Making digital sovereignty measurable. (Only German)

Sofie Schönborn is Digital Sovereignty Manager at Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of the Schwarz Group. As an expert in digital sovereignty, she translates the concept from an abstract ambition into practical, actionable strategies Sofie leads research activities and initiatives in the field of digital sovereignty, including the development of the Sovereignty Maturity Levels Framework as part of the Schwarz Digits European Sovereign Stack Standard (ES3). The framework is designed to make the digital sovereignty of cloud solutions and IT services measurable and comparable. Sofie is also co-author and co-editor of the annual Schwarz Digits Cybersecurity Report.

Professor Dennis-Kenji Kipker studied law and computer science and, as Scientific Director and Founder of the cyberintelligence.institute, conducts research on the relationship between law and technology, with a focus on cybersecurity, corporate strategy and digital resilience in the context of global crises. His work places particular emphasis on Chinese and US IT law. In this capacity, he advises the German Federal Government, the European Commission and organisations around the world, while also serving in a range of supervisory and advisory roles. On a voluntary basis, he contributes to the World Justice Project in the United States and serves on the Advisory Board of the African Center for Cyberlaw & Cybercrime Prevention (ACCP) at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. In 2025, Professor Kipker was named one of Capital magazine’s “Top 40 under 40”, an award recognising individuals whose professional achievements are considered particularly influential and forward-looking. He is also a regular commentator on digital topics, contributing to outlets including ZDF, Der Tagesspiegel, Focus Online and WirtschaftsWoche.

As Head of Public Sector at Bechtle, Steven Handgrätinger is responsible for the company’s business with public-sector organisations. For more than 20 years, he has supported government authorities and public institutions in delivering strategic IT and digitalisation initiatives, building extensive expertise in IT strategy, governance and digital transformation. A central focus of his work is helping public-sector organisations build high-performing, secure and future-ready IT environments. In doing so, he examines the foundations of digital sovereignty in depth, from technological dependencies and regulatory requirements to questions of governance and measurement. Drawing on many years of collaboration with federal, state and local government organisations, he brings a highly practical perspective to the discussion and demonstrates how digital sovereignty can be implemented and embedded across the public sector.

As a member of the Executive Vice President at Bechtle AG, Martin Kaloudis is responsible for the strategic development and commercial success of the company’s Central and Western regions. He supports both private and public-sector organisations in delivering digital transformation initiatives and developing future-ready IT architectures. His perspective on digital sovereignty has been shaped by more than 25 years in senior leadership positions at Deutsche Bahn, as CEO of BWI GmbH and at Bechtle. Rather than viewing digital sovereignty as technological independence, he sees it as an organisation’s ability to remain capable of acting effectively, even as circumstances change For this reason, he regards digital sovereignty as a strategic leadership responsibility. The digital sovereignty of organisations and nations, along with cybersecurity, also forms a key area of his academic research as Professor of Business Information Systems at AKAD University Stuttgart.