VBKI-Digital

Digital sovereignty: from buzzword to survival strategy

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), digital sovereignty - control over their own data, IT systems and digital processes - is no longer a mere strategic consideration, but a fundamental prerequisite for survival in the digital age. Reasons for this include increasing geopolitical tensions, stricter legal requirements (such as GDPR, Schrems II, NIS2, DORA and the EU Data Act) and a growing dependence on large, mostly non-European cloud providers (hyperscalers) such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. SMEs must therefore actively strengthen their digital sovereignty in order to remain agile and competitive.

In October 2025, VBKI-Digital published the following white paper, which is intended to serve as a practical guide for resilient IT structures for German SMEs.