top of page

European digital sovereignity

Anonymous

April 26, 2023

European digital sovereignity

This image was generated with Dream Studio AI.

In 2040, Europeans have achieved digital sovereignity - all important digital services like search, cloud storage, messengers, social networks, video conferencing, etc. are offered from European data centers, adhering European privacy laws. This has happened after the EU decided to create a European foundation to fund free and open source software (FOSS). The foundation reached out to the European open source community, offering to host the two most-used FOSS packages in each category, plus supporting key members of the open source community (but participation in the development of this software was limited to European citizens). As a reaction to this offer, FOSS has taken a great leap and the European software has taken the lead in the world of FOSS. In addition to the services itself, supporting infrastructure such as encryption and authentication and auditing, is available as European FOSS to every citizen.

For example, every citizen receives European-verified certificates for encryption of emails, messages, or storage, for free. It's European infrastructure, paid by general taxes, like streets and education. Non-European citizens may buy access to this infrastructure.

In this future, Europeans may reap the benefits of computers and internet without being tracked and their data being sold by companies for company profits. Instead, the privacy of the individual person takes priority over profits.

related stories

hallo
Immagino
I envision a Europe where the dictates of political parties are just a bad reminder of how things have failed in the past. I imagine a single land of European peoples united by a common interest in solving their own problems, without having to deal with political assumptions that have led to the collapse and ruin of democratic states and the despair of so many citizens, who have lived and suffered within a community that should have solved so many problems and, instead, has brought new ones. I imagine my Europe, for which I fought my most tender years, free from the accartona politics, whose goal is the seat, it is their own "particulare," and not the family (that of others); it is the appearance at any cost, putting their signature on even the most unimaginable documents. They care little anyway, as long as they "enter history." So much for Europe, to which they fatten themselves by saying they are parliamentarians. I imagine Europe uniting peoples and people, but, not with a common currency, which has impoverished them. A Europe that is not carried away by the often morbid imagination of a few, and that, above all, the men and women who represent it, live on this earth!
hallo
Future : retour vers le passé
In fact, I think the future is horrible; I'd like to go back to the real values of the 1970s and 1980s; I'd like a world without war, without violence, where people appreciate each other; I'd like to go back to a less technological world, while keeping the good sides of this technology, the useful side, but without scam, spam, with real encounters, not virtual ones.I'd like to rediscover love between humans, not this dehumanization where machines replace human contact.
hallo
Tout va bien dans le meilleur des mondes
For me, the future would be a world without war, with everyone getting on well, everyone getting enough to eat, no more fatal diseases in the foreseeable future thanks to advances in medicine, artificial intelligence and so on, tightly controlled immigration and the lifelong sheltering of all these criminals.
hallo
Nur geträumt
Humanity has come to its senses. We now have enough agriculture in Germany again and can feed ourselves, are independent and free. Asparagus is only available in asparagus season and strawberries only in summer. And tomatoes taste like tomatoes again. We get them directly from the farmer in the farm store or in small corner stores where we like to stop for a chat with the neighbors. Where there used to be huge supermarkets, there are now large playgrounds for our little ones, free-range enclosures for man's best friends and hospitals. We have leveled and renaturalized many highways or converted them into local recreation areas. We are currently in the process of dismantling residential silos with more than five storeys and creating new living space. This will keep us busy for some time yet, after which we will turn off the alarm clock and wake up from our dream.
Join #OurFutures now!

The future is shaped by our ideas and our actions today. Tell us about your visions of the future and help us create a futures narrative aimed at inspiring citizens, policy-makers and foresight experts alike!

Our-futures-banner-coloured_v3.jpg

The European Commission support does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained.

ERA_logo.jpg

We support the European Research Area aimed at creating a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology in the EU.

©OurFutures 2025, All rights reserved.

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
bottom of page