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Alternatives to U.S. Artificial Intelligence

Claude and GPT have transformed the way I write software, but I’m becoming increasingly uncomfortable with rising costs, vendor lock-in, and our growing dependence on a handful of U.S. providers. After exploring local models and open-weight alternatives hosted in Europe, I was surprised to discover that some lesser-known models can already handle much of my day-to-day work.

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OpenProject: A Real Alternative to Jira?

In his article “Using Jira Data Center with AI Features”, my colleague Nicolas Inden showed how to connect a self-hosted Jira instance with an AI model. One point stands out: Atlassian will only support Jira Data Center until early 2029. After that, support ends. Sales of Data Center licenses to new customers were already discontinued at the end of March 2026. So what do we do if we don’t want to return to Jira Cloud after 2029 - or want to move away from Jira right now?

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Nebu: Self-made sovereignty

How I’m building an enterprise chat server with agentic development that simply doesn’t exist.

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AI Features for Jira Data Center – No Atlassian Cloud Required

Imagine this: after every customer meeting, structured Jira issues are created automatically. You just paste your notes into an AI, and it does the rest. Atlassian already offers that kind of magic in Jira Cloud: natural-language search, automatic summaries, and issue creation from unstructured text. But not everyone wants to move to the cloud, and many teams plan to keep using Jira Data Center through 2029. In this article, we show how to get many of the same benefits on-premises with Jira Server and your own AI stack: GDPR-compliant, resilient to Cloud Act exposure, and without data leaving your environment.

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Managing Geopolitical Risks with Enterprise Architecture

IT leaders in Europe increasingly face questions about whether geopolitical developments – such as data protection disputes or trade conflicts between the EU and the US – threaten the viability of US cloud services. The risks range from price increases and legal uncertainties to potential usage restrictions. CIOs must not only ensure functional IT operations but also proactively assess external risks. This article demonstrates how enterprise architecture methods can help identify risks early and develop viable alternatives.

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Achieving Digital Sovereignty with Standard Software

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The Path to Heterogeneous Cloud Platforms

Digital transformation brings both challenges and opportunities for businesses. To create future-proof and flexible IT infrastructures, more and more companies are adopting multi-cloud or hybrid cloud strategies. This isn’t just about cost reduction, but also about aligning innovative services from different providers with regulatory requirements - particularly in the area of data protection. This article shows how targeted integration strategies can help you leverage the benefits of multi-cloud to optimize your existing infrastructure, reduce technical dependencies, and ensure long-term business success.

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A Governance Framework for Digital Sovereignty

In an increasingly connected world where digital infrastructure forms the backbone of our economy and society, the topic of digital sovereignty is gaining more and more attention. For decision-makers in German-speaking countries, this goes far beyond merely selecting a cloud provider. It’s about strategic agency, resilience, and the ability to actively shape one’s digital future. This article explores how a robust governance methodology can help organizations not only understand digital sovereignty but also put it into practice—without sacrificing convenience or innovation.

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Digital Sovereignty: Why Architecture Matters and How to Make Your Company Resilient

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Data Inventories in the EU Data Act: The Democratization of IoT Devices

Starting in September 2025, the EU Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) will require companies that collect or process data from connected devices to maintain comprehensive data inventories.

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Think Locally: On-Premise LLMs as Drivers of Competitive Advantage

Consider this scenario: Your organisation has integrated AI tools into critical business processes, your legal team has carefully reviewed data processing agreements, and your IT department has configured systems to comply with GDPR requirements. Then, a foreign court issues an order that overrides all these protections, requiring your AI provider to indefinitely retain data that should be deleted—including potentially sensitive corporate information shared by your employees.

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Digital Sovereignty as Self-Understanding

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EU Data Act: The Beginning of the End for Cloud Monoculture?

What has the EU ever done for us? …well, aside from free movement, no roaming charges, consumer protection, the single market, Erasmus, and more. But also: excessive bureaucracy, slow decisions, overregulation down to the much-mocked bottle cap – a favorite symbol for anyone blaming Europe for every innovation shortfall.

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Digitale Souveränität – Ein Definitionsversuch

Der Begriff Digitale Souveränität trägt die Wolkenwende. Beim Versuch einer Definition ist es unvermeidlich, verschiedene Perspektiven einzunehmen. Weniger, was das Digitale angeht – hier stehen ganz klar Informationstechnologie und Software im Fokus. Souveränität allerdings ist als Begriff eine andere Größenordnung.

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The Sovereignty Trap: Between Tiananmen and Trump

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From Data Graveyards to Knowledge Landscapes

Europe is sitting on a wealth of public data—but much of its potential remains untapped. The challenges are well known: fragmented portals, incompatible interfaces, and growing reliance on non-European platforms that slow innovation. While new industrial data spaces are emerging—enabling secure and sovereign exchange of sensitive information—public and industrial data ecosystems remain largely siloed. This article explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) can help bridge that gap and accelerate Europe’s shift from Open Data to Open Knowledge—supporting digital sovereignty and delivering greater value to society.

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Datensouveränität unterwegs: OpenWebUI trifft Ollama im VPN

In diesem Beitrag zeige ich, wie ich LLMs mit Ollama auf einem mobilen MacBook betreibe – und dank VPN und OpenWebUI von überall darauf zugreifen kann. Sicher, und selbst gehostet. Schritt für Schritt zum persönlichen KI-Setup – performant, privat und unterwegs verfügbar.

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Bringt eure Schafe ins Trockene: Tipps für politische Risikovorsorge

Mit Vorsorge raus aus der Abhängigkeit

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Digitale Souveränität

Digitale Souveränität bedeutet letztlich, dass Europa die Kontrolle über seine digitale Zukunft behält – technologisch, wirtschaftlich und regulatorisch. Für Unternehmen ist dies nicht nur ein politisches Schlagwort, sondern ein handfester Faktor für Risiko- und Erfolgsbewertung. Doch warum genau sollten Unternehmen bei Entscheidungen zur digitalen Transformation den Aspekt der europäischen Souveränität berücksichtigen?