The Spanish technology sector is calling for independence from the US; "the EU must forge its own digital path."

 

El European technological panorama is at a turning point. The recent administration of Donald Trump has intensified concerns about the vulnerability of the European Union in the face of dependence on American digital infrastructure and services. According to alarming data, approximately 90% of European data resides on servers in North American companies, while the cloud market is virtually monopolized by giants like Azure, AWS and Google Cloud, which control around 85% of the market.

 

This situation, exacerbated by relatively lax European regulations on tenders for foreign companies, raises serious questions about the EU's ability to protect its digital sovereignty.

 

"In these first few days of Trump's presidency, it is already clear that Europe has to start walking on its own if it doesn't want to depend on the US for all its economic decisions," he says. Sancho Lerena, CEO of Pandora FMS and an expert in IT management and security. "Today's digital economy is based on obtaining, storing, and managing data. And those three processes cannot depend solely on companies outside the EU."

 

Technological dependence exposes Europe to significant risks in a context of growing geopolitical tensionsAs Lerena points out, "just as with cyberattacks, in situations of geopolitical tension and possible international sanctions, it is much easier for a system that supports a company to be blocked overnight."

 

Cloud adoption in Europe, which reaches 40% of companies and exceeds 70% in countries such as Finland, stresses the urgency of diversifying the sources of digital services. In Spain, according to the DESI Index 2024, the figure stands at 27%, indicating significant room for growth and the need to prioritize technological sovereignty.

 

The EU has begun taking steps to strengthen its digital autonomy, developing its own social networks, a European cloud, and middleware platforms such as SIMPL to create common data spaces. However, these efforts are hampered by the competitiveness of offerings from the American companies, which often outperform European ones in terms of costs.

 

With nearly 90% of European data stored in US companies and a cloud market dominated by US giants, the EU's technological sovereignty is at a critical crossroads.

 

"We must invest heavily in European technology, and in our case Spanish technology, because there are options to do so. This became clear with the fall of..." CrowdStrike"And the fact is that a structure cannot depend on a single pillar," Lerena emphasizes.

 

Lerena recounts the experience of her company, Pandora FMS, which was contacted by NASA but excluded from the contract because it wasn't American. "Something similar needs to be done in the EU, because otherwise everything will stay the same and the process will be much slower."

 

Data management is emerging as a crucial factor for Europe's digital future. The EU has ambitious goals for adoption of technologies such as AI and Big Data, with projections that Spain will reach 25% of companies using these technologies by the end of this year and that 75% of European companies will adopt them by 2030. Furthermore, public services are expected to be 100% available online.

 

To ensure the protection of this growing volume of data, technological independence becomes imperative. The EU must prioritize the development of its own digital infrastructure and services, fostering innovation and the competitiveness of European companies.