How Digital Sovereignty and Enterprise Architecture Are Related
On June 11, 2026, the Swiss EA Connect Day took place in Zurich, co-hosted by the software company BOC Group and the IT service provider adesso. The conference focused entirely on the current buzzword «digital sovereignty.».
No company can afford to ignore the issue of digital sovereignty these days: Where is the critical data located? Which systems are relevant to the business? Where are the greatest dependencies on platforms and IT service providers? It is precisely these aspects that must be taken into account when considering enterprise architectures (EA) today, according to a preliminary conclusion drawn at the event.
Digital Sovereignty Gains Widespread Attention
An analysis from a scientific perspective was initially provided by Prof. Dr. Matthias Stürmer from the Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH). He is currently probably the A thought leader on the topic of digital sovereignty, which has now entered not only technical but also political discourse. Stürmer pointed out that vendor lock-in is fundamentally nothing new and cannot be reduced to IT alone. However, steady price increases and the U.S. Cloud Act—with its «kill switch» hanging like the sword of Damocles—have shaken confidence in the major tech corporations. That is why an alternative lies in the use of open-source software. Although a transition requires high initial investments, it is attractive in the long term given the low licensing costs, as Stürmer explained using the example of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The state is currently transitioning its entire IT infrastructure to open-source software. In Switzerland, however, «there isn’t much substance» to such efforts yet, Stürmer continued. Nevertheless, recent political initiatives, such as those in the Council of States, show that the urgency of the matter has been recognized.
Operationally self-sufficient—but not necessarily digitally sovereign
But what does digital sovereignty look like in business practice? Aiko Frank and Tim Lehrig from the dairy products manufacturer Emmi provided some insight into this. The key challenge is the daily, clean, and rapid processing of fresh milk. Any disruption in the processing operations has an immediate and critical impact, which in the worst-case scenario can lead to lengthy production stoppages or the destruction of entire batches. Consequently, the operational infrastructure must be designed with redundancy. For example, each of Emmi’s processing sites operates autonomously, including its own data centers. Cloud applications are not used. The large number of IT and OT applications at Emmi requires specific management (in this case, using the ADOIT software solution and ServiceNow’s service management). Within this framework, the applications are assessed based on availability, confidentiality, and criticality. The two speakers also highlighted a transparent overview of the company-wide application portfolio as the most important prerequisite for managing digital sovereignty.
Understand Your Own Application Landscape
This view was also shared by representatives from the IT consulting and software development sectors, namely Matthew Turnbull (adesso) and Felix Meentken (BOC Group). Transparency, resilience, and compliance are the unifying elements of an enterprise architecture. However, «Digital sovereignty is optional,» said Matthew Turnbull. You must decide for yourself what you want to keep under your own control. A well-developed Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) system lays the groundwork for managing digital sovereignty. Felix Meentken demonstrated this using ADOIT, a product from the BOC Group. With this tool, the sovereignty requirements for each application can be made visible: Where is the software developed? Where is it hosted? Does it involve personal data or not? What about the ability to exit? According to the two speakers, such an «EA check» is the starting point for any discussion about implementing digital sovereignty in a company.
EAM: A Crucial Role
The concluding panel discussion took this line of reasoning further. «There is no such thing as digital sovereignty without EAM,» was the unanimous opinion. Panelist Evangelos Avramakis of Swiss Re made it clear that EAM cannot be a one-time project, given the rapid pace of technological development. «Our EAM is running at full capacity,» added Hélène Mourgue d’Algue, IT manager for the City of Biel, which is already doing a great deal in the area of digital sovereignty. However, this does not mean, for example, that one can completely do without Microsoft. Some features of Microsoft 365 remain indispensable. Nevertheless, Evangelos Avramakis appealed to companies’ capacity for innovation: there is tremendous potential in integrating open-source software with large language models. Overall, the discussion—and the entire event—highlighted the importance of enterprise architectures on the path to greater digital sovereignty. Organizations can only achieve digital sovereignty once they have a thorough understanding of their own IT and data landscapes—and their interdependencies.
More information about the previous event: https://www.boc-group.com/de/swiss-ea-connect-day-2026/
This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/wie-digitale-souveraenitaet-und-enterprise-architecture-zusammenhaengen/
