How Compute with Hivenet helps Europe reclaim control over data, infrastructure, and AI sovereignty.
For a closer look at how sustainability supports sovereignty, read Sustainability in the Neocloud Era — it explains how environmental efficiency and sovereignty align.
Why sovereignty is back in the spotlight
Europe’s cloud ambitions have always been about more than storage and compute. They’re about autonomy — the ability to control data, infrastructure, and innovation without relying on foreign providers. Cloud providers, as a broad category, play a central role in shaping the digital landscape, with Google Cloud standing out as a major global provider offering a wide range of cloud services. Different approaches to digital sovereignty have deepened geopolitical competition between the US, China, and the EU, making Europe's focus on autonomy even more critical. Countries generally agree on the need to foster homegrown tech industries due to significant national security consequences. The ongoing negotiations around data privacy frameworks highlight the need for a transatlantic approach to digital regulation, further emphasizing the importance of Europe's sovereignty goals.
Hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft, and Google dominate the global market, but their centralized architectures and opaque data governance models clash with Europe’s strict privacy laws and sovereignty goals. These global companies, along with cloud providers from other countries, significantly influence the landscape of European digital sovereignty. Rules and regulations, such as GDPR, are critical in defining the requirements for cloud sovereignty and ensuring data protection and compliance across Europe. The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a manifestation of digital sovereignty, aiming to unify how personal data is managed online. Organizations must consider data classification and cross-border data transfer restrictions in their sovereign cloud design. Sovereign cloud architecture requires regulatory compliance analysis during the planning phase. Robust security measures and strict access controls enhance security against foreign access and surveillance, further supporting Europe's sovereignty goals.
The result is a gap: European organizations need AI-ready compute power, but they also need compliance, locality, and trust. Many businesses in Europe are now seeking alternatives to traditional cloud computing models to better align with sovereignty and regulatory compliance needs. The neocloud fills that gap. The public sector is adopting sovereign cloud solutions due to stringent data protection requirements. In regulated industries, cloud sovereignty is a mandatory requirement that provides a competitive edge, ensuring compliance while meeting industry-specific needs.
The neocloud as a sovereign model
Compute with Hivenet embodies the sovereign cloud vision. Instead of massive, centralized data centers, it distributes compute across independent nodes within and across European regions. Unlike traditional cloud provider models that rely on large, centralized infrastructure, the neocloud approach offers greater control, flexibility, and decentralization.
This structure means data can stay closer to where it’s generated — an advantage for industries bound by data residency laws like healthcare, finance, and education. The neocloud also supports a range of managed services and databases, such as managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis, providing comprehensive solutions for diverse application needs.
The distributed GPU cloud model also enhances resilience. No single point of failure. By deploying multiple instances across two data centers, Hivenet ensures high availability and robust disaster recovery. No single jurisdiction controlling the flow of information. Sovereign cloud solutions can enhance business continuity through localized disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring that critical operations remain uninterrupted. Cloud sovereignty improves operational resilience and business continuity during geopolitical disruptions, making it a vital component of Europe's digital strategy.
Local compute, global collaboration
The neocloud doesn’t isolate Europe; it empowers it. Compute with Hivenet’s architecture allows European teams to collaborate globally while keeping their workloads local. It’s an infrastructure that respects both performance and policy. As a platform, it integrates cloud and edge services to support digital collaboration. Digital sovereignty aims to reduce the control ceded to a few tech companies that hold significant power over user data, further emphasizing the importance of solutions like the neocloud. Control over critical infrastructure ensures vital functions remain resilient and under national oversight, reinforcing the importance of sovereignty in the digital age.
This approach aligns with initiatives like GAIA-X and the EU’s digital sovereignty framework, which promote transparency, interoperability, and trust. Digital technologies and specialized tools play a crucial role in enabling secure, interoperable cloud and edge services within this context. The EU has proposed a single EU-wide cloud policy for public administrations to strengthen digital sovereignty, ensuring a unified approach to governance and compliance.
