A collective proposal by the Democratic and Ecological Digital Sovereignty Coalition - see below.
> *Reclaiming Digital Sovereignty - A roadmap to build a digital stack for people and the planet*. December 2024. Downloaded 27aug2025 at https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10202865/
Lead authors: - Cecilia Rikap, University College London - Cédric Durand, University of Geneva - Edemilson Paraná, LUT University, Finland - Paolo Gerbaudo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Paris Marx, Host of *Tech Won't Save Us*
Digital technologies are crucial for the proper functioning of modern societies, yet the way we currently arrange their development and deployment promotes economic centralization and winner-takes-most dynamics that work against the public good. Given the high costs to develop these technologies, their relevance and their ecological footprint, a plan for an alternative model requires states to step in and design public, multilateral institutions with autonomy from specific governments that can provide infrastructure and essential digital services as public services or commons built through international cooperation.
# Key quotes > In this document we refer to the **“digital stack”** as the overlapping layers and nodes of technology and governance mechanisms that are necessary for the delivery of digital services. That means the material, immaterial and political means ensuring the robustness of the coevolution of everything from the infrastructure of undersea cables, data centres, and the computer hardware within them to the software and libraries of code necessary to deliver public platforms and digital services. \[p.5]
> Sovereignty is about democratic control by states and their people. Democratic digital sovereignty requires we build up their **capacities to steer the development of science and technology**, so citizens can access, understand, and produce technology that truly improves their lives. \[p.6]
> The rapid spread of AI . . .has intensified the already overwhelming pressure to adopt all sorts of digital technologies without the **proper assessment** of their potential benefits and drawbacks. Big Tech and their allies are pushing to make AI the general method of invention \[p.7]
> While sovereignty is mostly seen as an endeavour involving individual states, digital sovereignty is out of reach for most states if they operate on their own. . . .A digital agenda that is both ecological and internationalist should advance alongside any efforts within the United Nations. We welcome efforts toward a **Digital Non-Aligned Movement** (DNAM) with regional and civil society chapters dedicated to the provision of a universal public option of open-access, non-profit digital services \[p.8]
> \[Th]e dominance of largely US tech firms allow governments to surveil people around the world, violate their rights, and unilaterally decide when to cut them off. We encourage states to negotiate an **enforceable agreement** stating that the use of digital technologies for surveillance, targeting, and extermination against their citizens and those beyond their borders is strictly forbidden. \[p.9]
# Key proposals
1 Public-led digital stack
Offer a democratic, public-led digital stack that shall include: - 1 **Digital infrastructure as a service** (for training, processing and developing digital solutions) provided by non-profit and democratic international consortia; - 2 **Platform commons:** universal platforms, such as search engines and foundation AI models, that should be a commons governed by new public institutions with state and civil society representation; and - 3 A **public marketplace** where companies can offer their computing services without lock-ins. To assure demand, states shall procure from this marketplace and end contracts with Big Tech.
2 Research agenda
Craft a research agenda focused on digital developments that are not driven by the hype or pressures of technological solutionism but that have the potential to solve collective problems and enhance human capacities.
This agenda would require consideration for the ethical, economic, ecological, and political impacts of technological development and adoption, including of AI applications. It should also be inspired by addressing the world’s main challenges in a holistic, interdisciplinary, and non-profit way.
For this end, public knowledge networks led by a new **public international research agency (or regional agencies)** could counterbalance the expanded concentration of private and closed science.
3 Ecological internationalism
Ground digital sovereignty in an ecological internationalism that rejects seeing sovereignt as a battlefield among countries, which neglects that today’s rulers are not only powerful states but also leading corporations.
This could be promoted as a chapter of the [Non-Aligned Technologies Movement](https://www.tierracomun.net/en/natm) that recognises how *nationalist technological agendas* will worsen the ecological breakdown and exacerbate underdevelopment. Internationalism is also an antidote to individual government surveillance and power abuses, and is essential for minimising the resources needed to build a democratic, public digital stack.
4 Dismantle state surveillance
Establish strict mechanisms at every step to dismantle existing and prevent potential forms of state surveillance or misappropriation of collective solutions by specific governments. Multilateral agreements on principles and rules for the internet are indispensable safeguards for building autonomous and democratically governed institutions and solutions.
Contents
- Introduction - I. A public-led digital stack - II. A sovereign research and development strategy - III. Ecological internationalism - IV. A democratic stack: expanding human and civil rights - V. Regulation and taxation - VI. Retrofitting markets authorities for the digital age - Lots of stuff on *market-financial dimensions* of digital infrastructure - VII. Dismantling intellectual monopolies - A first yet decisive step - About lead authors - provides email addresses - Contributors - Many contributors, two pages of names
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Sponsoring organisation . . . # (Democratic & ecological) Digital Sovereignty Coalition Comment: Where is 'ecological'? 'The planet' is a bit tacked on in the report. It's mainly about states, their boundaries and regulation. Secondarily about digital infrastructures and operations in the public (state-funded or -operated) field and in the commons. **Stewarding** is a frame, rather than just 'democracy'.
Comment: Three fields are identified (a useful distinction): - artificial intelligence - data - digital infrastructure.
Comment: confronts 'the unchecked influence of governments and corporations over our digital lives' - ie, beyond the market and the state.
> The [Digital Sovereignty Coalition](https://digitalsovereigntycoalition.org/about) exists to protect civil liberties, democratize technological power, and ensure that the future of artificial intelligence, data, and digital infrastructure reflects the values of freedom, equity, and self-determination. > Rooted in the **moral legacy of the Civil Rights Movement** and driven by today’s urgent need for technological justice, DSC brings together citizens, technologists, policymakers, and advocates to confront the unchecked influence of governments and corporations over our digital lives. Founder: [Everett Kelsey](https://digitalsovereigntycoalition.org/founder)
> ETHICAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT The DDSC supports **and incubates and stewards** open-source, culturally conscious, and sovereign AI tools that prioritize inclusion, consent, and local governance. Our technical initiatives and stewarding — including **repositories**, **civic LLMs**, and **verification systems** — are built by and for the communities they aim to serve.