Powered by: CIONET, BT and Cisco 

Recently, the exclusive CIONET Vision Dinner took place under the theme “Mastering Digital Sovereignty: From the Network to the Data.” Digital leaders and tech strategists from global MNCs came together to debate one of today’s most pressing topics: control, trust, and resilience in an era of geopolitical and regulatory shifts.

Here are the key takeaways, highlights, and what they mean for organizations aiming to strengthen their position in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

What was on the table?

• The network as the foundation of sovereignty
  A sovereign-ready network is not a luxury but a necessity. Programmability, segmentation by geography or sector, and visibility were highlighted as crucial for enforcing policy effectively.
• Data sovereignty & encryption
  Encryption in transit and strict rules around data localization are key. Organizations must be in control of who accesses their data, where it resides, and how it moves.
• Resilience and continuity
  As geopolitical tensions or new regulations emerge, systems cannot afford to falter. Real-time monitoring, auditing, and redundancy were named as essential pillars of operational continuity.
• Identity & Access Management (IAM)
  Solid identity governance deciding who gets access, under what conditions, and with what rights was underscored as a cornerstone of trust and security.
  
  

Personal impressions & highlights

• The atmosphere was inspiring: an intimate setting with room for exchange of ideas, not just presentations.
• The mix of strategic and practical thinking stood out less jargon, more actionable insights.
• Keynote speaker Azeem Akhtar (CTO, BT International) delivered a compelling vision of how large organizations can remain both scalable and adaptable in a world of uncertainty underlined the importance of the network. This is why BT built Global Fabric, the network-as-a-service (Naas) platform which features end-to-end path control capability, allowing you to create your own course for your information to remove uncertainty about where it will pass and to meet data in transit sovereignty requirements.
  
  

What does this mean for your organization?

• Audit your network: How sovereign-ready is your infrastructure? Can you segment, route by geography, and enforce policies at network level?
• Revisit your data policies: Ensure consistency around localization, encryption, and access in line with regulations.
• Invest in resilience: Monitoring, redundancy, and backup plans are no longer optional, they’re vital.
• Prioritize IAM: Strong identity governance is the backbone of every trustworthy security strategy.
  
  

Conclusion
The CIONET Vision Dinner reinforced that digital sovereignty is not just a buzzword, it's a call to responsibility, control, and innovation. Organizations investing today in networks, data, and identity will be the ones truly in control of their digital future.