Over half of organisations see full digital sovereignty as an unrealistic goal, according to a new report by Capgemini.

In its latest Digital Sovereignty report, the firm found that 59 per cent of organisations worldwide believe that full digital sovereignty is not achievable. Instead, the report notes, many organisations are pursuing a “minimum viable digital sovereignty approach” that targets a sovereign approach to business-critical functions.

The Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 1,300 business and technology executives from organisations with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, as well as experts from government departments with budgets exceeding $1 billion.

It recorded responses throughout April 2026 from across the US, UK, continental Europe and APAC.

93 per cent of respondents worldwide stated they have discussed digital sovereignty at a board level, with 65 per cent having allocated budget to digital sovereignty and 44 per cent considering it a top priority.

This final figure was higher among more controlled and sensitive industries, with 59 per cent of aerospace and defence organisations and 57 per cent of telecom organisations prioritising it.

Perspectives on the need for digital sovereignty are highly regional, the report also found. Researchers noted that 56 per cent of UK organisations see digital sovereignty as an approach to improve resilience and risk mitigation, while 52 per cent of US organisations view it as a compliance exercise.

Dependency risks are a major driver for digital sovereignty efforts, with 86 per cent of organisations worldwide exposed to foreign or externally controlled supply chains. This number also varies by region, with 77 per cent of UK organisations exposed compared to 94 per cent of German organisations.

Worldwide, the report found 67 per cent of organisations agree that digital sovereignty is defined by resilient interdependence rather than isolation.

“Today's organisations operate in highly interconnected technology ecosystems where complete independence is rarely achievable,” said Karine Brunet, chief operations and delivery officer at Capgemini and member of the group executive board.

“Digital sovereignty is therefore not about full autonomy but more about ensuring organisations have a clear understanding of their technology dependencies, in order to regain the control and flexibility to manage risks.”

Barriers to digital sovereignty remain, the report makes clear. Just 14 per cent of organisations have end-to-end visibility into tech dependencies across their supply chains and 36 per cent of respondents say migrating away from critical providers would take more than 12 months.

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