Implementing Digital Sovereignty

Implementing Digital Sovereignty: Open technologies for non-profit and cultural organisations is a project proposal, currently under development and with a focus on Switzerland. The project is conceived by Iolanda Pensa (SUPSI). Please find here the relevance of the project for the Wikimedia Movement.

Project Summary

Social challenge

Digital sovereignty has become a widely discussed and internationally debated issue, creating increasing urgency for public-interest institutions to reduce dependence on closed infrastructures and explore alternatives based on free and open software.

While digital sovereignty is central in public-sector policies and strategies, far less attention is given to non-profit and cultural organisations that lack dedicated IT capacity. Existing initiatives focus mainly on governmental infrastructures and procurement policies, leaving the operational challenges of smaller institutions largely unexplored. This creates a structural gap between policy discourse and everyday implementation.

Non-profit and cultural organisations are institutions that provide public services, but most rely on proprietary platforms for communication, archiving, collaboration, and public engagement. This dependency raises issues of autonomy, privacy, user digital rights, accessibility, interoperability, long-term sustainability, and control over data and cultural content. Even organisations committed to open knowledge often use proprietary tools due to limited resources and expertise.

The project fills a research gap by investigating how those small institutions adopt, reject, or combine proprietary and open digital systems, focusing on organisational models and realistic pathways toward digital sovereignty. It considers privacy/GDPR compliance, ethical AI use, and financial constraints.

Brief outline of the project

The project explores the concrete implementation of digital sovereignty within non-profit and cultural organisations that often lack dedicated IT expertise. Through case studies, interviews, documentation analysis, and collaborative workshops, the research investigates how organisations manage the transition between proprietary and open digital infrastructures.

The study focuses on five adoption models:

1. Entirely based on free and open software
2. Operating parallel proprietary and open infrastructures.
3. Migrated from open infrastructures to proprietary solutions.
4. Interested in digital sovereignty but currently dependent on proprietary tools.
5. Still entirely dependent on proprietary tools (at the moment no awareness about digital sovereignty).

The project examines operational areas including software and hardware, AI tools, websites, servers, social media, databases, accessibility, privacy management, open standards, licensing, vendor relationships, training, and digital preservation practices.

Outputs include:

• Data Management Plan, Software Management Plan and Information Technology Strategy framework for the case studies;
• practical guidelines and templates released under CC0;
• the communication and implementation of the guidelines among existing networks;
• scientific papers and final research report.

The project contributes by transforming abstract discussions on digital sovereignty into actionable models, helping non-profit and cultural organisations make informed, sustainable, and scalable technological decisions.

Project description

State of the art

Digital sovereignty has emerged in recent years as one of the central themes in contemporary debates on technology governance, public infrastructures, and institutional autonomy. The concept generally refers to the capacity of institutions, governments, organisations, and users to maintain control over their digital infrastructures, data, software ecosystems, and technological decision-making processes. Increasing geopolitical tensions, concerns regarding dependency on multinational technology corporations, and the concentration of cloud services and software infrastructures within a small number of private actors have accelerated international interest in sovereign and open digital ecosystems. The growing adoption of cloud services and artificial intelligence platforms further complicates these dynamics. Recent debates increasingly emphasise concerns related to GDPR compliance, ethical AI usage, data portability, algorithmic opacity, and infrastructural dependency on large multinational technology corporations.

Within the European context, digital sovereignty has progressively become a strategic political objective connected to technological autonomy, cybersecurity, interoperability, cloud infrastructures, data governance, and public-sector digital transformation. The European Union has promoted several initiatives related to digital sovereignty, including the development of European cloud ecosystems, data spaces, interoperability frameworks, and open-source strategies. There is an interest in promoting European alternatives for digital products and, at the governmental level, several European countries – and notably Germany and France – have significantly increased investments in free/libre open-source software and sovereign digital infrastructures.

In Switzerland, digital sovereignty has also become an increasingly relevant issue. The topic of digital sovereignty is a key focus of the Swiss Digital Switzerland Strategy; the Swiss Federal Administration is working to increase its digital sovereignty and resilience in order to remain robust and effective during crises, notably through an interdepartmental working group on digital sovereignty (Stürmer, 2024). Several public administrations and technical communities have adopted open-source infrastructures and free software solutions and the Swiss Federal Administration and several cantons are producing free and open software and looking at open source solutions (Stürmer, 2024; European Commission, 2021). Open Source Software Country Intelligence Report Switzerland 2021, CC BY. https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/OSS%20Country%20Intelligence%20Report_SW.pdf). Several organisations and groups are playing a key role in Switzerland in this area, both by advocating for the importance of digital sovereignty (such as Parldigi - the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Digital Sustainability) and by contributing to the development of open solutions (such as opendata.ch also with the implementation of the Prototype Fund and CH Open). However, implementation remains uneven and is often concentrated within public administrations, large institutions and technically specialised environments. Non-profit and cultural organisations generally remain under-represented in discussions surrounding digital sovereignty despite their significant role in the management of cultural heritage, education, knowledge dissemination, and public-interest services.

