Germany Pushes for Digital Sovereignty: Building a 'German Stack' to Counter US Tech Giants

Germany's Federal Minister for Digital Affairs, Karsten Wildberger, recently called for greater digital sovereignty for Germany and Europe at the re:publica internet conference. He advocates for open standards and open source as guiding principles, highlighting the need to reduce Europe's dependence on US tech giants. To achieve this, Germany plans to build a "German Stack," a unified IT infrastructure and cloud services to avoid redundant development. He also stressed the importance of digital identity, secure payment systems, and fostering a domestic digital economy. The German government is committed to establishing European-led structures in cloud computing to promote fair, open, and innovation-driven competition.