The digital sovereignty dialogue: from definition to the questions that matter

Moving beyond narrow definitions

Our framing of sovereignty resonated with readers. Sovereignty isn’t just about building local data centres, in-shoring supply chains, or adding layers of regulation. It’s about having the agency and capability to make strategic choices - such as deciding what to build internally and what to source through trusted partnerships.

As Armando Manzueta, Vice Minister for Public Innovation and Digital in the Dominican Republic, put it:

“True digital sovereignty is about having the ability to choose, adapt, and govern technology on our own terms, not merely about where the servers are located.”

Building capacity and agency

A practical question raised by readers was: how do leaders build real agency and capacity?

CV Madhukar of Co-Develop raised three critical questions that go right to the heart of the issue:

• When capacity is constrained, what choices should countries make to ensure sovereignty?
  
  

• What trade-offs are involved in gaining more agency?
  
  

• How can global institutions or markets support countries with lower capacity?
  
  

These questions cut across geographies. Whether in established or emerging economies, every nation faces gaps in infrastructure, skills, or institutions.

For many in the Global South, sovereignty means investing in local talent, open standards, and interoperable digital public infrastructure. This is why there’s growing global interest in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), with lessons from countries like India and Brazil becoming increasingly relevant worldwide.

Governance and market shaping

Sovereignty isn’t only about capacity. It’s also about the ability to shape the rules of the game.

Alice Munyua of the Mozilla Foundation argued that for Africa, sovereignty “must begin with the power to design governance, not just build infrastructure.” She and others have emphasised African-led approaches — creating shared standards and governance across borders to enable trade, mobility, and resilience.

Robert Karanja has framed this as a call for Africa to shape its own digital future through South–South alliances, technology development, and governance models rooted in its own contexts.

Situational awareness: a starting point

Simon Wardley added an important perspective: sovereignty requires continuous situational awareness of the economic and technological landscape.

Mapping dependencies is a practical first step. It helps leaders understand where risks and opportunities lie, and it builds the foundation for making informed, strategic choices.

What's next

This dialogue has surfaced a rich set of shared questions. It’s clear that defining digital sovereignty is only the start - the real work lies in supporting leaders to build their agency and capacity.

At Public Digital we’ll continue exploring this topic in the coming months. This post is the first in a series where we’ll dig deeper into practical tools for leaders.

If you’re working on these challenges, we’d love to continue the conversation. Please get in touch at [email protected]