Within the cultural heritage sector, open infrastructures and interoperability standards have become increasingly important through initiatives connected to open access, open metadata, open standards, and digital heritage preservation. The Wikimedia projects, Creative Commons, Europeana and ICOM have played a central role in this process. Some open software and tools have been adopted by libraries, archives, and museums.

Few non-profit organisations have strategically developed or adopted operational alternatives to proprietary digital ecosystems. Among those organisations there are for example Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), Italian Linux Society, Wikimedia Italia, and partially Wikimedia Deutschland and Wikimedia Sverige.

Despite these developments, significant research gaps remain. Existing literature and institutional initiatives mainly focus on governments, cloud infrastructures, cybersecurity, procurement policies, and technically specialised organisations. Much less attention has been devoted to the operational realities of non-profit and cultural institutions with limited technical expertise, financial constraints, and hybrid digital infrastructures. The practical implementation challenges faced by these organisations — including onboarding, organisational resistance, software usability, interoperability issues, vendor lock-in, maintenance costs, accessibility, and training — remain under-explored.

A particularly significant contradiction concerns the fact that even organisations actively engaged in open data, open knowledge, open science, and open culture frequently continue to rely on proprietary platforms and infrastructures in their daily operations or they do not manage open content and data properly. This reveals a structural gap between institutional values and operational digital practices. Existing studies rarely investigate how organisations negotiate these tensions or how realistic transition pathways toward digital sovereignty can be developed for resource-constrained institutions.

Yet there remains a lack of practical governance frameworks adapted to their operational realities.

This project contributes to the existing state of the art by addressing the concrete implementation of digital sovereignty within non-profit and cultural organisations. Non-profit and cultural organisations occupy a particularly important position because they manage public-interest knowledge, archives, educational resources, and cultural heritage while simultaneously operating with limited organisational and technical capacity. The projects combines technological, organisational, ethical, and governance perspectives while focusing on realistic and scalable transition pathways adapted to institutions without specialised IT infrastructures.

The project further innovates by integrating three governance instruments that are rarely combined in this context: institution-wide Data Management Plans, Software Management Plans, and Information Technology Strategies. Together, these tools allow the project to analyse digital sovereignty not only as software adoption, but as a broader process of institutional governance involving data management, interoperability, accessibility, privacy, organisational sustainability, vendor relationships, and long-term technological autonomy.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses / Critical Issues
Existing operational and governance tools already available within the fields of open knowledge, data management, and digital strategy. Strong alignment with free and open software ecosystems and collaborative digital practices. Compatibility with broader international strategies and movements related to open data, open science, open access, open cultural heritage and OpenGLAMs. High relevance to current social, ethical, and democratic debates concerning technology, accessibility, transparency, and digital rights. Potential to strengthen the social impact, sustainability, and long-term autonomy of non-profit and cultural organisations. Non-profit and cultural institutions are often particularly sensitive to issues related to public interest, accessibility, knowledge sharing, and ethical technology. Alignment with the definition of museums (ICOM 2022 "A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing". Availability of international case studies and existing communities already active in free software and digital sovereignty initiatives. Relying on free and open software allows to avoid licensing costs of proprietary software which can be economically unsustainable for small organisations. Strong potential for scalability through networks connected to GLAMs, open culture, Wikimedia ecosystems.	Many nonprofit and cultural organizations still rely heavily on proprietary software ecosystems for their everyday operations. Limited adoption and operational implementation of free and open tools. Dependence on proprietary platforms creates vendor lock-in and reduces institutional autonomy. Lack of technical expertise, dedicated IT staff, and onboarding processes within smaller institutions. Strong dependence on proprietary social media platforms for communication and audience engagement. Fragmentation of digital tools and workflows across organisations. Existing free software solutions are sometimes perceived as difficult to use, insufficiently integrated, or lacking support infrastructures.
Opportunities	Threats / Risks
Growing international attention toward digital sovereignty and technological autonomy. Increasing geopolitical urgency to reduce dependency on large multinational technology providers. Rising public awareness concerning ethical technology, privacy, user rights, and data governance. Opportunity to promote more sustainable, transparent, interoperable, and accessible digital ecosystems. Possibility to develop practical models specifically designed for non-profit and cultural organisations. Potential to connect digital sovereignty with broader public-interest values such as accessibility, participation, openness, and democratic governance. Increasing interest in ethical and human-centered approaches to digital infrastructures. Opportunity to improve digital literacy and long-term digital awareness within non-profit and cultural sectors. Development of reusable guidelines, templates, and governance models that can be scaled nationally and internationally. Use by default of open and standard formats, essential for preservation. Existing gaps in event management, collaborative infrastructures, and non-profit-oriented digital tools create opportunities for innovation and open-source development. Contribution to a responsible and sustainable digital transition.	Strong market pressure and dominance of multinational technology corporations. Large technology corporations invest heavily in lobbying and market influence to promote proprietary digital ecosystems Difficulty of organisational change and resistance to modifying established workflows. Transition processes can disrupt familiar routines, making positive, inclusive, and non-judgmental guidance particularly important Slow organisational and infrastructural transition toward open digital ecosystems. Risk that AI ecosystems further increase dependency on proprietary platforms and opaque infrastructures. Rapid technological changes may make infrastructures unstable or difficult to maintain over time. Financial sustainability challenges related to migration, maintenance, training, and support. Fragmentation and competition between open-source ecosystems may limit collaboration and interoperability. Economic benefits may be limited or unclear without a long-term organizational strategy. Difficulty balancing openness, usability, accessibility, security, and organisational sustainability in resource-constrained institutions.

