Data is the new strategic resource of the digital economy, but relying on non-European infrastructures means exposing ourselves to real risks. Our CEO, Pietro Labriola, explains why Sovereign Cloud is the answer. Read the introduction to the instant book and download the full version.
Introduction
We live in an era in which data, as well as algorithms and applications, are the new oil*. They fuel the digital economy, guide strategic decisions, and define the competitive advantage of nations. But, like oil, data need infrastructures to be verified, collected, transformed, and securely distributed. Today these infrastructures are called Cloud.
In an interconnected world, digital sovereignty has become a matter of national security, strategic autonomy, and industrial competitiveness. It does not concern only Public Administration, it concerns the entire national system.
Because everyday billions of sensitive pieces of information travel through networks and data centers, often managed by operators subject to the regulations of third countries (outside the EU). This exposes our businesses, our institutions, and our citizens to concrete risks: cyberattacks, industrial espionage, foreign legal interference, privacy violations, and ultimately the risk of technological dependence and loss of competitiveness for European industry.
The Sovereign Cloud is the answer to this challenge: a digital infrastructure that ensures that the most important data, algorithms, and services remain under the full legal, technological, and operational control of the country.
In Italy, the National Strategic Hub (PSN) represents a first concrete step in this direction, but the stakes are higher: to build a model capable of protecting and enhancing the entire economic and social ecosystem, public and private.
This instant book was created with an educational purpose: to explain what the Sovereign Cloud is, why it is strategic, which models exist, what benefits it can bring, and what challenges it entails. A journey through international scenarios, best practices, and future visions, to understand why today digital sovereignty is no longer an option but a necessity.
In the digital economy, data are the most strategic resource, the basic fuel of Artificial Intelligence. Like oil in the last century, they generate growth, power, and innovation. The difference is that data do not run out, but are reused and multiplied through different services and applications. Artificial Intelligence also makes critical the algorithms that implement it, in addition to the data themselves.
How can we protect and govern this resource in an interconnected but geopolitically unstable world? Let us see what it is about.
Pietro Labriola
* The phrase “Data is the new oil” was coined by British mathematician and entrepreneur Clive Humby in 2006. Humby used this expression to emphasize that, like crude oil, raw data itself has no value unless refined and analyzed to extract usefulness and profit. Since then, the phrase has become popular to highlight the strategic importance of data processing in the modern digital economy.
