After a few decades of globalization and industrial delocalizations, Europe has seen that it must regain technological sovereignty to survive. The pandemic held up a mirror to us: we didn't even know how to make masks, let alone mechanical respirators. Our automotive industry is suffering because it depends more and more on components it has to import, such as batteries or computer systems. The war in Ukraine and the Trump presidency have made us realize that we not only have to be able to defend ourselves but also to produce the high-tech weapons needed today. The AI revolution has made it clear that the champions of the sector are in the USA and China, with some European exceptions like the French Mistral AI. The EU urgently needs to close the gap with the other two major blocs if it wants to remain a relevant global player. And this need is especially acute in a field in which we have lost ground and which is currently decisive: information and communication technologies (ICT), which include AI and the chip industry.Our technological lag is paradoxical, because since the 80s the EU, then the EEC, has subsidized research, development and cooperation between industry and academia. Indeed, first it was the ESPRIT program, focused on ICT, and then the successive framework programs, which cover all sectors. Likewise, member states, Spain, and also Catalonia, have had subsidy programs for decades with the same objectives. On the other hand, if we compare ICT sovereignty in the 80s with that of today, the result is devastating: we have gone from having many computer manufacturers (Bull in France, ICL in the United Kingdom, Siemens in Germany, Secoinsa in Spain, Telesincro in Catalonia, etc.) to having none. Regarding the mobile phone revolution, which began in Europe, it has shifted to Asia and the US. Chip manufacturing, which in the 80s motivated plans and subsidies for microelectronics throughout Europe and Spain in particular, has concentrated in Asia, with the honorable exception of the Dutch ASML, which supplies equipment to Asian chip manufacturers. Supercomputing subsidies have served to have some well-placed facilities in the international rankings of the sector, but their contribution to technological sovereignty and the ICT industry is quite limited. As for software, things have not gone better, and we have already discussed the AI landscape in Europe.

European technological sovereignty has been a hot topic in recent discussions within the technology sector. This was also the case at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which this year offered several conferences dedicated to the issue. Faced with a situation in which the United States and China dominate the technological race and the foundations of the global order are changing, strategic sovereignty is becoming a crucial challenge for governments and industries. And where does Europe stand?