Ibrahim Haddad, Ph.D.’s Post

How do governments in Europe achieve #digital_governance? I today had the honour to present and discuss the preliminary findings of a EU-wide survey about how the governance and management of IT projects, IT-systems and digital public infrastructure is coordinated and centralized across ministries and agencies in European governments. The study is conducted under the #Danish_EUPAN_Presidency as a collaboration between the Danish Agency for Public Finance and Management (Økonomistyrelsen) and the Hertie School Centre for Digital Governance based on survey of 36 countries in Europe. The final findings will be presented at the #EUPAN General Directors´ Meeting on December 1-2. And as always a very rewarding exchage with representatives from nearly 40 European countries. I was especially impressed by the Danish government experiences and see a lot of learning tansfers for the German Bundesministerium für Digitales und Staatsmodernisierung 🔹Increasing cyber security for government with a clear move towards open source and cloud solutions 🔹An ambitious program to reduce costs not through simple cost-cutting but a transformation towards a smaller state with a focus on moving towards shared services (no cutting of frontline services) 🔹A clear focus on using AI in public administration with a clear differentation of generative AI and rule-based machine learning use cases and measures to ensure scaling; and an AI solution (ØSA) encompassing general chat, special chat and a personal konoweldge bank they regard as a "killer use case" 🔹a very powerful way of digital governance via an independent IT-Council with the mandate to review and assess digital projects and IT-systems across all ministries and agencies For further information on EUPAN (European Public Administration Network) see: https://www.eupan.eu/ Very best thanks to Line Nørbæk and Thomas Stoltenberg-Gloy for hosting the EUPAN meeting and Karen Ejersbo Iversen, Sander Andreas Schwartz and Jens Nonboe Andersen for such a rewarding collaboration.

Digital sovereignty has graduated from buzzword to boardroom priority. With 98% of organizations either implementing or planning data sovereignty policies and 82% in the UK questioning dependence on Big Tech, this article outlines how sovereignty is now central to trust, competitiveness, and survival. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/e5KyMGmU #DataSovreignty #DigitalSovreignty #Compliance

We want smarter, simpler EU Digital regulation. The Charter of Trust has submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s public consultation on the Digital Omnibus Package - a timely legislative initiative to bring greater coherence to the EU’s rapidly expanding digital regulatory framework. Recent legislation has enhanced security, privacy, and trust, yet overlapping obligations and inconsistent timelines have increased complexity for businesses. The Digital Omnibus Package offers an opportunity to simplify and harmonize these rules, allowing companies to focus resources on resilience and innovation rather than redundant compliance. In our submission, we call for: 👉 A unified incident reporting system and fair, risk-based compliance processes and global recognition of certifications  👉 Alignment between the rules on data intermediation services data sharing 👉 Phased approach to new requirements under the AI Act 👉 A future-proof ePrivacy framework and robust standards for the EU Business Wallet Our goal: a coherent regulatory framework that strengthens trust while freeing up resources for innovation across Europe. Read our full contribution to the consultation here: https://lnkd.in/e6Ek6FBu

Digital sovereignty has graduated from buzzword to boardroom priority. With 98% of organisations either implementing or planning data sovereignty policies and 82% in the UK questioning dependence on Big Tech, this article outlines how sovereignty is now central to trust, competitiveness, and survival. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/e34x-Exm #DataSovreignty #DigitalSovreignty #Compliance

Three reflections from John Edwards following his appearance at today’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Committee session on the Ministry of Defence breach and our broader work. 💬"Data protection is seen as a technical skill that's discharged somewhere else. ‘Don't worry, we've got a DPO.’ In the modern age, that is not enough. There're not just technical and technological challenges (in preventing breaches like the Ministry of Defence); it needs to be embedded in the culture." The Ministry of Defence breach was a stark reminder of the human cost of poor data handling. It was unacceptable and should never happen again – the stakes are simply too high. We will continue to work with government to support them implementing measures to raise information security and data protection standards. You can read more about the commitments made by the Government Chief Security Officer and Government Chief Technology officer here: https://lnkd.in/edtGigzx 💬"We have an approach to regulating the public sector. We intend to maximise our impact and, as a result, maximise the protections for the whole of society." Raising standards in this way will help us to build public trust and unlock transformation. We are working on a joint commitment, in the form of a memorandum of understanding, that will explain how we will collaborate with government so its ambitions to use new technologies to transform public services, create a modern digital government, and drive economic growth are done so with the appropriate safeguards in place. We will agree with government on how my office can receive assurance on the delivery. 💬 “We don't want to get in the way of innovation. If you're going to do something for people, you have a lot of latitude. If you're going to do something to them, you need to have a thorough examination of your legal powers and potential negative impacts.” This approach - seeing innovation and regulation as partners rather than opposing factors - is key for the ICO. We welcome today’s government announcement for further regulatory sandboxes. Regulatory certainty is an important driver of organisations investing in transformational technology, and we’ve prioritised supporting innovation in AI, particularly as part of our existing and developing sandbox services. Our regulatory sandbox has been supporting businesses for five years. From our work with age verification company Yoti to fine tune their age estimation technology to help keep young people safe online, to our work with FlyingBinary to develop online services which support mental health patients. You can read more about our Sandbox: https://lnkd.in/e8xMTNfT You can watch the full committee here: https://lnkd.in/eu8Vm3fv

