Dirk Fox
Secorvo Security Consulting GmbH / KA-IT-Si
Presentation of the Karlsruhe Manifesto on Digital Sovereignty
Your Data! Your Rules?
Digital Sovereignty.
Your Data! Your Rules? Digital Sovereignty.
What if your email account were suddenly blocked? What if your credit card were no longer accepted? What if your digital services were no longer available?
Digital sovereignty means understanding, making your own decisions, and remaining capable of taking action. This requires knowledge, secure and transparent technologies, open standards, and genuine alternatives.
Karlsruhe, as a hub for digital innovation, brings together specialized expertise in this area: from computer science and IT security to law, data protection, and AI, all the way to technology transfer and media art. Here, sovereign solutions are developed, tested, and put into practice.
On October 9, 2026, the karlsruhe.digital initiative will publicly present the Karlsruhe Manifesto on Digital Sovereignty in the ZKM’s Media Theater.
Presentation of the Karlsruhe Manifesto on Digital Sovereignty
3:00 p.m. Manifesto Launch
Presentation of the Karlsruhe Manifesto on Digital Sovereignty by the “Digital Sovereignty” expert group of the karlsruhe.digital initiative: Dirk Fox, Secorvo Security Consulting GmbH / KA-IT-Si; David Hermanns, CyberForum; Mathias Hornberger, CyberForum; Martin Hubschneider, CyberForum; Markus Losert, City of Karlsruhe; Alexander Mädche, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Rainer Neumann, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences; Dominika Szope, City of Karlsruhe; Jan Wiesenberger, FZI Research Center for Information Technology
Approx. 3:45 p.m. Pitches from the Karlsruhe Sovereignty Ecosystem
Short pitches highlight Karlsruhe-based contributions to digital sovereignty: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; dmTECH GmbH; Disy Informationssysteme; IT Department of the City of Karlsruhe; fair.digital; alfa Group; audriga GmbH; inovex; synyx; raumobil; HQS Quantum Simulations; KA-IT-Si + Secorvo Security Consulting GmbH
5:00 p.m. Signing & Exchange
Sign the manifesto, join the discussion, and engage in conversation with numerous stakeholders from Karlsruhe.
The Authors
“Digital Sovereignty” Expert Group of the karlsruhe.digital Initiative
What does it mean to remain self-determined and capable of taking action in an increasingly digital world? How can technological innovation, security, freedom, and economic strength be considered together? And what contribution can Karlsruhe, as a hub for digital innovation, make in this regard?
With the manifesto “Karlsruhe—The Hub of Digital Sovereignty,” stakeholders from the business, academic, cultural, political, and administrative sectors are sending a united message.
The focus is on an understanding of digital sovereignty that goes beyond individual technologies or infrastructures: It is about the ability to understand digital systems, identify dependencies, preserve one’s own scope for action, and create alternatives where necessary.
Karlsruhe brings together a unique set of strengths for this purpose: excellent research and computer science, IT security, law and data protection, innovative companies and public administration, a robust startup and technology transfer ecosystem, and international recognition as a city of media art. These areas of expertise are to be more closely integrated and translated into concrete applications.
The manifesto describes how Karlsruhe can leverage its strengths and put digital sovereignty to the test in practice, promote it, and advance it—from technology and security to data and open systems, and on to education, knowledge transfer, and European cooperation.
David Hermanns
CyberForum
Matthias Hornberger
CyberForum
Martin Hubschneider
CyberForum
Markus Losert
City of Karlsruhe
Alexander Mädche
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Rainer Neumann
Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences
Dominika Szope
City of Karlsruhe
Jan Wiesenberger
FZI Research Center for Information Technology
The Karlsruhe Sovereignty Ecosystem
Niko Fostiropoulos
Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
alfacube group
“Communication Without Barriers – Digital Excellence from Karlsruhe”
Dr. Hans-Jörg Happel
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
audriga GmbH
“Those who cannot adapt are not self-reliant.”
Marcus Briesen
Chief Business Officer (CBO)
Disy Information Systems
“Those who can make decisions are in control.”
Sarah Nattermann & Michael Hauck
Sarah Nattermann, Product Manager, Payments
Michael Hauck, Head of Technology Architecture, Payments
dmTECH GmbH
“Digital Sovereignty in Payments: It’s Not About Being Independent, but About Remaining Capable of Action.”
Johannes Britsch
Managing Director of contagt GmbH and Member Representative
fair.digital e.V. (nonprofit)
“fair.digital: The Seal of Quality for Digital Sovereignty”
Dr. Iris Schwenk
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
HQS Quantum Simulations
“Digital sovereignty starts small”
Tobias Joch
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Inovex GmbH
“Sovereignty Through Architecture: Empowering Digital Freedom.”
Dirk Fox
Managing Director of Secorvo Security Consulting GmbH and co-founder of KA-IT-Si
“25 years of commitment to digital sovereignty – the “Karlsruhe IT Security Initiative”
Professor Dr. Jörn Müller-Quade
Head of KASTEL: Cryptography and Security Research Group, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Spokesperson for the KASTEL Competence Center
“Trustworthy Systems from Untrustworthy Components.”
Mirko Mälicke
Head of Data & AI
raumobil GmbH
Markus Losert
Head of the Office of Information Technology and Digitalization; CIO and CDO,
, City of Karlsruhe
Sven Müller
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
synyx GmbH & Co. KG
“Digital sovereignty begins with the value chain”
Markus Passau
Chief Sales Officer (CSO)
TelemaxX Telekommunikation GmbH