Overview

Digital sovereignty has emerged as one of the strategic priorities of the European Union. Within this context, the JRC Science for Policy Forum is a unique opportunity to gather and empower a 'Digital Sovereignty Science for Policy Community' including stakeholders from across Europe - EC services, leading research facilities and thinktanks, European Parliament, industry representatives, and practitioners. A defining characteristic of the Forum which distinguishes it from other similar events is the Science for Policy perspective. 

Our ambition

The drivers of this event are twofold: 

1. It will be an outlet for presenting a multitude of key domain-specific JRC findings that inform the operationalisation of European digital sovereignty. Within Directorate T, Unit T4 "Digital and Sovereignty," is leveraging the Forum as a collaborative platform to advance its multidisciplinary research on digital sovereignty. This endeavour encompasses a "Digital Sovereignty Series" of policy briefs, a measurement framework to assess key indicators, and a repository of use cases, providing empirical evidence for policy discussions. Additionally, the JRC is developing the Digital Sovereignty Canvas, an agile tool designed to facilitate inclusive dialogue and bridge the gap between industry needs, stakeholder awareness, and policy action, ultimately supporting the co-creation of Europe's digital sovereignty agenda.
2. The event will help identify pathways for reducing digital dependencies and areas for future JRC research together with key stakeholders and with a specific focus on anticipating future digital sovereignty scenarios. By doing so, the Forum will provide a unique stakeholder point where the JRC can act as a “centre of gravity” on digital sovereignty science for policy research.

Dates and Location

Our event is hosted across two days from 18-19 November 2026, in Brussels. 

Agenda

The Forum spans two days and is organised into two interlinked sessions which are targeted for a distinct audience:

• Session 1, organised at the Berlaymont, targets Commissioner-level, Director-General and Director attendees and will be streamed online. The primary objective is to disseminate the results of JRC policy work conducted in 2026 and opens a high-level dialogue on the state of digital sovereignty in Europe and the substance that science can contribute to the discussion.

• Session 2, organised at the CDMA, is a practitioner-focused forum enabling focused, in-depth discussion on key digital sovereignty themes. The formal will follow a research agora approach based on semi-structured deep dives followed by a forward-looking policy pathways discussion. This will help build synergies around emerging research topics. This expected outcome will position the JRC as the “centre of gravity” of science for policy research on digital sovereignty.

  Topics discussed at the Forum touch Digital infrastructure and Open Source sovereignty, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data, Industrial Sovereignty, Users’ perspectives on Digital Sovereignty and more.

(FINAL AGENDA UNDER CONSTRUCTION - May 2026)

Registration

Registration will be processed in two phases:

1. Invitation only:  May-August 2026

2. Public registration: Opens September 2026.