Benoit Tabaka’s Post

Yesterday the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) launched its report, Breaking Barriers to Cloud Customer Choice: Unlocking Europe’s AI and Innovation Leadership. This report found that unless anti-competitive practises in the EU's cloud market are curbed, the EU will lose €1.2tn in GDP gains by 2030 due to underperformance in #cloud and #AI adoption, whilst EU public sectors will lose €450m in efficiency and productivity gains. That's the massive scale of the prize. Jakob V. very eloquently sets out some of the points made in the discussion.

This article on digital sovereignty will be important for healthcare, digital health, and AI in healthcare. The article only speaks about the tech giants. But the same set of questions will need to be asked about the healthcare titans: Epic, Oracle/Cerner, and Meditech. At least if healthcare is a “crucial digital service.” From the article: “The topic is hot because of the fraught relationship with the U.S. under President Donald Trump, and Canada’s reliance on American tech companies … for crucial digital services. Prime Minister Mark Carney has tasked the Major Projects Office with developing a sovereign cloud to give Canada “independent control over advanced computing power,” while the federal government is interested in procuring services from Canadian companies to build capacity.” https://lnkd.in/gKdCMpBm

Lots to consider as it relates to health data and EMRs and the concept of digital sovereignty. “Mr. Fahmy with Telus said companies in heavily regulated industries, such as finance and health care, are interested in sovereign AI services.”

“Europe needs to build up its own digital infrastructure to reduce dependence on U.S. providers, but that does not mean turning away from them completely, Germany's digital minister Karsten Wildberger told Reuters. Some Europeans, unsettled by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade wars to promote U.S. interests, have begun seeking alternatives to the digital services sphere dominated by U.S. tech firms. To achieve digital sovereignty, Germany and the European Union need to ‘actively participate in this (sector) as players,’ not as customers, as is the case now, he said in an interview this week. ‘There is a huge growth market for technology, innovation, software, data and artificial intelligence,’ he said. Germany and Europe have produced global leaders in their fields, such as Mistral AI, DeepL and Aleph Alpha, he said.” #Germany #digitalsoveignty #EU Subscribe to EDPO's newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dwK8sde *This article was not written by EDPO. The opinions and views of the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of EDPO.   https://lnkd.in/eJSX7V-W

Tech Policy Press publishes today an article I wrote on the relevance of Brazil’s Digital Agenda and Digital Fair Competition Bill, both presented by the Brazilian government in mid-September, and how they reflect broader questions in digital policy, specifically regarding the gaps and opportunities for antitrust policy in the digital era. The piece develops four interconnected arguments: First, that regulatory capacity requires not just oversight but infrastructural tools that enable states to shape digital markets through investments in data governance, technological infrastructure, and alternative systems of digital intermediation. Second, that antitrust must be reconceived as redistributive policy that reallocates economic power and disrupts the rent extraction cycles through which platforms accumulate control over infrastructural layers. Third, that building specialized regulatory institutions reduces informational asymmetries with dominant firms and enables the accumulation of expertise necessary for effective long-term intervention, including through multilateral coordination. Fourth, that Brazil's regulatory posture carries geopolitical significance as a regional leader in forums like BRICS and the G20, helping to define the strategic space available to developing economies seeking digital sovereignty in an increasingly polarized global order. Taken together, these initiatives open an important conversation about how countries in the Global South can rethink digital policy in a more integrated way. Beyond regulating Big Tech, they underscore the need to build institutional and technological foundations and capacities that enable developing economies to govern their digital futures. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dJWfYrA2

