IBM finds 94% of firms had a digital sovereignty problem

IBM released its Digital Sovereignty Index. It says 94% of surveyed firms had a digital sovereignty challenge in the last three years. Digital sovereignty means that a firm keeps control and can show proof of it across AI, technology, operations and data. Of the affected firms, 81% had to give formal proof to regulators, auditors, customers or internal stakeholders.

How it works

The index checks dimensions such as responsibility, intervention and exit. Exit means that a firm can replace a provider, model or system and keep the business in operation. The index compares how confident firms are with the proof they can give.

The numbers

• 82% of respondents gave one of the two top levels of confidence that they could show proof of control.
• Only 33% could fully show exit during their worst incident.
• Problems with AI affected 44% of respondents. AI got the worst proof score.
• In the top tier, 63% of firms test control all the time or in regular inspections. In the bottom tier, 9% do.

What is not known

The source does not say how many firms took part. Responsibility showed the most difference between confidence and proof. The index comes from IBM, and the source gives no external check.

Insight: Firms feel sure, but proof of AI control is weak

Firms are confident, but AI got the worst score for proof of control. BlackFog says only 48% of security leaders can give a record of data types that left through AI tools. A different report says 14% to 19% of firms have no executive for AI governance. Auditors want records. It seems that a firm with AI records and one owner can go through audits with less work.