The next shock will be digital. Here is how Europe’s digital infrastructure must be organized.
Digital shocks can occur at any time; the question is not whether, but what consequences the next one will have. Incidents such as the global CrowdStrike outage in 2024, which disabled countless Windows systems worldwide and had severe real-world consequences ranging from grounded flights to canceled surgeries, demonstrate the structural vulnerability of Europe’s digital infrastructure.
Digital infrastructures are often viewed as purely technical matters. In reality, their reliability depends on how digital services are designed, operated, and interconnected – across borders, providers, and sectors. This is precisely where FACIS’ new Mission Paper, “From Fragmentation to Federation – Towards European Digital Resilience,” developed by commissioned authors from the non-profit organization Identity Valley, comes in.
Where does Europe want to position itself, and which priorities should it set? In light of its digital vulnerability, one thing is clear: Europe must move from reacting to shaping.
The paper demonstrates how digital services across the 27 European digital islands can be operated in a way that ensures they remain functional even in the face of disruptions or changing conditions. At its core are digital structures that function across borders and can be used jointly without delay – comparable to roaming in mobile communications. This form of collaboration, based on jointly defined rules, forms the foundation for resilience and sustained digital functionality. These insights can strengthen Europe in the following ways:
Reliability
Keep essential digital services running when conditions change
Connection
Link independent systems instead of building one central platform
Roaming
Enable seamless switching across providers and borders
Rules
Make stability, portability, and accountability measurable
Practice
Scale proven approaches into everyday digital operations
1. Digital resilience as a strategic capability for Europe
Whether in public administration, business, or essential services, all sectors depend on digital services. Europe must manage this vulnerability responsibly. The decisive factor is whether these services continue to operate during disruptions or when framework conditions change.
Digital resilience means being prepared – not merely reacting once failures occur. European systems must be able to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to disruptions across technological, economic, institutional, and social dimensions. If Europe’s ecosystem is re-architected so that resilience becomes intrinsic, reliability becomes a genuine competitive advantage for Europe’s digital landscape.
2. Europe’s strength lies in connected diversity
To prepare for the next digital shock, Europe does not need a new centralized platform. The key lies in interconnecting existing digital systems across borders. When independent providers and organizations collaborate under shared rules while retaining control over their own infrastructures, a strong digital network emerges.
Europe’s diversity is therefore no longer a weakness but becomes the foundation for innovation and stability.
3. Cloud roaming brings flexibility to digital infrastructure
Europe’s ambition should be to ensure that essential digital services remain continuously operational. The principle is already familiar from mobile communications: when crossing borders, devices automatically switch networks without users noticing.
Applied to digital services, this means that applications can move between providers and countries without requiring reconfiguration – technically referred to as the Multi-Provider Cloud-Edge Continuum.
This creates viable alternatives in times of disruption and reduces systemic vulnerability by preventing single points of failure. It ensures that critical digital services remain available – services that must function reliably in everyday life, from air traffic management to power supply.
4. Clear rules make digital resilience verifiable
The reliability of digital systems must not depend solely on assumed trust in other countries, institutions, or providers. “Zero Trust” is a legitimate starting point from which cooperation can nevertheless emerge. Trust can develop step by step along a shared path.
European digital resilience does not arise from technology alone, but from clear rules. Common standards, clearly defined responsibilities, and transparent requirements ensure that resilience becomes measurable and verifiable.
Those who can demonstrate that their services are operated in a stable, adaptable, and portable manner gain a clear competitive advantage in the market.
5. Now is the time to bring strong approaches into everyday practice
Planning has value – but action is decisive. If Europe aims to be prepared for crises and seize the opportunities of digital resilience, it must move from discussion to implementation.
Initiatives such as 8ra and tools like FACIS demonstrate that resilient digital infrastructures are technically feasible. The key now is to apply these solutions broadly – in public procurement, in shared standards, and in day-to-day collaboration.
Only then can individual projects evolve into a sustainable and structurally resilient digital foundation for Europe.
