Why the next era of sovereign digital innovation will be co-created in India

By Terry Maiolo, Vice President-General Manager APAC, OVHcloud

From a market for digital adoption in the past decade, India has now entered an era of co-creation of global digital infrastructure. Platforms like UPI for payments, Aadhaar for identity, and ONDC for open commerce are evidence that India is experimenting with digital public infrastructure (DPI) that puts scale, interoperability and user control at the centre. With lessons learned from these digital successes, businesses, policymakers and technology providers now have the fantastic chance to shape innovation not only within India but globally. What makes them remarkable is their openness — an approach that resonates with debates we see in Europe around data and digital sovereignty, where nations want control over data while still embracing global innovation.

Sovereignty remains a core challenge globally with each country having different approaches around data governance, spurring increased geopolitical competition. In Europe, initiatives like GAIA-X aim to build federated, interoperable ecosystems in which providers and users adhere to open standards, transparency and legal jurisdictions that protect users from extraterritorial oversight. These models show that sovereignty does not require isolation; rather, it demands trust, clarity and the ability for organisations to choose where their infrastructure resides, how their cloud is governed, and with whom they partner.

India’s digital infrastructure efforts are increasingly aligned with those principles. ONDC enables open-commerce by lowering entry barriers for small businesses, reducing commission costs compared to closed platforms, and allowing different apps to operate on shared protocols. This opens up new market access for SMEs, artisans, cloud-kitchen operators and rural entrepreneurs. But technical infrastructure – especially cloud infrastructure – is a critical piece of the puzzle: latency, security, data localisation and vendor lock-in are real business risks. Having cloud infrastructure that is sovereign, transparent and locally hosted helps mitigate them.

Enter global cloud providers who bring those principles into their operating model for India. They are setting up local data centres that give enterprises and startups closer control over performance, compliance and data residency as the country builds its next-generation digital infrastructure.

Lessons from Europe show why these elements matter and offer key considerations India should watch closely:
1. Standards + Certifications Matter: Regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), cloud security standards, independent audits and industry-led codes of conduct (e.g. CISPE – Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe) help establish trust.
2. Federation over Centralisation: Federated cloud systems (multiple nodes, shared jurisdictions, open governance) prevent concentration of power in any one provider. This helps avoids dependencies on single hyperscalers and helps maintain legal and technical sovereignty.
3. Openness and Reversibility: Use of open source, documented APIs (Application Programming Interface) and ensuring customers can migrate or exit cloud service providers to avoid lock-in. Details of where data is residing, who is accessing the data, and under what terms it is accessed are open to scrutiny.

For Indian businesses, governments and startups, these are not abstract ideals but real levers of competitive advantage. In sectors like fintech, healthcare or supply chain/logistics, concerns around data privacy, latency, cost and trust can make or break adoption. Being able to partner with cloud providers that allow local data residency, compliant security standards, predictable billing and minimal vendor lock-in can reduce risk and accelerate innovation.

In the next phase, India will have the chance to build digital public infrastructure that is open, trusted and co-created. This would mean cloud infrastructure that respects data sovereignty; marketplace platforms which empower small players; regulatory frameworks that approach transparency; and partnerships that embed global standards without compromising local interests.

India’s digital economy is moving from adoption to authorship. So, the next era of digital innovation will not be defined by who has the biggest data centres, but by who builds ecosystems of trust. India, with its scale, diversity, regulatory momentum and an emerging cloud ecosystem is uniquely positioned to help write those rules. This is not just about India but about how India with global partners, co-create an infrastructure foundation that others will adopt, adapt and learn from.