Method

This project investigates digital sovereignty as an operational and organisational practice. Its specifically focuses on non-profit and cultural organisations with limited technical capacity, a context often neglected in existing research.

The methodology combines:

• qualitative interviews,
• comparative case studies,
• analysis of existing documentation and infrastructures,
• collaborative validation workshops,
• and the co-creation of practical implementation guidelines.

Digital sovereignty

The project approaches digital sovereignty as an interconnected framework including free and open software, open standards, open data, open content, interoperability, accessibility, privacy, and institutional autonomy.

Digital sovereignty is understood as the capacity of non-profit and cultural institutions to maintain meaningful control over their digital infrastructures, data, software ecosystems, and cultural content in a way that ensures autonomy, transparency, collaboration, reuse, respect of user digital rights, sustainability, and alignment with public-interest values. It extends beyond a purely technical or geopolitical notion of independence from external providers and encompasses a broader socio-technical framework that integrates free and open software, open standards, interoperability, and user-centric design. Digital sovereignty includes the governance of data through principles such as portability, accessibility, privacy protection (including GDPR compliance), and long-term preservation, as well as the production and dissemination of cultural and informational content through open licensing and open content practices. It also involves the ability of institutions to make informed and independent decisions about their digital tools, to avoid vendor lock-in, and to ensure that technological infrastructures remain adaptable, transparent, and auditable.

In this extended interpretation, digital sovereignty is closely linked to open data, open science, and open cultural heritage, and it implies an ethical commitment to digital ecosystems that are participatory, inclusive, and democratically governed. Rather than a binary condition, it is understood as a continuum of organisational capacity that depends on technical resources, institutional knowledge, governance structures, and the ability to align digital practices with long-term cultural, social, and public-interest objectives.

Case studies

The project specifically analyses five organisational models of digital sovereignty adoption, ranging from fully open infrastructures to fully proprietary environments. This comparative approach allows the identification of structural patterns, institutional constraints, and realistic transition pathways. Through the case studies, the project draws on networks and existing expertise connected to open culture, free software, and open knowledge movements.

The research investigates two interconnected dimensions:

1. technological infrastructures and software ecosystems;
2. governance of data, privacy, licensing, and openness.

To identify and analyse current practices the project uses to analyse the case studies three working tools

1. Data Management Plan (DMP) applied to the entire institution. Data Management Plans are already widely used in academic research, public institutions, and funded projects.; they are generally designed to describe how data are collected, organised, stored, documented, protected, shared, preserved, and reused during and after a project. In the context of this research, the DMP is expanded from a project-based research tool into an institution-wide framework. Based on the current privacy/GDPR practices, it analyses the entire lifecycle of institutional data and content, including archives, contact databases, communication materials, digital collections, publications, educational materials, multimedia content, metadata, cloud storage, privacy and GDPR compliance, accessibility, interoperability, open formats, and long-term preservation. Furthermore it explores how data and content can be further shared, preserved, and reused.
2. Software Management Plan (SMP). Software Management Plans exist mainly within research software engineering, open science, and software preservation initiatives; they are used to document how software is developed, maintained, documented, licensed, updated, and preserved. Within this project, the Software Management Plan becomes a strategic tool for mapping and evaluating the entire software ecosystem of an organisation, including: proprietary and open-source software, operating systems and hardware, office and creative software, contracts, dependencies and vendor lock-in, contact databases and event management, servers and cloud services, accounting systems, websites and hosting, social media infrastructures, archival formats and interoperability, licensing, accessibility and responsive design, software commissioning and development, maintenance and sustainability, training and coaching requirements, onboarding practices, legal and regulatory procedures for non-profit and cultural institutions, risks connected to cloud services and AI platforms, and possibilities for gradual migration toward free software solutions. The SMP differs from the DMP because it focuses specifically on software infrastructures and technological dependencies rather than on data governance itself.
3. Information Technology Strategy (IT Strategy). Information Technology Strategies are a common management instrument in corporations, governments, and large institutions; they generally define long-term technological priorities, infrastructures, procurement strategies, security policies, governance models, and digital transformation goals. In the context of this researcher, the IT Strategy connects technological choices with institutional values, governance models, and long-term public-interest objectives with a focus on digital sovereignty, ethical technology, free software adoption, accessibility, open standards, privacy and GDPR compliance, preservation, interoperability, organisational sustainability, and user autonomy.

