Despite the many great advantages and opportunities that digitalisation brings us, today’s digital societies are posing increasing risks to our shared democratic values. The dominance of foreign tech giants (e.g. Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft) and the lack of digital sovereignty have created a dependence that threatens the resilience and autonomy of the Netherlands and the European Union.
Such a heavy reliance on these tech-companies implies a dependence on extractive business models that prioritise profit over public interest. The spread of misinformation, polarisation, and exploitation of personal data are only some of the undemocratic and harmful practices that shape our current digital domain. Additionally, with increasing cyber-threats and the rise of geopolitical tensions, the urgency to reclaim control over our public digital infrastructure is growing.
This means there is a need for a new digital ecosystem: one that is based on and serves our democratic values and wellbeing over shareholder profit. A re-imagination of the digital economy should put democratic and sovereign values at its core.
This is where Digital Commons come in: collectively governed digital resources, stewarded by communities rather than corporations. Think, for instance, about Mastodon (decentralised social media platform; alternative to Twitter/X) or Nextcloud (self-hosted cloud storage; alternative to Google Drive). Such already existing projects prove that it is possible to develop a digital infrastructure that aligns with democratic principles, including decentralisation, shared ownership, and care.
In order to achieve a sovereign and resilient digital ecosystem, we propose three transition pillars:
- Public digital infrastructure
- Democratic and sustainable organisation and revenue models
- Digital knowledge and public awareness
The window to act is narrow. If Europe wants a digital future that is democratic, sustainable, and resilient, it must invest – not in a European version of the currently ruling practices, but in robust alternatives.
We need a digital ecosystem that is not just safer and fairer, but fundamentally different from the extractive models that dominate today. But what can we do to get there?
At Commons Network, we have working hard to find answers to this question. After a year of research, we are publishing this roadmap which outlines the route to a sovereign and resilient digital ecosystem in light of the many contemporary challenges to our democracy, autonomy and rule of law.