Sopra Steria is joining forces with eleven major European tech and telecoms players — A1 Digital, Airbus, Dassault Systèmes, Deutsche Telekom, evroc, OpenNebula Systems, Orange, OVHcloud, Post Luxembourg, Schwarz Digits and Telecom Italia — to found ESTIA, the European Sovereign Tech Industry Alliance.
This new alliance, announced at the European Digital Sovereignty Summit, marks an important step in building a truly sovereign and competitive digital space in Europe.
A shared commitment to a truly sovereign cloud
In response to Europe’s growing dependence on non-European providers — with nearly 90% of European data currently being transferred outside the EU, according to the Draghi report — ESTIA’s members are joining forces to promote an ambitious and coherent vision of digital sovereignty.
Their commitment is built around four priorities:
- Promoting European sovereign cloud services through coordinated political initiatives;
- Enshrining a clear definition of sovereign cloud in the future Cloud and AI Development Act (CAIDA), inspired by the EUCS High+ standard, ensuring European control, data localisation and protection from extraterritorial legislation;
- Supporting the establishment of a principle of European preference in public cloud procurement, essential to creating a genuine anchor market;
- Strengthening the EU’s digital sovereignty and competitiveness through industrial policies grounded in European values and driven by leading European players.
By publishing a joint manifesto — the European Sovereign Cloud Pledge — the alliance is calling for strong political action to structure, secure and accelerate the development of a trustworthy European cloud capable of ensuring resilience, transparency and service continuity for citizens, the public sector and businesses.
Sopra Steria: a committed player serving European sovereignty
As a long-standing partner of major European public and private organisations, Sopra Steria places security, digital trust and control of key technologies at the heart of its strategy. Its established commitment to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, defence, data, cloud and trustworthy AI makes the Group a key player in Europe’s digital strategic autonomy.
Speaking at the Franco-German Summit on digital sovereignty, Xavier Pecquet, CEO of Sopra Steria, said: “Europe is at a turning point: control over its digital infrastructure is no longer simply a technological issue, but a strategic imperative. As a leading technology partner to the essential sectors of society, Sopra Steria intends to play an active role in building a model of sovereignty that protects our data, strengthens our capacity for innovation and serves the common good.”
Through ESTIA, Sopra Steria thus reaffirms its ambition: to build, alongside its partners, a robust, ethical and fully sovereign European digital space.
Download the “European Sovereign Cloud Pledge” manifesto