Potential case studies could include:

• Wikimedia DE (confirmed with the involvement of Timo Göttel, head of internal IT)
• Wikimedia CH
• Wikimedia Italia
• Wikimedia Sverige
• opendata.ch
• DARIAH-CH
• MASI Lugano
• Museo di Val Verzasca

Additional collaborations can involve Wikimedia networks, GLAM networks (networks of museums, libraries, archives), FSFE Free Software Foundation Europe and the Open Knowledge Network. Matthias Stürmer – director of the Institute for Public Sector Transformation at the BFH Bern University of Applied Sciences, chair of CH Open, Digital Impact Network, executive director of the Parliamentary Group on Digital Sustainability (Parldigi), and member of the advisory board of opendata.ch – has confirmed his availability to serve on the project's advisory board.

Implementation framework

The project adopts a gradual, realistic, and scalable approach to digital sovereignty, recognising that non-profit and cultural organisations operate with different levels of technical capacity, financial resources, institutional priorities, and operational constraints. Rather than proposing a rigid or idealised model, the research develops a progressive implementation framework that allows institutions to assess their current situation and identify feasible transition pathways toward greater digital autonomy and open digital strategies.

The framework does not assume that organisations can immediately replace all proprietary systems. Instead, it supports gradual transitions, hybrid models, and context-sensitive solutions designed to balance operational sustainability, accessibility, staff capacity, legal obligations, and financial limitations.

The implementation process includes the following dimensions:

• Language and communication practices. Institutions are encouraged to adopt more neutral and technology-independent language in public communication, documentation, and training materials. This includes avoiding unnecessary promotion of proprietary brands and services, using generic terminology where possible, and reducing the visibility of proprietary branding during public events and institutional activities.
• Initial adoption of free and open-source software. Organisations begin by introducing free software solutions alongside existing proprietary infrastructures. This hybrid approach allows institutions to experiment with open tools without disrupting critical workflows and helps staff progressively familiarise themselves with alternative digital ecosystems.
• Expansion of free software usage. After initial experimentation, institutions can progressively expand the adoption of free software across different operational areas such as communication, office tools, collaborative work, media production, archiving, databases, websites, and event management. The idea is to adopt the tools which require the least effort in terms of cost, technology and training.
• “As open as possible, as closed as necessary”. The project adopts a pragmatic principle that prioritises openness while recognising operational, legal, accessibility, security, and interoperability constraints. Particular attention is given to privacy and GDPR compliance, accessibility standards, open formats, and the long-term sustainability of digital infrastructures.
• Onboarding, training, and organisational support. Digital sovereignty requires not only technological change but also organisational adaptation. The framework therefore includes onboarding procedures, documentation, training materials, coaching activities, and support strategies for existing and new staff members. Particular attention is given to non-technical users and volunteer-based organisations.
• Reduction of dependency on proprietary software. Institutions are supported in identifying forms of vendor lock-in and reducing dependence on proprietary platforms where feasible. This includes evaluating interoperability, portability of data, licensing models, and long-term infrastructural sustainability.
• Adoption of free and open operating systems. The framework explores the gradual adoption of free operating systems and self-hosted or federated infrastructures where operationally sustainable.

The project treats digital sovereignty as an evolving organisational process rather than a binary condition. The objective is not technological purity, but the development of sustainable, transparent, accessible, and user-centered digital ecosystems adapted to the real conditions of non-profit and cultural institutions.

Promoters

The project is promoted by University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) in collaboration with a series of partners [pending].

References

European Commission (2021). Open Source Software Country Intelligence Report Switzerland 2021, CC BY. https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/OSS%20Country%20Intelligence%20Report_SW.pdf

Stürmer, M. (2024). Technologische Perspektive der digitalen Souveränität: Blick auf die Schweiz, internationale Trends sowie Empfehlungen für die «Strategie Digitale Souveränität der Schweiz» (Bericht zuhanden des Eidgenössischen Departements für auswärtige Angelegenheiten EDA). Berner Fachhochschule BFH, Institut Public Sector Transformation [2].

See also

• Relevance of the project for the Wikimedia movement Implementing Digital Sovereignty/Wikimedia