Exploring digital sovereignty through data flows: empirical evidence from the backbone of the internet

Enxhi Leka ()
Additional contact information
Enxhi Leka: LITEM - Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologies, Economie et Management (EA 7363) - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - Université Paris-Saclay - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], IMT-BS - DEFI - Département Droit, Économie et Finances - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This study investigates the achievability of digital sovereignty within the European Union by examining website data flows, mainly focusing on non-personal data. Amid growing concerns over data governance and the resurgence of digital sovereignty as a central theme in EU policies, this research uniquely addresses firms' data storage decisions and their implications for EU users. Utilizing an original dataset of the most visited websites in France, this paper analyzes data location preferences across various sectors, revealing a complex interplay between privacy regulations, firm size, sector-specific tendencies, and the underlying internet infrastructure. The findings suggest that firms prioritize data storage in countries with strong privacy regulations and tend to locate data closer to consumers to minimize latency. However, variations are observed based on sector-specific needs and firm size, with larger and tech-oriented firms showing less sensitivity to distance. The study also highlights the significant role of the Internet's backbone infrastructure in shaping data storage strategies, pointing to potential challenges in aligning with digital sovereignty goals.

Date: 2022-07-04
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in 8th Digital Economics Summer School, Association Francophone de Recherche en Economie Numérique (AFREN), Jul 2022, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05018938

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().