Global IT Cooperation Center Unveils Digital Sovereignty Index
The study covers more than 110 countries, including members of the CIS, ASEAN and BRICS+, as well as countries across Africa.
The Global IT Cooperation Center held a press conference on August 27 to present the Indeks tsifrovogo suvereniteta gosudarstv (Digital Sovereignty Index). The methodology is designed to assess the resilience of national digital systems and can be used to analyze digital sovereignty, international technology cooperation and opportunities for IT companies entering foreign markets, according to the online publication CIS Today.
The Index looks beyond whether a country simply has particular technologies. It also assesses how widely they are deployed, the degree of control over them and the country’s ability to support them in an emergency. The study covers more than 110 countries, including members of the CIS, ASEAN and BRICS+, as well as countries across Africa.
“This index is intended for government officials, Russian IT companies operating in international markets and our foreign partners who are interested in getting an objective picture of the global digital landscape,” said Vadim Glushchenko, director of the Global IT Cooperation Center.
He added that the Index was created to make digital sovereignty measurable, using clear and well-defined parameters.
“We have repeatedly heard at the highest levels that Russia, along with China and the United States, ranks among the top three countries with genuine digital sovereignty. That means having a full range of digital technologies that can make digital infrastructure resilient — from domestic hosting, messaging and email services and search engines to a robust and highly reliable cybersecurity framework,” Glushchenko said during the press conference.
Glushchenko also noted that many countries around the world are seeking to reduce their dependence on Western suppliers of digital products and services. Russia has extensive experience in doing so and is ready to share that experience with interested parties, he said.
Digital sovereignty is assessed across 25 areas grouped into five categories: infrastructure and connectivity; technological resources; workforce and expertise; domestic digital products and services; and institutions and crisis management.
Alexey Borodin, director general of the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications, said government agencies have a strong interest in studies of this kind. The data can help assess the effectiveness of investments in digital technologies. Russian researchers analyze the situation using objective data, helping minimize distortions caused by subjective assessments. This makes it possible to produce a more comprehensive analysis than those offered by foreign experts.
The new Digital Sovereignty Index could also be useful to technology companies planning to export their products and services. It gives them a clearer view of the specific needs of each potential market, allowing them to develop more targeted offerings for prospective customers.
The top spot in the Index’s overall global ranking is held by the United States, followed by South Korea and China. Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, Canada and Australia are also among the top 10. Russia currently ranks 10th.
“Russia is in the leading group. We have room to grow, but we understand that unprecedented sanctions pressure means we have to rely largely on our own resources, while much of the international community still has access to international cooperation even during a crisis, putting those countries in a more advantageous position. Even so, we are already demonstrating strong resilience,” said Yury Lindre, head of analytics at the Global IT Cooperation Center, commenting on the results of the first edition of the Digital Sovereignty Index.
Andrey Ustin, development director at NeuroVision, summed up the presentation: “Because we currently collect much of the information ourselves by hand and it is fragmented, we are interested in the Digital Sovereignty Index not simply as a country ranking but as a practical tool for our international operations. When we look at 20 potential countries where we are ready to begin working and search for an entry point, an index like this shows us where there are gaps and dependencies, and where Russian technology companies can offer tools to address them.”
