Digital Sovereignty and Embedded solutions : Cutting Through the FUD in Europe

Imagine a self-driving car suddenly unable to receive critical security updates due to a geopolitical dispute. Or a factory floor grinding to a halt because a vendor’s software supply chain was compromised. Or a retail store crashing during peak shopping hours because its point-of-sale terminals and smart shelves depend on firmware that can’t be patched in time.

This isn’t science fiction—it’s the new reality of digital sovereignty, and it’s fast becoming a decisive factor in how customers evaluate embedded solutions.

From Niche Concern to Strategic Priority

What used to be a compliance checkbox is now shaping business strategy:

• A recent IDC survey (2025) shows that protection from extra-territorial data requests is now one of the top drivers for digital sovereignty adoption across Europe. (IDC Europe Blog)
• IDC’s Digital Sovereignty Imperative report found that 64% of European organizations have already adopted or are actively pursuing sovereignty strategies to mitigate risk around data governance and supply chain dependencies. (IDC Report PDF)
• The Wire 2025 European Sovereignty Survey reports that 84% of decision-makers now consider digital sovereignty a critical factor in vendor selection—yet fewer than half believe their current stack fully complies with new EU mandates. (Wire)

For embedded and edge solution providers, sovereignty is no longer a side issue—it’s a market access requirement.

The Regulatory Backbone

For sovereignty-ready solutions, compliance isn’t optional—it’s the starting line. Vendors must now align with an expanding regulatory and certification landscape:

• NIS2 Directive: Expands cybersecurity obligations across critical infrastructure, including connected devices and embedded systems.
• Cyber Resilience Act (CRA): Requires secure software development, vulnerability management, and long-term lifecycle support.
• SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) & SLSA (Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts): Deliver transparency and traceability.
• Common Criteria EAL levels & BSI standards: Independent, government-backed assurance of system security.
• CVE management: Ongoing disclosure and remediation of vulnerabilities.

Solutions designed to meet CRA, NIS2, BSI C5, IT-Grundschutz, and EAL4+ not only demonstrate compliance but also signal trust to buyers.

The Market Gap

Despite strong demand, the embedded market hasn’t caught up:

• Many organizations still depend on non-European or opaque technology stacks even as they prioritize sovereignty. (IDC)
• Research from Linux Foundation Europe shows that few embedded platforms today offer auditable supply chains or SBOMs out of the box.
• Customers demand flexible deployment across edge, on-prem, and hybrid environments, but most vendors still deliver rigid, monolithic systems.

This gap represents a major opportunity for providers who can deliver sovereignty-ready solutions at the embedded level.

What’s Needed

To close the gap, embedded solution providers must rethink core design principles:

• Transparency & Control: Provide SBOMs, enable audits, and allow component validation.
• Security & Reliability: Ensure secure boot, attestation, atomic updates, rollback, and extended lifecycle support.
• Edge-First Flexibility: Build for resilience in offline or intermittently connected environments.
• Open & Modular Ecosystems: Avoid vendor lock-in with open source and modular design, while ensuring enterprise-grade support.

These aren’t extras—they are minimum expectations from sovereignty-conscious buyers.

The Path Forward

In embedded and edge systems, sovereignty is shaped at every layer—from firmware and operating systems to Kubernetes orchestration and security.

Open source is essential in this landscape. It provides the transparency and flexibility sovereignty requires, reinforced with certifications, lifecycle assurance, and a trusted partner ecosystem. With sovereignty-ready embedded platforms, organizations can achieve not just compliance, but lasting advantages in trust, independence, and resilience.

At SUSE, we work with ISVs, OEMs, and solution providers to deliver secure, sovereignty-ready embedded platforms—extending from the OS to Kubernetes to the security layer. Always faster, always transparent, and always with open source at the core.

Because in the future of embedded systems, sovereignty isn’t optional. It’s the foundation of competitive strength.

Don’t miss these SUSE blogs covering embedded solutions and digital sovereignty:

SUSE Embedded Partner Program: Build Faster. Scale Smarter. Stay Secure.

The Foundations of Digital Sovereignty: Why Control Over Data, Technology and Operations Matters

Championing Digital Sovereignty in Europe: SUSE’s Position on Open Sovereign IT

Digital sovereignty: From principle to practice

References

• IDC Europe Blog – Digital Sovereignty in Europe, 2025: What’s Plan B?
• IDC Report – Digital Sovereignty Imperative (2025)
• Wire – State of Digital Sovereignty in Europe (2025)
• EU Digital Strategy – Cloud & Edge Policies