In Digital Sovereignty, T Stands for Trust and Telecom

via SDxCentral

In a recent Accenture survey of almost 2,000 business and government leaders, 61% said they were more likely to seek sovereign technology solutions with the rise of Al and geopolitical risks. But while sovereignty is often associated with efforts from Europe to protect the continent's digital backbone, the survey's results consisted of data from 28 countries, spanning the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), North America, and Asia.

Bleu, red, and white

Orange arguably fired the starting pistol in the sovereignty space with Bleu, the platform it formed in 2024 with French SI Capgemini, which provides a Microsoft Azure-based sovereign cloud within France. Ranyard said that while the U.K. is still less focused on sovereign cloud than mainland Europe, he has been surprised as of late by growing British business awareness and interest when it comes to projects like Bleu.

Steve Knibbs, director, Vodafone Business Security Enhanced (VBSE), went one step further, saying sovereignty is at the heart of procurement for the U.K. government, defense, critical infrastructure, financial services, and healthcare, as driven by strict regulations in the country.

"Performance matters, especially for things like industrial 5G, but it won't be chosen over trust or transparency," Knibbs said. "Customers demand operational control to remain within U.K. borders, and, when necessary, physical separation. In these highly sensitive domains, certificates of compliance alone do not suffice; clients require tangible evidence of sovereign control, encompassing governance, operational processes, and cryptographic custody, all anchored firmly within the U.K." 

In other words, even though the U.K. is no longer part of the EU, it has yet to become a Wild West of deregulation, especially as it introduces new regulations such as the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. This arguably gives extra market opportunities for telecom players like Vodafone to flex their trustworthy prowess over greenhorn Al incumbents.