Mirko Boehm, senior director for Community Development at the Linux Foundation Europe, said policy makers should “require that every major IT procurement includes an assessment of strategic dependency.
“If a ministry in one of the member states signs a contract with a hyperscaler, that’s not just an IT decision, it’s an industrial policy decision, a skills development decision, a technology transfer decision, and a digital sovereignty decision,” said Boehm. “These are all costs that are currently not considered in procurement.”
Every euro invested in public sector procurement generates multiples more in subsequent economic activity, said Boeh, a benefit that Europe misses out on by purchasing most of its technologies from US tech companies.