Exciting news for the digital landscape in Brazil! The European Commission has published a draft adequacy decision recognizing Brazil’s data protection framework as “essentially equivalent” to the EU’s GDPR. Once finalized, this will enable seamless, secure, and legally certain transfers of personal data between Brazil and the EU—eliminating the need for complex contractual safeguards and reducing compliance burdens for businesses. In parallel, Brazil has introduced new special tax regimes (REDATA and REPES) to attract investment in datacenter infrastructure and IT services, with strong incentives for sustainability and innovation. These developments may position Brazil as a strategic hub for digital services in the region and open opportunities for cross-border business, investment, and digital innovation. #DataProtection #Brazil #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #LatAm

With Databeamer, we’re creating a secure, sovereign alternative to the way organizations share files and communicate. Away from Big Tech, and toward privacy and trust. We believe data should stay private, encrypted and under European control. It should never be harvested to fuel someone else’s algorithms. It’s a small step for companies, but a meaningful move toward digital sovereignty and independence. If you're exploring more ethical, secure, and compliant tools in your IT landscape, this might be the right place to start. #PrivacyFirst #DigitalSovereignty #DataSecurity #BuiltInEurope #SecureSharing

Sectrend Insights: 《Open Source as Europe's Strategic Advantage: Trends, Barriers, and Priorities for the European Open Source Community amid Regulatory and Geopolitical Shifts》Report (August 2025) This latest report reveals the realities of Europe's open source ecosystem—highlighting both strengths and challenges: ✅ Current State: 64% of European organizations use open source OS. Adoption rates exceed 50% in cloud-native and data management domains, with open source AI growing rapidly! However, only 34% have a formal open source strategy. Executive awareness lags 24% behind technical teams, and talent investment remains critically insufficient. ✅ Policy Breakthroughs: Europe positions open source as a cornerstone of its digital sovereignty! Germany established a Sovereign Tech Fund; France’s government open source suite has been adopted by 30% of local administrations; Denmark is breaking proprietary software monopolies. Yet, implementing the Cyber Resilience Act remains challenging—62% of respondents are unfamiliar with the new regulations, and SMEs face significant compliance pressure. ✅ Security Restructuring: SBOM has become a compliance essential! Large organizations have deployed automated security tools, but 40% of SMEs lack both tools and expertise, hindering supply chain security progress. ✅ Future Directions: Short-term focus on closing compliance gaps; mid-term, building an open source AI ecosystem; long-term, driving public sector transformation. Understanding both ourselves and the landscape is key to navigating every challenge successfully. Interested in learning how Europe is leveraging open source to address geopolitical challenges and strengthen cybersecurity? Let’s discuss with Sectrend. #OpenSource #DigitalSovereignty #CyberResilienceAct #CRA #SBOM #SupplyChainSecurity #EuropeTech #OpenSourceAI #Sectrend

Digital innovation drives U.S. economic strength, global influence, and democratic values. Falling behind risks ceding leadership to rivals and undermining financial sovereignty. As I explained in my Q&A with Open Frontier (https://lnkd.in/eYcrYaEc), building trustworthy infrastructure, embedding democratic guardrails, and supporting private and public-sector innovation, we can ensure secure, equitable participation. Strong digital identity and privacy-enhancing technologies can safeguard consumers and national security. Responsible innovation keeps the U.S. at the forefront of the evolving digital economy. #OpenFrontier #DigitalInnovation #FinancialInclusion #ResponsibleTech #USLeadership

Data sovereignty controls are a non-negotiable for EU public sector organisations. IT leaders want genuine, verifiable control over their communications data. This is why our sovereignty explainer from Zoom is a must-read. It lays out a clear and practical three-layer framework designed to empower public sector IT leaders with enhanced sovereignty controls: 💾 Platform Layer (Data Residency): Dedicated EU Infrastructure to keep critical data physically and logically within European borders. 🔒 Encryption Layer (Cryptographic Control): Options like Customer Managed Key (CMK) or Hold-Your-Own-Key (HYOK) to own and manage encryption keys. 🏠 Content Layer (Hybrid Hosting): Utilizing Zoom Node to run media routing, chat, and recordings directly within the organization’s own IT environment for ultimate localization and resiliency. If your organisation is navigating these complexities or data sovereignty keeps you up at night, dive into this article! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/epcGCMjW