Course Description
Format: Online, instructor-led
Duration: 4 sessions x 1,5h each
Certificate: Joint ITU and RealTyme
Region: Africa (French)
Course Objectives
✅ Explain the fundamental principles of digital sovereignty and distinguish it from related concepts such as data residency and digital independence.
✅ Identify structural risks and dependencies related to foreign platforms, cloud services and cross-border data flows, and assess their impact on national control and resilience.
✅ Assess the national level of digital maturity by identifying gaps in data governance, digital identity, communication systems and institutional oversight.
✅ Apply governance and public policy approaches that promote digital sovereignty, including regulatory tools and models of regional cooperation.
✅ Develop a progressive roadmap for digital sovereignty, aligned with national priorities, institutional capacities and available resources.
Who Should Attend
This course is designed for public policymakers, regulators, and senior public sector executives seeking a clear and actionable understanding of digital sovereignty.
Through expert-led sessions, concrete examples, and a practical gap-mapping exercise, participants will identify sovereignty risks and develop a phased roadmap aligned with national priorities and institutional capacities.
Training Details and Instructional Approach
Session 1 – Digital sovereignty: from concept to state responsibility
Session objective: To anchor digital sovereignty as an operational responsibility linked to national resilience, public trust and continuity of services.
Participants will be able to:
- Explain digital sovereignty as a measure of governance and institutional control.
- Identify the decision-making authority, accountability, and oversight mechanisms necessary for sovereignty.
- Distinguish between public policy statements and applicable and controllable governance structures.
- Explain why sovereignty failures directly impact citizens and services.
Session activities:
- Introduction (10 min) – Digital sovereignty: from political narrative to the reality of governance.
- Foundations of Governance (25 min) – Roles of the State, regulators, operators and suppliers.
- Decision-making rights & accountability (20 min) – Who decides, who operates, who audits.
- Case discussion (20 min) – Governance models and breaking points.
- Key messages & Q&A (15 min)
Post-session activities:
- Quiz
- Forum: discussion of governance challenges and national examples
Session 2 – Identity and data: the foundations of digital sovereignty
Session objective: To demonstrate how identity governance and data control support accountability, trust, and sovereign decision-making.
Participants will be able to:
- Explain why a sovereign identity is central to authority and accountability.
- Identify the risks of platform-based identity models and anonymous models.
- Apply basic principles of data classification and lifecycle management.
- Assess identity-data governance gaps in existing systems.
Session activities:
- Introduction (15 min) – Identity as authority: platform identity vs. state-issued identity. Why anonymity undermines trust in public systems.
- Data Governance Essentials (15 min) – Classification levels, access rights, lifecycle. Why encryption alone is not enough.
- Identity-data link (15 min) – Who accesses what, and why. Reuse by AI, “shadow” processing and risks of loss of control.
- Practical exercise: sovereignty gap analysis (25 min) – Evaluate a system based on identity control, data classification and the application of access rights.
- Discussion & Key Messages (20 min) – Governance vs. technical fixes. Institutional responsibility. Identity governs authority; data governance enforces sovereignty.
Post-session activities:
- Quiz
- Forum: discussion of national data control and data residency practices
Session 3 – Infrastructure and Platforms: Governing Dependency and Control
Session objective: To enable participants to evaluate infrastructure and platform choices through the lens of sovereignty and risk.
Participants will be able to:
- Compare infrastructure models according to sovereignty and jurisdiction.
- Identify platform dependencies and the risks of vendor lock-in.
- Recognize the contractual and architectural levers of control.
- Engage suppliers with informed sovereignty requirements.
Session activities:
- Infrastructure as a strategic choice (15 min) – On-premises, sovereign cloud and hybrid models. Jurisdictional exposure and control implications.
- Risks of platform dependency (20 min) – Lock-in effects, legal access by third parties, operational fragility.
- Governance levers (15 min) – Purchase clauses, architectural decisions and oversight mechanisms that preserve control.
- Practical exercise: Dependency mapping (25 min) – Identify external providers, critical dependencies and risk concentration points.
- Group feedback & key messages (15 min) – Where control is weakest, what can be governed today. Sovereignty is negotiated and conceived; control is built up through accumulation.
Post-session activities:
- Quiz
- Forum: Discussion of identity and access control challenges
Session 4 – Sovereign AI: Governing intelligence without losing control
Session objective: Enabling participants to govern AI systems under national authority while preserving transparency, accountability, and public trust.
Participants will be able to:
- Identify the sovereignty risks introduced by AI systems.
- Distinguish between sovereign and non-sovereign deployment models.
- Apply governance principles to AI access to and use of data.
- Evaluate AI use cases according to accountability and control criteria.
Session activities:
- Why AI is changing the sovereignty equation (15 min) – Massive data ingestion, opacity of models and external dependencies that transform control.
- What makes an AI “sovereign” (20 min) – Data isolation, identity-related usage, auditability and effective supervision.
- AI use cases in the public sector (15 min) – Assistants, document analysis and decision support systems in regulated environments.
- Practical exercise: Sovereign AI governance checklist (25 min) – Evaluate an AI use case according to data sources, control, accountability and supervision.
- Course summary & closing (15 min) – AI is a governance challenge, not a hindrance to innovation. Moving from awareness to action, with clear institutional next steps.
Post-session activities:
- Forum: Discussion of sovereignty roadmaps and key lessons learned
Assessment and Grading
Participation in Zoom sessions (3 hours of theory and 1 hour of practice): 50%
Quizzes and exercises from the modules: 35%
Forum participation: 15%
Total: 100%
A total score of 70% or higher is required to obtain the ITU certificate
Should you have any questions about the course content, please email: training@realtyme.com
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