In 2026, the European Union plans to bolster its digital sovereignty in the cloud sector, with significant investments and initiatives like the Cloud and AI Development Act. The goal is to triple the capacity of European data centers in the next 5-7 years. The Tech Trends Report 2026 highlights the growth of cloud and edge computing, with the global edge computing market expected to soar from $23.65 billion in 2024 to $327.79 billion by 2033. By 2030, the European Commission anticipates that 75% of European companies will utilize cloud-edge technologies.
The rise of generative AI is reshaping the cloud market, prompting investments in specialized hardware such as GPUs and AI chips. Europe’s LUMI supercomputer exemplifies this trend, facilitating extensive research in AI, climate, and health.
Despite these efforts, American tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google continue to dominate the European cloud market, holding around 85% of the share. To counter this, Europe is taking steps to regain control, including the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act set for 2025. Initiatives like the European Open Science Cloud and Gaia-X align with European values, offering secure digital environments.
In the Netherlands, a national Gaia-X test bed is being developed to explore new cloud collaboration methods, as European organizations increasingly question their reliance on American cloud providers.
