Digital sovereignty in 2025: are you ready?

Digital sovereignty will be under pressure in 2025. Who controls your data? And can you keep running if foreign tech drops out? In 2025, these are no longer questions for the future, but daily reality.

In this blog, we explain:

• What digital sovereignty is
• Why it's crucial right now
• What concrete steps you can take
• And how we at TimeChimp deal with this

‍

What is digital sovereignty?

Digital sovereignty means that, as an organization, you have control over your own digital infrastructure, software, data and supplier choices. Concretely: you decide where your data is, who has access to it and what technologies you work with — regardless of external interests or international power shifts.

‍

Digital sovereignty is more important than ever

Digital sovereignty offers concrete benefits:

• Ensuring data privacy
  → Comply with the GDPR and prevent data from ending up outside the EU.

• Reducing the risks of dependency
  → Protect your organization against delivery risks and political sanctions.

• Maintaining technological agility
  → Digital sovereignty prevents dependency and offers greater freedom of choice.

• Building trust with customers
  → Transparency and control over data strengthen your brand.

• Stay ahead of laws and regulations
  → Think NIS2, the Data Act and more stringent audits.

📚 Want to know more? Read about our security approach at TimeChimp.

‍

Why important now — and start now?

Current events in 2025 make digital sovereignty more urgent than ever:
‍

• Political tensions (such as between the US and China) are causing friction in digital services.
• New European legislation emphasizes transparency, data localization and risk management.
• Technological dependencies appear to be more vulnerable than expected, especially in the public sector and among vital companies.
• Customer awareness grows: “Where is my data and who is watching?”

‍

Strengthening digital sovereignty: roadmap

Do you really want control over your data, infrastructure and suppliers? Then that starts with an overview, sharp choices and a clear strategy. The steps below help you strengthen that grip step by step — pragmatic and applicable to any organization.
‍

1. Map your digital landscape
   • What software do you use?
   • Where is data hosted?
   • Which suppliers are involved — and where are they located?
     ‍
2. Assess your dependencies and risks
   • What happens if a supplier drops out?
   • Which components are business-critical?
   • Are your processes agile or anchored in 1 system?
     ‍
3. Make a conscious choice for European alternatives
   • Use European cloud providers or platforms.
   • Check that suppliers are AVG-proof and process data in the EU.
     ‍
4. Use open standards and avoid lock-in
   • Make it easy to switch.
   • Opt for API-first, modular technology.
     ‍
5. Provide an “exit strategy”
   • Do you have a plan B when a supplier stops?
   • Is it easy to migrate or retrieve data?
     ‍
6. Keep monitoring and reviewing
   • Review your IT landscape quarterly.
   • Keep track of technical and legal developments.

How we at TimeChimp deal with digital sovereignty

At TimeChimp, we ensure that you are always in control of your data — with transparent processes, European hosting and full GDPR compliance.

Full control over data

• You remain the owner of your data — always.
• Data is exportable, editable and removable on demand.

Based in the Netherlands, compliant with European legislation

• Our head office and legal entity are located in the Netherlands.
• We are fully GDPR compliant and actively follow the guidelines of the European regulators.

Microsoft Azure hosting in Europe

• We use Azure data centers in Western Europe.
• Security, backups and continuity meet the highest standards.

Level of security

• Two-step verification (2FA) support
• Strict access rights, internal audits and data encryption

Transparent and open

• Customers can always view their data via the platform
• We communicate clearly about how we deal with data

Conclusion

Digital sovereignty may sound complicated, but it's basically just about one thing: being in control of your data and systems yourself. You really don't have to get everything directly from the US cloud. It's about making conscious choices. For example:
‍

• Is your sensitive customer data safe in Europe?
• Is it bad if your marketing team's planning is up and running at Google?
• What happens if a supplier suddenly stops?

Think of it as a risk assessment. What's important is to keep you close to home. What's less sensitive can easily be placed elsewhere — as long as you know where and why.

In short: know what you're using, know the risks and make choices that suit your situation.

👉 Do you want Try TimeChimp free for 14 days? Discover all the benefits today.

‍