Digital sovereignty through the prism of global law

Additional Insights

• The Digital Sovereignty Spectrum (Infographic)

Digital sovereignty is a complex and ever-evolving web of technological, institutional and societal variables shaped by the global exchange of information, goods and services. As a result, digital sovereignty is not necessarily a binary choice between isolationism and free trade, but a spectrum of possibilities that enable nations and regions to "act deliberately within an interdependent system." 

Oftentimes, this deliberate action is effectuated through a range of laws, regulations and policies; these can be further distilled into categories of data governance, infrastructure resilience, government access, algorithmic accountability and cybersecurity safeguards. In different combinations, these categories afford nations with geopolitical agency tailored to suit their position in the global community, whether it be hegemonic self-reliance or mutual benefit through integration. 

While regulation is merely one dimension of digital sovereignty, this lens provides a helpful framework for comparing sovereign motivations and projecting future policy efforts to remain competitive and secure. Moreover, the categories themselves can, at times, be organized into a second order spectrum based on their purpose and broader impact on sovereignty — from restrictive and closed to permissive and open. Placing nations along this range, the digital sovereignty spectrum — and the policies that it comprises — can be an essential barometer for interpreting a world where "technology and geopolitics are increasingly intertwined."

Data governance