As 2026 gets underway, digital sovereignty has moved from Boardroom buzzword to operational imperative. Organizations worldwide are recognizing that data control isn't just about compliance anymore. It's a foundation for secure innovation, particularly as burgeoning AI workloads demand robust sovereignty frameworks.
That’s why, this year more than any other, SoftwareOne's AWS Digital Sovereignty Competency represents more than technical validation alone. It supports a strategic commitment to helping clients build sovereign-by-design architectures that accelerate their digital ambitions.
When the European Court of Justice invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield in 2020, thousands of businesses scrambled to ensure their data transfers remained compliant. The event highlighted a crucial question: who controls your organization's digital assets?
That incident crystallized why digital sovereignty matters in today's data-driven world and how the issue has escalated from an IT department task to a Boardroom agenda item. It underlined the absolute requirement for organizations to understand how their data is stored and processed, where it resides, and who can access it.
To put this topic in perspective, digital sovereignty has three components:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Data sovereignty | The concept that data is subject to the laws and governance structures of the nation where it is collected or processed. It ensures that organizations have control over data location, processing, and access, complying with local regulations and protecting sensitive information from unauthorized foreign access. |
| Infrastructure sovereignty | Involves maintaining control over the physical and virtual infrastructure that supports digital operations. This includes data centers, networks, and cloud services. It aims to reduce dependence on imported technologies and ensure the resilience and security of critical digital infrastructure against external threats or disruptions. |
| Technological sovereignty | Encompasses the ability to develop, maintain, and control key technologies independently. This involves fostering local innovation, supporting domestic tech industries, and reducing reliance on foreign intellectual property. It enables nations and organizations to shape their technological future and maintain competitive advantages in the global digital economy. |
These components carry business-critical importance for three main reasons:
Security and compliance: Cyber threats continue to evolve, while data protection regulations grow more stringent. Digital sovereignty helps protect your assets by maintaining control over data processing and storage within your chosen geography. This control enables better compliance with local laws and helps reduce the risk of costly data breaches.
Operational resilience: By reducing dependence on imported technologies throughout supply chains, organizations are better positioned to maintain critical operations even during global disruptions. This proved vital during the pandemic, when organizations with greater digital sovereignty adapted more quickly to rapid change.
Innovation enablement: Here's where 2026 thinking diverges from earlier, compliance-focused approaches. Modern AI and data innovation generally depend on sovereignty frameworks that provide both control and agility. Organizations that view sovereignty as merely restrictive miss the strategic opportunity. Properly architected sovereign environments actually accelerate innovation by establishing trust frameworks that enable secure experimentation with AI workloads, advanced analytics, and cross-border collaboration.
Within this context, our AWS Digital Sovereignty Competency reflects years of partnership with AWS to help clients manage evolving digital sovereignty requirements. We deliver solutions built on AWS's sovereign-by-design approach — a principle embedded in the AWS Cloud from day one, shaped by input from financial services, healthcare, and government customers who represent the world's most security- and data privacy-conscious organizations.
AWS's Digital Sovereignty Pledge represents their commitment to offering customers the most advanced set of sovereignty controls and features available in the cloud, enabling organizations to meet digital sovereignty requirements without compromising on the capabilities, performance, innovation, and scale of the AWS Cloud. This sovereign-by-design philosophy means that data protection features and controls aren't retrofitted but built into the architecture from the ground up.
Supporting this model, AWS provides a suite of sovereignty-enhancing services, such as AWS Key Management Service (KMS) for encryption, AWS Control Tower for governance (with over 245 digital sovereignty controls), and Dedicated Local Zones for data residency needs. These services address local compliance, data residency, and operational resilience, aligning with regulatory mandates like the EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and NIS2 directive.
At SoftwareOne, our Cloud Services accelerate AWS sovereignty adoption through Landing Zone design, Well-Architected Reviews, and Security Posture Assessments. Paired with Cloud Managed Services and a Migration Acceleration Program, these solutions drive governance, resilience, and compliance so that organizations meet regulatory demands while optimizing performance and security across AWS environments.
Building on these foundations, the AWS European Sovereign Cloud now brings even greater autonomy and regulatory alignment for organizations based in the EU. Backed by a €7.8 billion investment, this independent cloud is fully operated by EU-based AWS personnel, with all customer data and metadata remaining within EU borders and no operational control from outside the EU. Designed to meet stringent European compliance requirements while maintaining the full AWS service portfolio, this represents a significant step in addressing the needs of organizations with the most rigorous digital sovereignty requirements.
With this offering alongside SoftwareOne's expert support, organizations can confidently address their digital sovereignty needs for compliance, control, and resilience to meet both current and future standards.
With our AWS Digital Sovereignty Competency plus accreditation as an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner, SoftwareOne offers the expertise to guide clients through adopting these capabilities, effectively integrating AWS's sovereign-by-design approach with your specific sovereignty objectives.
With a presence in more than 70 countries, we combine global expertise with local insight. Our AWS-certified professionals understand both overarching digital sovereignty principles and specific regional requirements, delivering the expertise to support innovation such as secure AI adoption as well as guide you through complex regulatory requirements in 2026 and beyond.
Ready to enhance your digital sovereignty for compliance and innovation? Let's discuss how we can help you leverage AWS's sovereign-by-design capabilities while meeting your unique needs and regulatory requirements. Meanwhile, take a look here for more information about SoftwareOne's AWS Digital Sovereignty Competency.
Contact us and we can put digital sovereignty to work for compliance and innovation, with AWS and SoftwareOne.
Contact us and we can put digital sovereignty to work for compliance and innovation, with AWS and SoftwareOne.
