40th Workshop on Telecommunications
29 and 30 May 2025, Bled, Slovenia
INVITATION
The Slovenian Electronic Communications Society is organizing the 40th Workshop on Telecommunications VITEL, which will be held from 29 to 30 May 2025 in Bled (Hall Wine Map, Camp and Park Šobec). The theme of this year’s workshop is “Digital sovereignty”.
Theme of the workshop
We are in the middle of Europe’s Digital Decade, which sets ambitious targets for 2030. The full rise of digital technologies is undoubtedly changing lives and the economy for the better. However, ubiquitous digitalization also brings new challenges. On the one hand, we want to maintain a high level of privacy. Still, on the other hand, we face global challenges, when technology companies from other regions are overtaking us due to their large investments and significantly less regulation. The business models of large platforms that exploit data provided by users for free in exchange for their services pose the question of where to draw the boundaries of new, digital sovereignty.
The EU’s new digital strategy aims to ensure that the digital transformation benefits citizens and businesses and contributes to achieving the goal of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. Europe has written that it needs to strengthen its digital sovereignty and set standards, not follow others. Through legislation such as the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) and the European Sovereign Cloud Initiative, the Union aims to reduce dependence on global tech giants and ensure that data and AI solutions are developed and managed in line with European values.
What does digital sovereignty, the central topic of this year’s VITEL workshop, mean? It refers to the ability of an individual, organization, or country to make independent decisions about the use of digital tools, hardware and software, and online services. It also includes the ability to use personal data securely in the digital environment. At the level of countries and organizations, digital sovereignty includes independence from foreign technology platforms and infrastructure. The European Union is working towards greater digital sovereignty by adopting legislation, such as the Digital Market Act (DMA) and the Digital Service Act (DSA), which regulate the operation of large digital platforms in the EU. Germany promotes open-source software in the public sector to increase independence from foreign technology companies. China has developed its own tech giants to reduce its dependence on Western technologies. The European Commission has gone a step further and is developing its own cloud infrastructure, called “Gaia-X”, to reduce its dependence on foreign cloud service providers. Unfortunately, this experiment did not prove to be effective, as since 2019, when the idea was implemented, it has not yielded tangible results.
A sovereign public cloud is necessary to control sensitive data and to ensure independence from foreign laws. It’s not just about the location of the data, but also about compliance with national regulatory frameworks and ensuring security. By 2026, more than 50 countries will implement sovereign cloud initiatives, confirming that this is a strategic necessity for Slovenia’s digital sovereignty and competitiveness.
Artificial intelligence is the most important technology today, not only shaping the future of digital infrastructure, the economy, and society but also determining the technological and economic winners of the future. Digital sovereignty without control over AI is no longer possible – without our own capacity to develop and power large language and specialized vertical industrial models, we remain dependent on global providers, which limits governance, control, security, and competitiveness. In the coming years, it will be crucial for Slovenia to establish a sovereign AI infrastructure that will enable safe, independent, and personalized use of artificial intelligence. For Slovenia, this is not only an opportunity but a strategic necessity if it wants to maintain its competitiveness and actively co-shape the European digital space. Digital sovereignty is closely linked to the management of critical infrastructure, as it involves control of critical digital systems and data that are essential for the operation of critical infrastructure. The possibility of supply chain control represents also an important aspect.
Digital sovereignty also has a major impact on data security, as it allows for greater control over how data is collected, stored, processed and shared. How do we deal with digital sovereignty in Slovenia? Do we follow the principles of common European sovereignty or do we want to ensure Slovenia’s digital sovereignty in the future? What are the technological solutions available? What is urgent and what makes sense? What are the advantages and disadvantages of new technological solutions? How do we ensure sovereign AI functioning following the national needs and regulations? How can Slovenia ensure independence in the management and use of artificial intelligence in key sectors? How can the state and the economy cooperate in the development of their own cloud solutions that will comply with Slovenian and European regulations and enable secure and efficient use of data?
At this year’s, 40th-anniversary Vitel workshop, representatives of public institutions and university, critical infrastructure sectors, and prominent experts in the field of information security and privacy will share their opinions and views on this current topic.
You are cordially invited to join us!
More information
For more information, please write us to vitel(at)drustvo-sikom.si.