Digital Sovereignty has become a defining concern of contemporary governance. Across regions and political systems, states and societies are seeking greater authority over digital infrastructure, data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, platforms, cybersecurity, and the information systems through which political and economic life is organized. These efforts unfold amid geopolitical fragmentation, technological concentration, democratic instability, and deepening dependence on infrastructures controlled by private and foreign corporations.
This panel invites contributions examining Digital Sovereignty as a political project through which states and societies seek meaningful authority over the technologies shaping public administration, economic development, national security, political communication, and democratic participation.
We ask: how is Digital Sovereignty defined across national and regional contexts? Which institutional, industrial, regulatory, and cognitive capacities are required to pursue it? How do sovereignty strategies redistribute power among governments, corporations, citizens, and international actors? Under what conditions can they expand the ability of societies to determine their own technological futures?
We welcome theoretical, comparative, quantitative, qualitative, and case-based papers from political science, international relations, public policy, political economy, communication, law, and related fields. Contributions may address national digital strategies; artificial intelligence governance; platform and data regulation; digital public infrastructure; semiconductor, software, and cloud dependencies; cybersecurity; cognitive and informational security; technological sanctions; industrial policy; or the relationship between digital capacity and state power. Comparative research on approaches developed by the European Union, BRICS+, middle powers, and countries of the Global South is equally welcome.
Particular attention will be given to the relationship between Digital Sovereignty and democratic self-government. Governing digital infrastructures, data, platforms, and emerging technologies can strengthen democratic participation, public accountability, institutional resilience, and national policy autonomy. It allows societies to establish their own technological priorities, protect citizens and public institutions, and direct digital development according to collectively determined needs.
The panel seeks to advance Digital Sovereignty as a condition of political self-determination. We especially encourage contributions that move beyond dominant frameworks, introduce perspectives from underrepresented countries and regions, or develop new concepts and methods for studying technological autonomy.
