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# Technological Sovereignty Requires Choice, Skills, and Support, Panelists Say During OSS EU
- URL: https://www.stirup.si/technological-sovereignty-requires-choice-skills-and-support-panelists-84289cc6/
- Published: 2026-10-11T18:00:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-11T18:00:23.000Z
- Description: European organizations can enhance their technological sovereignty by developing credible alternatives and acquiring necessary skills, rather than completely avoiding global providers. A panel discussion at the OSS EU highlighted the importance of understanding dependencies in cloud and hardware, an
- Author: Satish Das
- Tags: Development, Stirup Research

## Understanding Dependencies and the Path to Sovereignty

Technological sovereignty is not about rejecting global technology providers but about ensuring that organizations have credible alternatives and the skills to use them effectively. This insight emerged from a panel discussion at the Open Source Summit Europe in Prague, where experts explored the complexities of dependencies across cloud infrastructure, open source, security, and hardware.

The panel emphasized that while open source provides the option to choose, it does not automatically guarantee operational sovereignty. Organizations must also possess the expertise to run, secure, and monitor their systems. This distinction was highlighted by Jonathan Bryce of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and the Linux Foundation, who noted that access to source code alone is insufficient without the necessary skills and infrastructure to support it.

Hardware dependencies were also identified as a critical area requiring attention. While software choice is important, it does not eliminate reliance on hardware components such as chips and optical systems. This was underscored by discussions from a conference in Shanghai, where the focus on sovereignty was more on hardware access than on open-source software.

Panelists also addressed the need for practical choices in software. The EU cloud sovereignty framework outlines eight objectives, including legal and jurisdictional sovereignty, data and AI sovereignty, and supply-chain sovereignty. These objectives highlight the importance of understanding which dependencies must be controlled or changed for an organization to achieve true sovereignty.

Confidential computing was proposed as a method to limit a host’s access to workloads when full control over the supply chain is not required. This approach can help organizations maintain security and compliance without compromising on performance or scalability.

Open source was not portrayed as a simple cost-saving measure. While freely available code can begin as an engineering experiment, it can later become a critical system requiring sustained support. The panel highlighted the importance of investing in local service capabilities to ensure that open-source projects are effectively packaged and supported.

Finally, the discussion emphasized the need for developer involvement in policymaking and investment alongside regulation. By fostering local expertise and maintaining open contributor bases, projects can become more resilient and better aligned with the needs of the organizations that use them.

**Source:** [InfoQ](https://www.infoq.com/news/2026/10/technological-sovereignity-panel/?utm%5Fcampaign=infoq%5Fcontent&utm%5Fsource=infoq&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fterm=global). Analysis based on publicly available information; no hands-on testing is claimed.