On Tuesday, SAP said it intends to spend more than 20 billion euros (almost $23.3 billion) improving its sovereign cloud functionality across Europe for the next ten years. The corporation said it is expanding its sovereign cloud solutions to include an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform, which will let companies use a range of computing services via its wide data center network.
Leading companies like Microsoft and Amazon dominate the IaaS market. The German software behemoth SAP will also present a fresh on-site solution allowing clients to run SAP-managed infrastructure services right from their own data centers. SAP’s €20 billion project mainly aims to make certain that customer data stays inside the European Union, therefore guaranteeing adherence to local data protection legislation, including the GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation.
Thomas Saueressig, a member of SAP’s board in charge of guiding consumer services and delivery, stressed ‘Innovation and sovereignty’ during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. There cannot be two distinct things; they must unite. He continued by saying that it is vital for European companies to have access to leading-edge technical advances, including artificial intelligence, ‘in a completely independent framework.’
Over the past year, the idea of technological sovereignty has become quite well-known as geopolitical conflicts have forced businesses to rethink their reliance on outside technology. Countries everywhere are progressively looking to build onshore computing facilities needed for training and running sophisticated artificial intelligence systems.
Driven by this trend, large international technology companies such as Amazon and Microsoft have revealed fresh sovereign cloud projects such as Windows 11 25H2, intended to guarantee that the data of European members is securely stored inside the EU. As SAP’s €20 billion plan works toward it, the European Commission, which acts as the executive arm of the EU, has given top priority to artificial intelligence to improve its position against the U.S. and China competitively. Historically, Europe has trailed behind other countries overall in technological development.
