Trends in digital sovereignty have been changing over recent years as a result of changes in regulation. The European Commission has recently opened a public consultation on the software open source, a step that lays the foundations for the commitment to the independence of their developer communities from the platforms of the large American technology companies. Executives from Red Hat, one of the leading providers of open source software for the enterprise, share their reflections on this transformation.
Open source and talent, key to digital sovereignty
(Por Julio Guijarro, chief technology officer, EMEA, Red Hat)
In 2026, we hope to see a shift where digital sovereignty goes from a strategic aspiration to a reality in procurement. After a year of intense preparation to adapt to regulatory changes, organizations are no longer wondering if they should prioritize sovereignty, but rather how to design operational autonomy.
The rollout of major regulations such as DORA and NIS2 in Europe, and increasing data residency requirements in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, is driving a fundamental shift in supplier relationships, where the ability to independently verify the integrity of the entire technology stack becomes a prerequisite for every new contract.
Sovereign AI will become a central pillar in the strategy of nations and corporations. Organizations will increasingly turn to sovereign data centers and AI factories, from the European Union to the Gulf and across the Asia-Pacific region, to maintain control over your sensitive intellectual property and training dataprotecting them both from the laws of other countries that could require access to them, and from any action or capacity of their own technology providers that could compromise that control or access.
To achieve digital autonomy, organizations will adopt a two-pronged strategy: first, accelerating the transition to open source, vendor-agnostic and interoperable architectures to eliminate technological dependency. Second, they will invest heavily in the education and development of local talent to ensure they have the expertise to manage these independent systems. True sovereignty cannot be externalized; Therefore, 2026 will see a boom in investment to improve national educational programs and training in specific skills.
Digital sovereignty, the strategic basis to offer verifiable autonomy, control and resilience
(Por Conduction, EMEA Software & ISV Ecosystem, Red Hat)
Digital sovereignty will continue to shape the European software market, as a result of the search for greater digital autonomy and operational resilience. This represents a fundamental change in the market, which goes beyond regulatory compliance, as seen in previous years. This change is being driven by important macroeconomic factors and regulatory needs.
New rules and regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the Network and Information Systems Security Directive 2 (NIS2) and the Data Act are redefining market expectations for data security and management. Customers demand greater control over their data and a clearer understanding of their digital supply chains. Therefore, there is an increasing focus on reducing technological dependencies and mitigating operational risks associated with third-party providers.
The key question is no longer just where the data is stored, but who ultimately has control and access to it. This changes the competitive landscape for software providers. Building verifiable trust is now a key business objectiveleading to a “sovereignty by design” approach. This has become a competitive business advantage.
However, the greatest evolution is at the organizational level. Success requires a cultural shift from a traditional legal compliance task to a product capability mindset. This requires that sovereignty be part of the overall product feature, part of the software architecture, and not something that runs in parallel or is tacked on at the end.
In 2026, the conversation will shift from regulatory awareness to proven execution. The market leaders will be those who have achieved this organizational leap, leveraging enterprise open source not only as a technological choice, but as the strategic foundation to deliver the verifiable autonomy, control and resilience that our customers now demand.
