Title: AWS re:Inforce 2024 - Control without compromise: AWS European Sovereign Cloud (DAP224)

Insights:

• Digital Sovereignty Definition: The term "digital sovereignty" lacks a single, uniform definition and varies by country, region, and industry. It generally involves control over data, critical infrastructure, and the digital economy.
• Key Themes in Digital Sovereignty:
  • Data Residency: Customers want control over their data, including knowledge of who has access and where it is stored and transferred.
  • Operator Access Restriction: Ensuring that neither AWS nor foreign entities have access to customer data.
  • Resiliency and Survivability: Ability to sustain operations during geopolitical crises, disasters, or technical failures.
  • Economic Independence: Investment in local skills and infrastructure to support the local economy.
• AWS's Commitment: AWS aims to provide full AWS capabilities without forcing customers to choose between comprehensive features and sovereignty requirements.
• AWS European Sovereign Cloud:
  • A new, independent infrastructure offering designed for the public sector and regulated industries in Europe.
  • Built to meet enhanced data residency and operational autonomy requirements.
  • First region to be located in Brandenburg, Germany.
  • Features its own Identity and Access Management (IAM) and billing stack, requiring new account sign-up and separate billing.
• Infrastructure Excellence: AWS European Sovereign Cloud leverages AWS's global architectural excellence, including multi-AZ (Availability Zone) design for high availability and resiliency.
• Enhanced Data Residency: Ensures all customer-created metadata (IAM roles, policies, tags, etc.) remains within the European Sovereign Cloud partition.
• Operational Autonomy: Operations managed by EU residents physically present in the EU, covering customer service, data center operations, and technical support.
• Wide Spectrum of Solutions: AWS offers a continuum of solutions, including local zones, Wavelength, dedicated local zones, and the Snow Family, to meet diverse sovereignty requirements.
• Regulatory Collaboration: AWS collaborates with regulators and policymakers, such as Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), to inform the design and roadmap of the European Sovereign Cloud.
• Partner Ecosystem: Partners play a crucial role in building sovereign solutions, assisting with workload migration, and navigating digital sovereignty requirements.
• Investment and Launch: AWS European Sovereign Cloud is backed by a 7.8 billion euro investment and is set to launch at the end of 2025.
• Early Adoption Encouragement: Customers are encouraged to start using AWS's existing commercial regions in Europe to prepare for the European Sovereign Cloud.

Quotes:

• "There is no single definition of digital sovereignty; it means different things to different people."
• "Customers should not have to choose between the power of a full-blown AWS capability versus feature-limited solutions."
• "AWS European Sovereign Cloud is a net new independent infrastructure offering, different from our existing eight commercial regions in Europe."
• "We have raised the bar in terms of providing enhanced data residency."
• "Operations for European Sovereign Cloud are done by EU residents who are physically present in the EU."
• "AWS provides a wide continuum of solutions to meet varied sovereignty requirements."
• "European Sovereign Cloud is a full-featured cloud, set to be launching at the end of 2025."
• "You do not have to wait for the European Sovereign Cloud to get started."