Tech Sovereignty: Beyond Vendor Lock-In
When we talk about tech sovereignty, most people focus on data location and vendor lock-in. But that's not enough. Sovereignty is about control, not just where your data resides.
The real test of tech sovereignty is whether customers can operate independently without relying heavily on their suppliers. This means having meaningful control over critical infrastructure, data, and operational systems.
Take IBM, for example. While it's true that replacing its hardware could be expensive, the principal penalty was economic. Today's most important tech platforms hold sensitive information and have become an organization's operational nervous system.
This is what I call Operational Sovereignty: meaningful control over increasingly autonomous systems. It's not just about owning your data; it's about having control over the systems that interpret it and determine what happens next.