European organizations are heavily dependent on foreign technology companies, particularly those based in the US and China. For example, most municipalities use Microsoft servers, and Suomi.fi operates on Amazon's cloud platform. This dependence incurs significant costs, such as annual payments of over €1.3 billion to Microsoft from the Finnish public sector.
In addition, information security is compromised when foreign actors can access data without being noticed. The reliability and security of organizations' operations are at the mercy of external parties. In crisis situations, this makes European actors vulnerable. Therefore, digital sovereignty and resilience should be ensured in everyday operations, not just in exceptional situations.
In January's webinar, Kari Smolander, Professor of Software Engineering for 2025, will discuss this problem and consider possible solutions.
The webinar will be held in English. Register here.
Schedule
16.30 Welcome to the Curious People Alumni Webinar
Päivi Mäkitalo, LUT Alumni Relations
16.35 How can digital independence be preserved in the face of the dominance of American cloud services?
Kari Smolander, Professor, Software Engineering Professor of the Year 2025, Software Engineering, LUT
17.05 Questions from the audience
17.20 Closing words, Päivi Mäkitalo, LUT Alumni Relations
Welcome!
