Data sovereignty has moved from a background concern to a board-level priority across Europe. In June 2026, the European Commission set out its European Tech Sovereignty package, signaling a clear policy direction: organizations, and the public sector in particular, are being encouraged to keep greater control over where their data lives and who can access it. 

For many organizations, this has turned a long-standing question into an immediate one. Companies are facing a growing number of requirements related to privacy, cybersecurity, operational resilience and AI governance. GDPR, the EU AI Act, DORA and NIS2 each address different risks, but together they are encouraging organizations to take a closer look at how data is managed, protected and governed.

At the same time, organizations are under pressure to modernize their technology environments and adopt AI.

The challenge is finding the right balance.

At EDB, we see three themes come up consistently in conversations with customers.

The first is deployment flexibility.

Different organizations have different requirements depending on their industry, geography and risk profile. Some prefer public cloud environments. Others require private cloud, sovereign cloud or on-premises deployments. Many need a combination of these approaches.

EDB’s market-leading sovereign data and AI platform, EDB Postgres AI, supports deployment across these environments, helping organizations align their technology strategy with their business, regulatory and operational requirements.

The second is avoiding unnecessary lock-in.

Technology decisions made today can have long-term consequences. Organizations want the freedom to adapt as regulations evolve, business priorities change and new technologies emerge.

Because EDB is built on PostgreSQL, customers benefit from an open source foundation that supports portability and choice. Open standards can make it easier to integrate systems, migrate workloads and maintain flexibility over time.

This open foundation also aligns with the direction European policymakers are taking, including the EU's Open Source Strategy, which highlights open source as a way to strengthen control and reduce dependence on any single provider.

The third is governance.

The rapid adoption of AI is bringing increased attention to how data is managed and protected. Organizations need visibility into where data resides, how it is accessed and how it is governed. They also need confidence that technology providers are approaching privacy, security and responsible AI thoughtfully.

EDB supports these efforts through our governance, security and compliance programs, including participation in the EU AI Pact and the publication of our AI Principles and Trust Center resources.

The conversation around digital sovereignty is often framed as a question of where data is stored. In practice, it is much broader than that. Organizations are increasingly focused on maintaining control over their data, preserving flexibility in how technology is deployed and ensuring they can continue to innovate as requirements evolve.

Meeting data sovereignty and data protection requirements should not require organizations to sacrifice innovation. With the right technology foundation, organizations can pursue both.