A recent study reveals rising demand for European cloud providers. The 8ra Initiative is already making it a reality.
Europe’s digital economy is powered by technologies that, in large part, are controlled elsewhere. A recent example: Microsoft reportedly blocked the email account of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor following U.S. sanctions – a move that highlighted just how vulnerable even global institutions can be when relying on foreign platforms.
Incidents like this underscore a growing concern across Europe. According to a recent study by Bitkom, Germany’s digital industry association representing over 2,000 companies in the tech sector, 96% of German companies depend on imported digital technologies and services, from devices, software and AI tools to cloud infrastructure. And with that dependency comes discomfort: only half of respondents trust US providers and just one in four express confidence in providers from China.
The appetite for a European alternative is unmistakable. Two out of three businesses in the study now say that Europe needs its own offerings. Large-scale, trustworthy cloud providers capable of serving industry, governments and society at scale.
The case for sovereign infrastructure is no longer theoretical
Digital sovereignty – the ability to act independently and in line with one’s own values in the digital sphere – has become a defining objective for Europe. The risks of foreign dependency are no longer abstract. They’re reflected in real compliance burdens, shifting regulatory frameworks and rising geopolitical tensions that directly impact European organisations.
The potential breakdown of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework – the agreement that governs how personal data can legally flow from the EU to the US – has raised new questions about legal certainty in transatlantic data flows. Laws such as the US CLOUD Act further complicate the picture by granting access to data stored with American companies, regardless of where that data resides. This legal asymmetry adds pressure to already volatile digital markets.
It’s no surprise, then, that more European companies are re-evaluating their infrastructure strategies. According to recent interviews cited by Heise, interest in European cloud providers is growing. Free and open-source technologies are also gaining traction due to their transparency, control and auditability.
The 8ra Initiative: Europe’s industrial response
At the centre of Europe’s shift toward digital sovereignty stands the 8ra Initiative. 8ra is a paradigm shift through a unified, decentralised architecture that seamlessly integrates multiple providers, ensuring interoperability and scalability of services across borders and industries.
Where most cloud services are centralised and vendor-locked, 8ra’s architecture is federated, open and scalable. It enables interoperability across providers and sectors, ensuring that data remains under European control, even when services are distributed, dynamic and deployed at the edge.
About 120 partners from 12 EU Member States are working under the 8ra Initiative to design, implement and roll out real-world infrastructure for sovereign digital services. This includes everything from industrial cloud-edge use cases to frameworks for open-source collaboration, AI deployment and data governance aligned with European standards.
The 8ra Initiative is not just a research effort. It is an industrial-scale execution programme. While funded through the IPCEI-CIS funding framework, it is driven by real deployments and concrete outcomes.
How IONORA demonstrates the 8ra model at work
One such deployment is the 8ra-supported project IONORA, led by IONOS SE. The project is developing an energy-efficient, real-time orchestrated infrastructure spanning data centres, edge nodes and local micro clouds. In addition, IONORA is developing a vendor-agnostic API for cloud platform orchestration that enables integration with edge infrastructures. This system incorporates AI to optimise the impact of workloads on the infrastructure, with a focus on reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
This type of applied work exemplifies what sets 8ra apart: industrial implementation rooted in open, federated architecture and built to serve Europe’s digital needs.
Open source as a sovereignty enabler
Open source plays a central role in the 8ra Initiative. It is not just a technology choice – it is a governance principle. Open source enables transparency, fosters collaborative innovation, and reduces vendor lock-in by ensuring that core infrastructure can evolve through community-led development. For Europe, it is a foundational mechanism for long-term independence and trust.
Aligning strategy with sovereignty
Other European efforts, such as the EuroStack initiative, further underscore the growing strategic alignment around digital resilience. These frameworks aim to strengthen Europe’s capacity in foundational technologies – from semiconductors to networks and satellite systems – and reinforce the EU’s ability to shape digital development on its own terms.
Yet while programmes like EuroStack help define strategic direction, the 8ra Initiative delivers the operational core: the infrastructure, the deployments and the standards that make European digital sovereignty tangible.
As the Digital Decade advances, Europe bets on independence
Building a sovereign European digital infrastructure is not about isolation. It is about resilience, competitiveness and democratic control in a global landscape. The 8ra Initiative shows that with the right collaboration model, technical architecture and political will, Europe can lead with its own cloud-edge future.
The Digital Decade is underway. The question is no longer if Europe can build its own cloud infrastructure, but how fast and how ambitiously we scale it.
Learn more about the infrastructure, partnerships and challenges shaping Europe’s federated cloud future — and how the 8ra Initiative is putting sovereignty into practice.