Compute with Hivenet offers a real-world implementation of those principles — a network where privacy, sustainability, and innovation coexist.
Compliance through design
In the traditional cloud, compliance is a checkbox. In the neocloud, it’s the blueprint. Data protection and security are foundational in the neocloud model, ensuring that confidentiality, integrity, and regulatory requirements are met at every layer.
By decentralizing compute and applying end-to-end encryption, Hivenet ensures that user data remains secure, local, and under full control. The platform’s architecture supports audit and compliance requirements, ensuring transparency and regulatory adherence. The platform’s architecture supports GDPR compliance by default, not through exceptions. The Data Act is also addressed as part of the EU's comprehensive regulatory framework, further strengthening digital sovereignty and data governance. Adhering to local data laws reduces legal risks and builds customer trust. Cloud sovereignty mitigates risks from extraterritorial laws, protecting data regardless of its physical location. Advanced encryption and strict access controls protect sensitive data from cyber threats and unauthorized access.
Every node operates transparently — a key requirement for sovereign AI compute. The neocloud helps address risk related to sensitive data by providing robust controls and compliance features that protect against unauthorized access and ensure regulatory compliance.
The sustainability connection
Sovereignty and sustainability are not separate goals. They’re complementary.
The same distributed model that keeps data local also reduces energy waste. Efficient deployment and streamlined processes further enhance sustainability by minimizing resource consumption and optimizing cloud region management. By reusing existing hardware, Compute with Hivenet forms a sustainable GPU cloud powered by renewable energy and advanced technologies, aligning with Europe’s Green Deal targets. It proves that responsible compute can be both local and low-impact. By 2030, data centres in the EU must be climate-neutral and highly energy efficient, further emphasizing the importance of sustainable cloud solutions.
For more on how Hivenet achieves this, read Sustainability in the Neocloud Era.
A fairer digital future
Cloud sovereignty isn’t just a policy matter — it’s an ethical one. Control over compute means control over who benefits from technology. The neocloud serves customers across different sectors, including enterprises and the public sector, by providing secure, compliant, and accessible infrastructure. Demonstrating commitment to data privacy helps build trust and credibility with customers and partners. Sovereign cloud enables government agencies to maintain control over classified national data, protecting it from foreign interference and ensuring national security.
The neocloud democratizes access to AI infrastructure. Instead of concentrating power in a handful of corporate data centers, it distributes it across a network of partners, researchers, and users. This approach benefits a wide range of subjects and industries, particularly those with strict compliance needs such as healthcare, finance, and government, that require sovereign cloud solutions.
This decentralization builds resilience and fairness. It gives European developers the freedom to innovate without depending on non-European providers, while organizations rely on the neocloud for trusted, regionally controlled infrastructure that the company behind Hivenet ensures.
To understand how this ties into cost and transparency, see The Economics of the Neocloud, which explains how Hivenet’s model supports fairness in AI infrastructure.
The takeaway
Europe’s digital future depends on infrastructure that’s open, fair, and local. The neocloud provides the foundation — combining sovereign AI compute, sustainable GPU cloud design, and transparent governance.
Compute with Hivenet leads this movement, proving that independence and innovation can coexist.
The next cloud revolution won’t be centralized. It’ll be distributed — and sovereign.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is cloud sovereignty?
It’s the principle that data and infrastructure should be governed by the laws and policies of the region where they operate — not by foreign jurisdictions.
How does Compute with Hivenet support sovereignty?
By distributing compute across independent European nodes, ensuring local data control and compliance.
Is the neocloud compatible with GAIA-X principles?
Yes. It aligns with GAIA-X goals for interoperability, transparency, and data sovereignty.
Why does Europe need sovereign AI compute?
To ensure privacy, ethical use, and competitiveness in the global AI economy.
Can sovereignty and sustainability coexist?
Absolutely. The neocloud’s distributed model delivers both, reducing carbon footprint while maintaining compliance and control.
