[Commlist] CfP GIG-ARTS 2025: The Rise of Digital Sovereignty: Ambiguities and Challenges

*9**th** GIG-ARTS Conference | **26-27 May 2025 Salerno*

*The Rise of Digital Sovereignty: Ambiguities and Challenges*

*Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 January 2025*


The European Multidisciplinary Conference on Global Internet Governance 
Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies (GIG-ARTS) gathers 
scholars and practitioners in an annual conference to debate the latest 
research on governing the global internet. Each conference highlights a 
main theme while also welcoming contributions on other aspects of global 
internet governance.

Earlier GIG-ARTS meetings have addressed themes such as “Global Internet 
Governance as a Diplomacy Issue” (Paris, 2017), “Overcoming Inequalities 
in Internet Governance” (Cardiff, 2018), “Europe as a Global Player in 
Internet Governance” (Salerno, 2019), “Online Information Governance” 
(Vienna, 2021), “Global Internet Governance and International Human 
Rights” (Nicosia, 2022), and “The Governance of Cybersecurity: 
Resilience, Human Rights and Democracy” (Padua, 2023), “Thirty Years of 
Multistakeholderism in Internet Governance: Assessments and Prospects” 
(The Hague 2024).


*GIG-ARTS 2025*

The Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference, to be held at the University of Salerno 
on 26-27 May 2025, takes as its main theme “The Rise of Digital 
Sovereignty: Ambiguities and Challenges.”

The concept of digital sovereignty has gained increasing attention and 
importance in recent years, driven by a complex array of political and 
economic motivations, geopolitical tensions, and technological 
developments. The idea of state sovereignty, once largely limited to 
territorial boundaries, is now being reimagined and redefined within the 
context of the digital age. National governments and non-state actors 
alike are struggling with the need to exert control over data, digital 
infrastructures, and technological ecosystems, while simultaneously 
navigating the challenges posed by the global nature of the internet and 
the influence of digital corporations.

The increasing centrality of digital infrastructure in economic 
development, national security, and societal well-being has led many 
governments to reassess their role in regulating and controlling digital 
networks. This reassessment has been especially prominent in the face of 
growing reliance on foreign technology providers, concerns over data 
privacy, and disruptions of global supply chains. Nations like China, 
Russia, and the European Union have developed policies aimed at 
asserting their digital sovereignty, each motivated by distinct yet 
interrelated factors, including national security, economic 
protectionism, and the safeguarding of fundamental rights. Digital 
sovereignty is thus positioned as both a response to external 
vulnerabilities and an assertion of strategic autonomy in an 
increasingly digital world. Also in the United States of America, the 
traditional model of internet governance based on private sector 
leadership, business self-regulation, and global economic competition 
has been called into question by recent policy initiatives, such as the 
Huawei ban, restrictions on Chinese apps,  the CLOUD Act, and the Chips 
and Science Act.

Furthermore, many digital sovereignty conceptualizations go beyond a 
state-centric framework. One prominent perspective focuses on digital 
sovereignty from a grassroots point of view, which emphasizes the 
capacity of local communities, indigenous groups,  civil society, and 
individuals to control their digital futures. These perspectives 
advocate for decentralized and community-driven approaches to digital 
governance, challenging both state and corporate dominance. 
Additionally, there are emerging discussions around corporate digital 
sovereignty as the tech giants' ability to become autonomous in their 
productive cycle (managing their own cables, data servers, storage farms 
etc.), or more broadly their ability to operate across borders, shaping 
global digital ecosystems and influencing governance decisions in ways 
that rival or even surpass state authorities. Finally, there are 
interpretations of digital sovereignty in terms of the sovereignty of 
cyberspace in itself, meant as self-governance by native digital 
institutions representing the so-called Internet Community.

The pursuit of digital sovereignty generates significant tensions, 
particularly between the desire for national control and the need for 
international and multistakeholder cooperation, and despite its growing 
prominence, digital sovereignty remains a deeply contested concept.

As a result, digital sovereignty is marked by several ambiguities and 
contradictions, which reflect the complexity of regulating the digital 
world. One prominent contradiction lies in the interplay between 
national autonomy and the extraterritorial projection of power. While 
governments seek to assert control over their digital landscapes, they 
also engage in actions that extend their influence beyond national 
borders, such as imposing data localization rules that have far-reaching 
implications for international businesses, or enacting digital policies 
that affect global internet governance. Additionally, digital 
sovereignty presents a paradox between constitutionalism and 
authoritarianism. On the one hand, some countries advocate for digital 
sovereignty as a necessary condition to constitutionalize the digital 
realm, ensuring that fundamental rights such as privacy and freedom of 
expression are upheld. On the other hand, the same concept can be used 
to justify authoritarian practices, such as state censorship, 
surveillance, and the restriction of access to information.

