Many companies mistakenly believe that their data is secure simply because the data centre they’ve rented flies a European flag. The reality is far more cynical: as soon as your processes are running on a US public cloud, you lose control.
The legislation leaves no room for doubt. Through laws such as the CLOUD Act and FISA Section 702, the US government effortlessly circumvents European privacy rules. This gives US companies the right to demand access to your sensitive data, without requiring your consent, and even when the data is stored in European data centres.
84 % of IT managers take digital sovereignty into account when choosing a supplier.
Growing awareness
No wonder, then, that ‘digital sovereignty’ should be the key boardroom topic of 2026. Given the geopolitical situation, the risk of interference or an external ‘kill switch’ that could bring your business to a standstill overnight is simply too great.
Even at tech events, it’s almost impossible to avoid the discussion. More and more companies are becoming painfully aware of the risks. Recent research by Forrester revealed that as many as 84 % of IT executives factor digital sovereignty into every supplier selection.
So what about Word?
When it comes to digital sovereignty, most people think only of their most critical infrastructure or processes. But the software your teams use to collaborate on a daily basis also poses a major risk.
Your everyday office software may seem harmless, but it is anything but. The platforms your staff use for email, chat and documents actually contain your organisation’s real intellectual property. If you leave that flow of information in a foreign public cloud, you are completely relinquishing your digital autonomy.
Absolute control
True digital sovereignty cannot, therefore, be achieved through a typical Belgian compromise. For some, a clean break from the cloud may still be a step too far, but an increasing number of organisations are consciously opting for a fully independent alternative.
Globally, more than 500 government bodies and sensitive organisations already rely on HCL Domino. For the more experienced readers amongst you, it may still be familiar under the name Lotus Notes, but a great deal has changed since the 1990s. Today, the platform offers a modern and independent suite for all your email, workflows and data management.
With HCL Domino, your data stays exactly where you decide: on-premises or in a private cloud. What’s more, using Domino IQ, you can run powerful local AI on your own infrastructure, which is completely isolated from external cloud systems. This means your strategic knowledge will never leak to foreign AI models, where it could be used to train your competitors’ systems without your consent.
Join us at the Sovereignty Roundtables
We’ll soon be organising the Belgium Domino Sovereignty Roundtable for Belgian CIOs, CISOs and compliance leads.
An exclusive, closed-door session where we aim to have a frank discussion about digital sovereignty, data and the cloud. Naturally, we’ll outline our vision for HCL Software’s technology, but above all, we’ll take an open-minded look at the issues currently on your boardroom agenda.
We’d love to have you there, but to ensure the setting is as effective as possible, places are limited. So don’t wait too long to register!
