The digital sovereignty revolution 2026

Understand the real cost of cloud dependence and the practical steps UK organisations are taking to reclaim control.

A year on from our inaugural research, the conversation around digital sovereignty has shifted decisively. UK organisations have moved from debating the perils of cloud dependence to confronting the tangible realities, but awareness still hasn't translated into action.

Our latest research, based on a survey of 1,000 UK IT decision-makers, reveals how the Sovereignty Tax has moved from hypothetical risk to documented economic consequence, and why the gap between strategic intent and operational execution has never been more urgent to close.

What's inside?

• The cumulative cost of standing still: What the Sovereignty Tax actually measures and why every year of inaction makes the price of regaining control harder to pay.
• The new frontier of jurisdictional risk: How AI sovereignty has become the defining infrastructure question for UK organisations and what's at stake if it's ignored.
• Open source as sovereign foundation: Why open source has emerged as the only realistic path to domestic alternatives that can genuinely compete at scale.
• The vendor lock-in trap: Why strategic intent is failing to translate into action and what is keeping organisations from making the move they know they need to make.
• From intent to reality: A five-pillar framework for embedding sovereignty into infrastructure strategy, procurement, and long-term risk governance.
  

The UK's digital future won't be secured by ambition alone. This report sets out what it will actually take.