Eurostack

Eurostack

Elastx is part of Eurostack (https://eurostack.eu/), an initiative for Europe to reduce its dependence on foreign digital infrastructure and become a leader in digital sovereignty.

Elastx supports this strategy, and our own strategy aligns with it. Elastx's mission is to help organizations achieve digital sovereignty.

Eurostack has published a white paper and a letter describing the problem, vision, and a strategy to achieve it, and here follows a summary of these.

The Problem: More than 80% of Europe's digital infrastructure and technology is imported, primarily from the USA, which creates problems with sovereignty, power balance, loss of competence, and leads to a large capital outflow.

The Vision: The Eurostack initiative aims to counteract this by establishing a sovereign, open, and interoperable digital infrastructure that aligns with European values and legislation. The goal is for Europe to go from being a "digital colony" to an independent and competitive actor.

1. Buy European

This point is about using Europe's enormous purchasing power to benefit European companies. Instead of allowing public authorities to automatically choose the largest global tech giants, Eurostack wants them to prioritize European suppliers.

This would be achieved through:

• Reforms of public procurement: Introducing rules that give European companies an advantage in public contracts, especially concerning critical infrastructure. This would serve as a catalyst for growth and innovation.
• Definition of "European": Creating clear criteria for what constitutes a "European" digital solution, focusing on factors such as ownership, data management, and compliance with European values and laws like GDPR.
• Prioritization of open source: By encouraging the use of open source, vendor lock-in effects can be avoided, and competition can be promoted.

By "buying European," a strong signal is sent to the market that there is stable demand, which in turn stimulates investment in European companies.

2. Sell European

This point focuses on simplifying sales for European companies, both within and outside the EU's internal market. Although Europe has a large market, fragmentation and a lack of common standards can make it difficult for companies to grow quickly.

The proposed solutions are:

• A common "digital marketplace": Creating a hub that gathers information about European digital solutions, making it easier for both public and private actors to find and compare European alternatives.
• Common standards and interoperability: Promoting the use of open technical standards. This would allow digital solutions to work seamlessly with each other, regardless of their country of origin. A company in Sweden should be able to sell a service to a customer in Spain without having to adapt to entirely new technical requirements.
• Strengthening exports: Facilitating European companies' ability to export their solutions globally by highlighting their unique strengths, such as a focus on security, data integrity, and sustainability.

3. Fund European

Finally, this point is about securing financing to build and scale European digital companies. Today, many promising startups face difficulties in securing sufficient capital to compete with American and Asian giants, which often leads to them being acquired.

Eurostack's strategy includes:

• Mobilizing private and institutional capital: Encouraging pension funds and other institutional investors to channel capital into European tech.
• Using public funds strategically: Using targeted public funds to fill gaps where private financing is insufficient. This could involve supporting the development of key technologies such as microprocessors or cloud infrastructure.
• "European Dynamism Fund of Funds": Creating a fund structure that can invest in other funds, which in turn invest in European startups and scale-ups. This would ensure that European companies can grow into global leaders with European capital.

With today's political climate, now is a unique opportunity to make real change. Let us create a better and more robust digital ecosystem where Europe is competitive and digitally sovereign. This will not happen on its own; European public and private sectors must start collaborating and building this together.