

Organising Institution

Action Line 4, Quantum Delta NL

Netherlands

  • Academic 3
  • Business 1
  • Policy 2
As Big Tech controls most of the digital infrastructure on which everyday practices depend, digital sovereignty has emerged as a countervailing strategy to (re)gain control over data, technologies, and infrastructures, thereby safeguarding autonomy and self-determination in the digital era. The EU’s digital sovereignty agenda emphasises investment in sectors it considers critical, like artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. Industry and civil society also advocate for domestic alternatives to hyperscalers. The various digital sovereignty visions share commonalities; they highlight the need for European-based infrastructures that comply with EU digital rules, but raise similar concerns about underlying dependencies and geopolitical tensions. At the same time, they differ in the futures they imagine, from becoming a global leader to developing open-source solutions. This panel will investigate what digital sovereignty entails nowadays and the different pathways, from private to public digital infrastructures, towards achieving it.

Questions to be answered

  1. From” global-norm exporter” to “simplification”: how is the EU digital sovereignty agenda evolving, and what are the legal implications thereof?
  2. How can emerging and future technologies, such as AI and quantum technologies, enhance digital sovereignty, and what are legal and industrial conditions required to that end?
  3. What are pathways to alternative infrastructures, such as the EuroStack and European Digital Commons, and what are their promises and shortcomings?
  4. What is the role of private companies in delivering digital sovereignty, a concept traditionally linked to states?

Moderator

Joris van Hoboken

Institute for Information Law (IViR) - Netherlands

Joris van Hoboken is a Full Professor of Information Law, with special emphasis on Law and Digital Infrastructure, at the University of Amsterdam Institute for Information Law. oris works on questions related to law and digital infrastructure, including at the intersection of fundamental rights protection (data privacy, freedom of expression, non-discrimination) and the governance of platforms and internet-based services. He is currently leading a new research group on the law and governance of quantum technologies (QDNL), a project on the regulation of platforms and content moderation (DSA Observatory), is a contributor to the AlgoSoc NWO Gravitation project, and co-leading the Digital Transformation of Decision Making initiative at the Amsterdam Law School (part of Sectorplan Digital Legal Studies).

Speaker

Plixavra Vogiatzoglou

Institute for Information Law (IViR) - Netherlands

Plixavra Vogiatzoglou (she/her) is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam Institute for Information Law (IViR). She holds a PhD from the KU Leuven Centre for IT & IP Law (CiTiP), where she remains an affiliate research fellow, and is a qualified lawyer in Greece. Her work critically assesses digital regulation, policy and governance frameworks, such as digital sovereignty, and the impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum, on rights, freedoms, and society. She also teaches on topics of digital regulation, like artificial intelligence and data protection.

Speaker

Thomas Streinz

European University Institute - Italy

Thomas Streinz is Joint Chair in Law with interests in regulatory theory and regulatory institutions at the European University Institute’s Law Department and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. His research agenda at the EUI will investigate the role of European law in the global regulatory governance of digital technologies, the relationship between data, tech, and infrastructure regulation, and the interface between regulation through law with governance by other means, in particular infrastructure-as-regulation. He is currently conducting research projects on software regulation, digital infrastructure governance (with a focus on “artificial intelligence”, “cloud computing”, and “the law of the stack”), and European and Global Data Law.

Speaker

Alexandra Paul

Pasqal - Belgium

Alexandra Paul is a Global Policy Lead at Pasqal. In her role, she takes responsibility for Pasqal’s Public Affairs, Standardisation, and Sustainability activities. Alexandra has 15 years of professional experience, including in the public sector, private sector and academia. Previously, she worked as Chief Economist in the Cloud & Software Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) and as a Manager at Accenture.