UKTL’s Managing Director joins digital sovereignty panel at DSP Leaders World Forum

Joanna Cavan, Managing Director of the UK Telecoms Lab (UKTL), joined senior leaders at the DSP Leaders World Forum in Windsor to explore what digital sovereignty means for telecoms.

Speaking alongside representatives from BT, Ofcom, VEON, Red Hat and Wind River, the panel highlighted that there is no single definition of digital sovereignty, but consensus is emerging around principles such as resilience and data security.

Panellists agreed that digital sovereignty is not necessarily about isolating national networks and that it is more about maintaining control and trust within globally connected systems. This is particularly important in telecoms, where networks underpin Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) and depend on complex, multi-vendor supply chains.

The discussion emphasised the need for operators to better understand the dependencies in their networks and to build security in by design and default. Existing regulation, including the UK Telecoms Security Act, was highlighted as providing a strong foundation for improving resilience, supply chain diversity and testing.

As industry leaders called for greater clarity in defining digital sovereignty, Joanna emphasised that the concept is not new, but its increasing prominence is welcome as it is raising expectations around security, transparency and resilience across the telecoms sector.

The panel concluded that digital sovereignty is an operational priority for telecoms, with implications for both national security and future commercial growth.

Find out more about the panel in the DSP Leaders World Forum Event Recap > DSP Leaders World Forum 2026 Event Recap | TelecomTV