Digital Infrastructures
A Critical Move

Never before have technologies played such a decisive role in shaping the future of society and economic competitiveness. Digital infrastructures - the underlying architecture of all digital operations - are of strategic importance for France and Europe. They form the backbone of our modern economy and institutions. Yet France has been slow to articulate a clear position, while the United States have leveraged them as a tool of economic power, and China as an instrument of political influence.

It is imperative to adopt a shared, coherent global vision that brings together all the technological building blocks essential to our digital sovereignty. In a context of budgetary constraints in France and across Europe, the key question is no longer simply how much to invest - but where, when, and how. Which future uses must we retain control over, and how can we ensure their security?

In response to this reality, Institut Montaigne proposes an analysis based on nearly two years of work and deliberations, including over 100 expert hearings, aimed at mobilizing public authorities to build and implement a comprehensive strategy covering all digital infrastructures (networks, data processing, computing). The report sets out 9 actionable, quantified and measurable recommendations to help shape an industrial strategy aligned with future needs.

Today, digital infrastructures - from data centers to fiber optic networks to satellites - connect individuals, businesses and governments, ensuring the secure and efficient functioning of our economies and societies. Though often invisible, they are as essential to our organizations as roads were to the Roman Empire. Far from being limited to tech companies, these infrastructures directly shape our daily lives - from internet access and data security to the operation of critical services such as hospitals, schools, and the armed forces. They underpin our ability to produce, exchange and protect information of varying degrees of sensitivity.

Digital infrastructures are also a cornerstone of technological innovation. They shape the future deployment of transformative technologies, such as AI, cloud and cybersecurity. Without a strategic and comprehensive approach, we cannot ensure their robustness, resilience or ability to support major economic and societal transformations - let alone the unforeseen uses that will redefine how we live and work.

Digital infrastructures are increasingly converging by bringing together communication networks and data processing systems such as cloud and edge computing. Edge computing alone could process up to 74% of the world's data by 2031, representing a strategic opportunity to safeguard European data and prevent systematic reliance on foreign infrastructure. This evolution has given rise to a market where global players now operate across the entire value chain of digital infrastructures.

In France, there is now broad consensus on the strategic priorities - but still no clear identification of which components of the value chain must remain under sovereign control, and for which specific uses. This stands in contrast to the approaches taken by the United States and China. In addition, digital infrastructures in France continue to face technical and administrative hurdles that need to be addressed:

• Insufficient deployment of computing and network infrastructures
• No coordinated plan for energy usage
• Persistent administrative delays, despite the political momentum expressed at the AI Action Summit to reduce them
   

Rather than trying to catch up, France must focus its efforts on segments where it holds a strategic advantage. We believe that the trio of "Financing, Energy and Talent", of the American strike, is within our reach, due to the excellence of our engineers and privileged access to competitive energy. This calls for clear strategic choices, without scattering investments and concentrating efforts where European leadership is still achievable. Against this backdrop, Institut Montaigne has identified three priorities to enable France to secure its most critical sovereign applications, reduce dependencies, maintain a leadership role in data processing and high-performance computing, and leverage the technological excellence of its network infrastructure: