In addition to compliance: Confidence and digital sovereignty are pillars of the future

“ Dthe technological and corporate sector has seen cybersecurity as essentially a speed race, where the main objective was to detect, respond and correct threats as quickly as possible. However, the complexity of the current global panorama requires us to broaden our perspective, moving away from a purely reactive vision and a strictly bureaucratic approach. In an environment deeply marked by technological interdependence, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and increasing geopolitical pressures, digital security must evolve. The real foundation of our economy, and the vision we drive daily as strategic partners, is based on building solid digital trust, sustained by robust governance and clear rules.

Digital trust is now tested and, simultaneously, redefined by the revolution of artificial intelligence, a tool that has been assumed to be indispensable for defense by being able to automate tasks and anticipate attack patterns. However, we must recognize, with leadership pragmatism, that this same technological potential introduces unprecedented risks when applied to automated detection of vulnerabilities, code generation or critical decision making. Artificial intelligence alone is not a guarantee of infallible security. It requires imperative traceability, continuous human supervision and verifiable controls to ensure alignment with the highest ethical and operational standards.

Precisely because of the emergence of these new risks, we are moving rapidly towards a scenario in which detection and exploitation of threats can move forward at gigantic steps. If, in the recent past, organizations had weeks or months to react to an adverse incident, today this time window of action can be reduced to days, hours, or even mere minutes. For critical infrastructures, for the corporate fabric and for the public administration itself, the conclusion is clear: good equipment will not be enough. It is imperative to ensure robust defensive automation, promote agile information sharing and apply much more dynamic patches.

This profound acceleration brings with it a strategic dimension that far transcends technology. In a globalised world where vital capabilities in the areas of cloud, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence focus on a small number of jurisdictions and actors, digital sovereignty is no longer just a political aspiration to become an absolute operational need. Europe, and Portugal within it, cannot be limited to a passive role of regulating technologies designed and developed outside their borders. We have the historic duty and the strategic imperative to strengthen our ability to design, certify, operate and protect technological solutions according to our own values and interests.

It is in the light of this vision of sovereign leadership that we should reassess the way we view European conformity and benchmarks. Compliance with regulatory frameworks of excellence or the European AI Regulation should not be understood as a bureaucratic burden or a brake on innovation. On the contrary, conformity and sovereignty are not separate concepts; they are the common foundation for building true organizational resilience. The regulation defines the rules of the game and standardization provides the rigorous method, but it is the technology of excellence that allows the execution in scale, making innovation reliable.

Today's central question is not whether the AI is going to transform cybersecurity, but to ensure that we are managing this transformation with the speed, responsibility and ambition that the current moment demands. It is to a large extent in this firm response that the confidence on which we will build our future digital economy will be at stake.”