Digital sovereignty is key to ensuring that Germany and Europe remain competitive and capable of action, explains a paper published by Fritzi Köhler-Geib, member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, together with Claudia Plattner, President of the Federal Office for Information Security, and Kristina Sinemus, Hesse’s Minister for Digitalisation and Innovation. According to the paper, digital sovereignty will be decisive in determining where value will be created in the future and who will be able to play a role in shaping technological developments. In this context, digital sovereignty also represents the ability of the state, economy, and society to develop and make use of key digital technologies and critical infrastructure themselves.

The authors of the paper propose 37 implementation-oriented measures for strengthening digital sovereignty in Germany and Europe. The measures focus on five specific fields of technology and innovation: chips, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and quantum computing.

Innovation and technology

Europe must significantly accelerate the development of selected future digital technologies, states the paper. 

In the technological field of “chips”, for example, the authors propose an EU programme for chip production. The programme for setting up gigafactories in Europe could serve as a model here. The authors also look at financing, both for the mass production of photonic chips as well as for research into future chip technologies.

In the field of “cloud computing”, they recommend, for example, establishing framework contracts at the EU level under which public authorities could access services from three to five European cloud providers. Such contracts could also be appropriate in the technological field of “quantum computing”.

With regard to AI, it is necessary to build a second, high-performance AI model, or “frontier large language model” for Germany and Europe as well as develop specialised LLMs in Europe for the use of industrial application data. According to the authors, this would require a consortium, with the backing of policymakers, consisting of two to four companies from various European countries in the field of AI. As an example, they cite the success of the company Airbus. Founded in 1970 as a Franco-German consortium, Airbus was successful in establishing itself around the world through the 1980s and 1990s and then competing at the global level. 

In the technological field of “robotics”, the authors propose, for example, creating concepts to promote the connection between AI and humanoid robots. Humanoid robots are robots that resemble the human body in shape. 

Economy and financing

According to the authors, in order to strengthen digital innovation and key strategic technologies in Germany and Europe, it must be easier to translate innovations into marketable products. In this context, they propose measures for further developing the venture capital market, especially with a focus on scale-up and exit opportunities. They also argue in favour of creating a legal basis for legally sound native EU procurement. 

Communication

A nationwide AI campaign to promote AI proficiency could, for example, help to get the general public involved in the planned measures. The authors also propose engaging in dialogue with trade unions and employers as well as developing a European vision for work in the AI age. 

With this paper, the authors aim to provide concrete impetus for coordination, interconnection, and support throughout society as a whole to serve as a real counterweight to the current market conditions. The paper intends to create a platform on which relevant stakeholders can coordinate their activities.