We have made ourselves dependent. On a handful of companies that dominate and control our digital infrastructures. They decide how we communicate, how we inform ourselves, which voices become visible – and which do not. That is too much concentrated power in too few hands.

Since Donald Trump's second term, a new challenge has emerged: through sanctions, export controls or the US Cloud Act, pressure can be exerted at any time – on administrations, companies and every individual user. At the same time, the EU Commission is hesitating to consistently enforce its own rules to protect democracy and competition. Out of fear of car tariffs and diplomatic repercussions.

The result: startups suffer from limited competition, public-interest communication spaces have fewer opportunities, and there is a lack of democratic influence over the infrastructures on which our public life takes place. Authorities, schools, hospitals, media – all depend on systems they do not control themselves.
That things can be done differently is shown by others. Schleswig-Holstein is gradually switching to open-source software and regaining control over its administration. France is building its own tools, its own clouds, its own infrastructures. Both demonstrate: digital sovereignty is not an abstract construct. It is the prerequisite for being able to make independent decisions as a democracy.

How can we as a society find ways out of this dependency? How do we build public-interest structures that belong to us – and not the other way around? This is one of the top topics at re:publica this year.