Europe is ditching US tech — what does this mean for researchers?

Henna Virkkunen, executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy at the European Commission, announced the plans in the European Tech Sovereignty Package. Credit: Thierry Monasse/Getty Across Europe, governments are reducing their reliance on US technology companies. On 3 June, the European Commission laid out plans in the European Tech Sovereignty Package, which includes several proposals to enhance digital autotomy, including plans to boost home-grown cloud services and artificial intelligence and promote use of open-source technologies. “We live in a world where geopolitics and technology are inseparable,” Henna Virkkunen, the commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “It is time for Europe to be in control of its data, of its supply chains and of its future in a clean and sustainable way.” Europe must become a research epicentre as US system gets undermined Several European countries have already been moving away from US technologies, and some researchers are feeling the effects of these shifts. …