This conference aims to foster a critical dialogue on the rise of 
digital sovereignty, addressing its motivations, ambiguities, and 
contradictions. We invite papers that provide both theoretical insights 
and empirical analyses, drawing from a wide range of disciplines, 
including political science, law, economics, communication, science and 
technology studies. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in 
discussions that explore the future of digital sovereignty and its role 
in shaping the global digital order.

Therefore, the Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference especially welcomes papers that 
address the sorts of questions listed below. We aim to compile a 
selection of contributions in a journal special issue and/or an edited 
volume.

  * Defining digital sovereignty: Conceptual frameworks and theories
  * Comparative perspectives on digital sovereignty
  * The economy of digital sovereignty: Protectionism vs. global digital
    integration
  * The geopolitics of digital sovereignty
  * Digital sovereignty and digital constitutionalism
  * Digital sovereignty and national security
  * Motivations and implications of data localization, network
    territorialization, and platform regulation
  * Digital sovereignty and digital colonialism, authoritarianism, and
    imperialism
  * The role of international organizations (WTO, ITU, etc.) in digital
    sovereignty
  * Tech standardization and sovereignty: Competing global norms
  * Global digital supply chains and strategic autonomy
  * Cybersecurity, weaponization, and digital sovereignty
  * Digital sovereignty and emerging technologies
  * Digital sovereignty and environmental issues
  * Digital sovereignty and Internet fragmentation

As always, alongside the main theme, the GIG-ARTS conference also 
welcomes papers on other aspects of internet governance.

*
Submission information*

Authors are invited to submit their extended abstracts (no longer than 
500 words), describing their research question(s), theoretical 
framework, approach and methodology, expected findings or empirical 
outcome. Submitted abstracts will be evaluated through a peer-review 
process. Abstracts and authors’ information should be submitted through 
https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/ <https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/>

*Key dates*

  * Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 January 2025
  * Notification to authors: 1 April 2025
  * Deadline for author registration (at least one author must register
    for a selected presentation to appear on the programme): 14 April 2025
  * Programme publication: 20 April 2025
  * Registration deadline: 15 May 2025
  * Conference dates: 26-27 May 2025

*Co-Sponsors*

Internet & Communication Policy Center (ICPC) 
https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/ 
<https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/>

Salerno Winter School on Internet Governance (SWING) 
https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/swing-2025 
<https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/swing-2025>

Digital Constitutionalism Network (DCN) 
https://digitalconstitutionalism.org <https://digitalconstitutionalism.org/>

Italian Ministry of University and Research
Grant PRIN 2022KTTSBC - CUP Master D53D23007300006
Digital Sovereignty in Comparative Perspective: State Authority, 
Corporate Power and Fundamental Rights in Cyberspace

*
Programme Committee*

Carolina Aguerre, Berna Akcali Gur, Francesco Amoretti, Luca Belli, 
Dennis Broeders, Stanislav Budnitsky, Andrea Calderaro, Olga Cavalli, 
Eduardo Celeste, Jean-Marie Chenou, Laura DeNardis, Dmitry Epstein, 
Marianne Franklin, Iginio Gagliardone, Orsolya Gulyas, Blayne Haggart, 
Sophie Hoogenboom, Min Jiang, Rikke Frank Joergensen, Hortense Jongen, 
Matthias C.Kettemann, Nanette Levinson, Robin Mansell, Meryem Marzouki, 
Francesca Musiani, Ricardo Nanni, Claudia Padovani, Clément Perarnaud, 
Julia Pohle, Dennis Redeker, Michele Rioux, Jamal Shahin, Mauro 
Santaniello, Katharine Sarikakis, Yves Schemeil, Jan Aart Scholte, Niels 
ten Oever, Nadia Tjahja, Natasha Tusikov.


*Organizing Committee*

Chairs: Francesco Amoretti, Nicola Palladino, Mauro Santaniello

Local Team: Carlos Andrés Fonseca Diaz, Nascia Tatiana Fera, Armando 
Antonio Ferrara, Gerardo Ferrentino, Serena Fraiese, Chiara Spiniello, 
Grace X. Yang.

*Venue*

GIG-ARTS 2025 will be held at the University of Salerno, Campus of Fisciano.

*Conference Registration and Fees*

Registration fees for the Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference are 120€ for regular 
participants and 60€ for students showing proof of status. Conference 
fees (non-refundable) cover a participant kit as well as coffee breaks, 
lunches, and reception. Registration deadline is 15 May 2025.

*
Communication Channels*

- Website: www.gig-arts.eu <http://www.gig-arts.eu/>

- Email for information: (events /at/ gig-arts.eu) <mailto:(events /at/ gig-arts.eu)>

- Submissions: https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/ 
<https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/>

- X/Twitter: @GigArtsEU - Hashtag: #GIGARTS25

- Mailing list for updates: 
https://gig-arts.eu/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_gig-arts.eu 
<https://gig-arts.eu/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_gig-arts.eu>


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