The tipping point for Europe's digital sovereignty is approaching. 🇪🇺 Whether we seize this moment or fall back into complacency and dependency is now up to us. The past few weeks have marked a significant acceleration in the debate on our digital future, with a consensus starting to emerge (at last!) at the highest levels: the era of passive dependency is over, and the time for building genuine strategic autonomy has begun. 📢 Just one year after his landmark report, Mario Draghi renewed his warning that Europe is not moving fast enough. He stressed that true sovereignty in AI requires mastering the entire technology stack, from cloud to cybersecurity—echoing our own core principle: that true sovereignty requires mastery of the entire technology stack. More on the conference here: https://lnkd.in/dxZ-BPci Against this backdrop, the political discussion is rapidly moving from "why" to "how." 💡 We welcome the news that the Council is actively working on a common definition for sovereignty, and that key figures like Commission EVP Henna Virkkunen are publicly endorsing the "EuroStack" concept. Even in Germany, we see a notable shift, with Chancellor Merz delivering a powerful speech calling for greater European independence from US software. Read the Chancellor's speech here: https://lnkd.in/ehD6vpQA This momentum is powered by a massive public mandate. 📈 A major new poll published by Le Grand Continent reveals that an incredible 74% of European citizens support prioritizing local tech in public procurement. This is a direct and powerful call to action. See the poll results here: https://lnkd.in/einA7Mih However, as the debate intensifies, so does the challenge of "sovereignty washing." ⚠️ Recent market developments highlight the critical need for clarity, as the term "sovereignty" is at risk of being diluted into a meaningless marketing label just as it gains political traction. This is precisely why we, at the EuroStack Initiative, decided to act. 🚀 This week, we published "A Proposed Framework for a 'Buy European' Regulation". This is our contribution to this debate—a clear, legally robust, and technically auditable framework to help policymakers distinguish real sovereignty from mere rhetoric. Read our full proposal here: https://lnkd.in/e6DEfMhp So, what's next? The political will is forming, the public is supportive, and our concrete proposal is on the table. Political momentum, public demand, and industrial readiness are all aligned. It's up to us—as an industry and as policymakers—to seize this opportunity and turn this tipping point into a true turning point for Europe's digital future. 💪 #DigitalSovereignty #EuroStack #EU #TechPolicy #IndustrialPolicy #Cloud #AI

Will NZ's centralised digital investments be transformative enough to get closer to an Agentic State vision? Two key digital government developments landed recently: Hon Judith Collins KC MP announced the Government Chief Digital Officer (GCDO) will lead digital investment and procurement for most public agencies. This can save money and improve digital services by linking silos, building common platforms, and encouraging incrementalism Article: https://lnkd.in/gMeMCpC4 Press release: https://lnkd.in/g-SXBnDB Cabinet paper: https://lnkd.in/gzCych8N Meanwhile, digital government leaders from around the world have published a vision for an Agentic State, rethinking government from a slow, process-driven bureaucracy to an outcome-driven operation that can handle the complexity and pace of change in society today: https://agenticstate.org/ (and attached) I'm pleased with the direction, but aware this is a path we’ve tried before. Some whakaaro: ♻️None of this is particularly new. How do we learn for the successes and failures of previous initiatives (e.g. Service Innovation Lab (https://lnkd.in/g7nt_546) and RealMe ). 🚧Alex Matthews's article (https://lnkd.in/gJtCjqGN) and comments here (https://lnkd.in/gAHssapb) highlight some potential challenges around favouring multinational companies over homegrown talent, centralisation creating additional layers of bureaucracy, poor understanding of digital risk, open source ecosystems and a shortage of bold leadership, as well as egos, empire building and a belief that our problems are special, and needs a unique solution. Our "Number 8 Wire" mentality might be a barrier to the benefits of standardisation. 🥕This is more of a cultural, rather than technology, change. Mandates and KPIs may provide the stick, but where is the carrot to collaborate and innovate?  ⚖️ We are democratically responsible for government’s risk aversion. Politicians are incentivised by big launches (e.g. a government app and the shortlived GovGPT) and avoiding public failures, stifling the incremental progress we need. Reuben Davidson - can we get bipartisan support to protect this from becoming a political football? I look forward to seeing the Digital Government Target State the GCDO will be publishing in December, and hopefully some of the kōrero which inform this will be shared too!  Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou
ka ora ai te iwi

BERLIN (Reuters) Europe needs to build up its own digital infrastructure to reduce dependence on U.S. providers, but that does not mean turning away from them completely, Germany's digital minister #DigitalSovereignty #DigitalInfrastructure #EUEconomy #Germany #TechPolicy

To those in the tech space — enthusiasts, policy minds, and builders creating digital services with the EU market in view — I’ll be publishing a policy analysis of the EU Digital Services Act in the coming hours. It’s a crucial piece of legislation to understand if you’re building with global expansion in mind and equally valuable for policymakers, especially in the Global South, to draw insights from.

It was a pleasure to visit the Smart Country Convention in Berlin. The event has grown with each year, and this shows that the importance of e-governance has increased both in the minds of users and service providers. It gives hope that the pace of development and adoption will continue to grow. As key fundamentals that should be the enablers for growth and effectiveness in digital governance in Germany, the following was emphasized: ✅ Standardisation through Deutschland-Stack / GovStack (Open Source) ✅ AI in digital services ✅ Data sovereignty In a time where financial means are scarce, it makes perfect sense to invest in digital public services. After all as shown by the example of Estonia, digital services save ~𝟮% 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗗𝗣 according to OECD and CEPA. #eGovernance #GovStack #SCCON