AI sovereignty vs. innovation — Can Europe have both?

AI sovereignty vs. innovation, Can Europe have both? acontece a 10 de novembro de 2026, PTW Palace - Rua Gomes Freire, em Lisboa.

Europe is pursuing digital sovereignty with increasing urgency, from data localization requirements and cloud certification schemes to the AI Act's compliance framework.Yet for startups and scale-ups, sovereignty-driven regulation can mean higher barriers to entry, fragmented markets, and reduced access to the global infrastructure and foundation models they need to compete.This panel will explore the tension at the heart of Europe's digital ambition: can the continent build meaningful strategic autonomy without stifling the entrepreneurial dynamism that drives AI innovation?Speakers will examine how sovereignty frameworks, if poorly designed, risk creating a two-tier market where only large incumbents can afford compliance, and how, if well designed, they can become a source of competitive differentiation and trust that benefits European builders.The discussion will ground the debate in Portugal's own experience as a small, open economy with a vibrant startup ecosystem, exploring how founders, investors, and regulators can co-design sovereignty models that protect critical interests without closing the door to the global partnerships, cloud infrastructure, and capital flows that fuel innovation.Participants will be challenged to move beyond the binary of "sovereignty or openness" and identify practical policy mechanisms, from regulatory sandboxes to interoperable certification, that enable both.