HSG secures financial support from the Dieter Schwarz Foundation
St.Gallen/Neckarsulm - The University of St.Gallen (HSG) has launched a five-year research project with the goal of achieving digital autonomy in Europe. With financial support from the German Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the researchers aim to contribute to the development of sovereign cloud infrastructures and digital ecosystems.
(CONNECT) Researchers at the Institute of Information Systems and Digital Business at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) have launched a five-year study on building digital sovereignty in Europe. Based on a funding agreement signed in January 2026 with the German Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the aim is to develop “scientifically sound, application-oriented, and forward-looking models for sovereign cloud infrastructures and transformation across enterprise IT as well as the focus on AI”, according to a statement from HSG.
The rationale behind the research project is that, given global geopolitical and economic uncertainty, digital independence is of great importance. In order to gain autonomy, particularly in the transformation of cloud technology, the priority needs to be eliminating fragmented IT landscapes, heterogeneous regulations, proprietary technologies, uncertainty around data sovereignty, and a lack of interoperability, according to the statement. Questions concerning future corporate strategies should be key, with the political, economic, and technological focus on digital autonomy, it writes. There is also an increasing need for trustworthy, open, and scalable infrastructures as well as resilient cloud governance models, according to the statement.
The research project is reportedly designed to incorporate multiple perspectives. Its aim is to contribute to concrete action models in politics, business, and research, and to open up transfer paths in entrepreneurial and regulatory contexts. Several coordinated subprojects will examine the views of cloud providers and users, writes the university. The role of innovation ecosystems in shaping digital sovereignty will reportedly also be taken into account.
According to Gunther Friedl, managing director of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, the results of the research will be used to develop innovative continuing education programs that will bring the knowledge “straight to the decision-makers of tomorrow”. Here, close networking with the foundation's education campus in Heilbronn will reportedly be key. “This helps guarantee that scientific findings are translated into real skills for the economy,” Friedl is quoted as saying. ce/heg