Europe must ‘get real’ on tech sovereignty and stay open, warns industry group

As Europe pushes for tech sovereignty, one open-source advocate has a warning: don’t forget global cooperation.

Amanda Brock, CEO of industry group OpenUK, told TNW that the EU must “get real” about the trade-offs of going it alone.

Brock said tech policymakers must move beyond “tit-for-tat schoolyard politics” and instead “protect global collaboration whilst ensuring the needs of their citizens are met.”  

Her comments follow a speech by Eva Maydell in Brussels yesterday, where the Bulgarian lawmaker urged Europe to “sober up” in its quest for tech independence.  

“We need to have a very clear outline plan which, first and foremost, assesses where our strengths are, where we have certain dependencies, and where we need to cooperate,” said Maydell.

In a bid to reduce reliance on global tech giants, European institutions have been ramping up efforts to grow homegrown capabilities in areas such as AI, cloud computing, and semiconductors ...