Business & Policy
Digital sovereignty
Digital sovereignty is the ability to make informed, durable choices about critical technology, suppliers, skills and data.
Why it matters
The practical question is which dependencies an organisation or country must understand, influence, substitute or support over the required lifetime.
In brief
Digital sovereignty is the ability to make informed, durable choices about critical technology, suppliers, skills and data. A multi-architecture CHERI ecosystem can contribute by creating more options for secure processors and software, but sovereignty depends on control of the wider stack and supply chain.
Key considerations
1. Technology options
Assess processor IP, foundry, board, toolchain, operating-system and application dependencies rather than focusing on the ISA alone.
2. Skills and maintenance
Invest in teams and institutions capable of reviewing, porting, assuring and sustaining the stack.
3. Interoperability
Prefer open specifications, portable software and testable interfaces that reduce avoidable lock-in while retaining accountable suppliers.
Evidence and caveats
A technology developed or supplied locally is not automatically secure, maintainable or independent; and complete self-sufficiency is rarely a realistic target.
Show assumptions, ranges, dates and owners for economic or policy claims. Recheck legislation, guidance, product status and prices at the decision date.