Author: heise online
Source: [Article not fully available - URL missing]
Publication Date: 3. November 2025 Reading Time of Summary: 3 minutes

Executive Summary

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is launching a multi-million initiative to repatriate critical research data from US cloud services back to Germany. The funding program, running until 2027, responds to the acute threat to digital sovereignty posed by the US Cloud Act and geopolitical uncertainties. By financing storage infrastructure and personnel, the initiative aims to reduce dependence on Amazon, Google, and Microsoft while building a resilient European data infrastructure.

Critical Key Questions

1. How realistic is complete independence from US tech giants given their technological dominance and limited European alternatives?

2. What specific consequences do German research institutions face if sensitive data remains with US providers?

3. Could data migration lead to technological fragmentation that hampers international research collaborations?

Scenario Analysis: Future Perspectives

Short-term (1 year):

Mass data migration from German universities away from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud to local data centers
Emergence of bottlenecks in qualified data curators and storage capacities
First legal disputes over data access and contract terminations with US providers

Medium-term (5 years):

Establishment of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as central research platform
Technological catch-up of European cloud providers with government funding
Possible retaliatory measures by the US in the technology sector

Long-term (10-20 years):

Formation of separate data spaces (EU, USA, China) with limited exchange
Paradigm shift in global scientific collaboration
Europe established as third technology pole alongside USA and China

Main Summary

Core Topic & Context

The DFG is responding with a comprehensive funding initiative to the increasing dependence of German research on US cloud providers. The US Cloud Act enables American authorities to access all data from US companies - regardless of storage location. This legal uncertainty, amplified by unpredictable US politics under Trump, endangers sensitive research data.

Key Facts & Figures

Funding period: 2025-2027
Retroactive funding: possible from August 1, 2024
First application deadline: November 10, 2024
Final submission: September 30, 2027
Funding covers: Storage capacity, personnel, legal reviews
Target infrastructure: European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)

Stakeholders & Affected Parties

Directly affected: German universities and research institutions
Cloud providers: Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud
Beneficiaries: European cloud providers and data centers
Indirectly involved: International research collaborations

Opportunities & Risks

Opportunities:

✅ Building sovereign data infrastructures
✅ Strengthening the European technology sector
✅ Better data protection according to GDPR standards

Risks:

⚠️ High migration costs and technical complexity
⚠️ Potential performance losses compared to US clouds
⚠️ Risk of scientific isolation

Action Relevance

Immediate measures for research institutions:

Inventory of all externally hosted data by November 2024
Application submission for particularly vulnerable data sets
Strategy development for sustainable data infrastructure

Additional Perspectives

The issue affects not only Germany. Similar initiatives are developing in parallel in Switzerland and Austria:

The Swiss Army plans to exit Microsoft 365 due to sovereignty concerns
Austria migrates to European cloud solutions
The Swiss Army Chief explicitly warns about the risks of Microsoft 365

Source Index

Primary Source:

heise online - DFG initiative on data sovereignty [URL not available]

Additional Sources:

Verification Status: ✅ Facts checked on 03.11.2025