Europe’s Cloud Quest: Can Airbus-Style Unity Tackle Big Tech Giants?
Europe’s digital sovereignty ambitions are taking a page from Airbus’ playbook. Just as Airbus challenged Boeing, Europe aims to tackle Big Tech with GAIA-X. However, it’s less about creating a digital David to take on Goliaths and more about creating a federation of tech champions to reduce over-reliance on America.
Hot Take:
Move over Airbus, there’s a new European dream in town—it’s called GAIA-X, and it’s got aspirations higher than the cloud. But let’s hope it doesn’t take as long to take off as the A320 did, or we might all be living in the metaverse by then!
Key Points:
- Europe is aiming to reduce reliance on US tech giants by creating a sovereign cloud initiative akin to the Airbus model.
- GAIA-X is the EU’s ambitious project to establish digital sovereignty, but it’s a slow burn, needing political and industrial alignment.
- US cloud services dominate Europe, yet European governments are encouraged to support local IT providers through contracts.
- GAIA-X’s structure includes four levels of digital sovereignty, with the highest requiring data providers to be headquartered in Europe.
- While GAIA-X makes strides, skepticism remains about its pace and effectiveness against the Big Tech behemoths.
Already a member? Log in here