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Europe faces critical digital dependencies with limited freedom of choice in essential technologies. At least 80% of Europe's digital technologies are imported, predominantly from non-European big tech firms. These dependencies create cascading vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure, from AI over cloud services to semiconductor supply chains, limiting Europe's strategic autonomy and innovative capacity.
European decision makers have heard the wake-up call to reduce strategic dependencies, but more interdisciplinary research, knowledge sharing and coordination is still needed to enhance Europe's global competitiveness and serve the public interest.
Technological agency and self-determination do not mean isolation; hence Europe must therefore strengthen its own capabilities whilst at the same time diversifying its international partnerships. The Indo-Pacific plays a key role in this regard: the region is at the heart of global technology and value chains and, at the same time, an important arena for new partnerships with India, Japan and the ASEAN states. This we achieve through our Indo-Pacific Taskforce, which currently focuses on EU India relations and would expand to cover other countries.
The ETRS project (European Technological Resilience & Sovereignty) addresses these challenges through three complementary pillars.
Objective: Create the connective tissue between interdisciplinary stakeholders to increase alignement and shared evidence in global tech debates.
Stakeholder Coordination: Bring together think tanks, research centers, and public/private actors to avoid fragmented approaches.
Hybrid Events & Working Groups: Generate policy recommendations and foster collaboration.
Objective: Provide decision makers with clear, actionable insights on technological resilience.
360° Knowledge: Consolidate & complement research on technological resilience and sovereignty.
Common Indicators & Use Cases: Develop practical examples for secure data sharing and resilient digital services.
Objective: Create the connective tissue between interdisciplinary stakeholders to increase alignment and shared evidence in global tech debates.
Strategic Partners: Closely integrate India, Japan, and ASEAN into European technology policy as partners for more resilient value chains, digital technologies, and common standards.
Dialogue and Cooperation: High-level workshops, policy dialogues, and joint research initiatives on AI, semiconductors, data governance, cyber security, and critical technologies.
These three pillars are not stand-alone initiatives. They are brought to life through the ETRS Network and a series of thematic activities and international partnerships.
At the heart of ETRS is its European network. Bringing together more than 30 leading European think tanks, research institutes and experts, the network transforms the three pillars into concrete research, policy recommendations and collaborative projects.
It was announced on the occasion of the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty in Berlin on November 17, 2025, and aims to:
Bertelsmann Stiftung
Would you like to learn more or become part of it?
The ETRS project aims to strengthen Europe’s technological resilience by building strategic international partnerships. In the spirit of techplomacy, it fosters multilateral cooperation with like-minded partners beyond Europe.
As a pilot region, the ETRS project is focusing on the Indo-Pacific, which has long since ceased to be merely a geographical concept. It is the central arena where the rules of the global economy are being rewritten. From digital trade standards and semiconductor supply chains to investment screening and green technology partnerships, the decisions made between Brussels, Beijing, Tokyo, Delhi and Washington today will define the economic architecture of the next decade. This Blogsite brings together the region's leading voices to make sense of those decisions – with the rigor of expertise and the clarity that the stakes demand.
