04 Nov Prof Calzada contributed to the 2nd International Conference in Digital Sovereignty in Oslo (Norway) on 30-31 Oct 2025

On 30–31 October 2025, Prof. Igor Calzada participated in the 2nd International Conference on Digital Sovereignty (ICDS 2025), held at the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Oslo, Norway. Acting both as session chair and presenter of two papers, Calzada contributed to a high-level dialogue on how artificial intelligence (AI), data governance, and geopolitical transformations are reshaping the meaning of sovereignty in the digital age.

1️⃣ Human–AI Governance through Innovation Systems: Digital Sovereignty in the Basque Country’s Healthcare System

In his first paper, presented on 30 October 2025, Calzada introduced the concept of Human–AI Governance (HAIG) as an integral part of regional innovation systems, using the Basque Country’s healthcare ecosystem as a reference case.

Drawing on participatory action research conducted through Living Lab assemblages during the 2025 International Summer School on Digital Inclusion and Generative AI (Donostia), the study explored how general practitioners and patients co-designed principles for trustworthy and augmentative GenAI.

Key findings highlighted that:

• AI must augment, not replace, human expertise;
• Explainability and accountability must be shared among developers, clinicians, and institutions;
• Data cooperatives could act as fiduciary intermediaries ensuring ethical data stewardship; and
• Digital divides must be addressed through inclusive, people-centred design.

Policy recommendations included embedding HAIG nodes within Osakidetza (Basque Health Service), adopting dual-layer explainability for clinicians and patients, and supporting health data cooperatives as vehicles for democratic digital sovereignty.

This paper underscores that digital sovereignty is not isolationism, but the collective capacity to steer technological change according to ethical and local valuesCalzada_ICDS2025_SpeakerScriptICDS2025 1paper25_ppt_ICDS2025.

2️⃣ Data Sovereignties in the GenAI Economics: From Data-opolies to Data Cooperatives, Trust, and Geopolitical Governance

On 31 October 2025, Calzada presented his second paper, published in Procedia Computer Science, within the Geopolitics and Trust track of ICDS 2025.

This contribution reinterprets data sovereignty as a systems-level design challenge rather than an abstract legal principle, arguing that sovereignty must be embedded into technical infrastructures, protocols, and governance models.

The paper identifies three overlapping layers of sovereignty:

• Institutional sovereignty, embedded in public agencies and hospitals;
• Cooperative sovereignty, realized through federated data cooperatives and trusts;
• Geopolitical sovereignty, enacted through interregional alliances and AI standards.

Empirical cases—spanning the European Union, the Basque Country, the Project Liberty Institute (USA), and the Decentralization Research Center (Canada)—demonstrate how digital sovereignty can be enacted across institutional and geopolitical scales.

Calzada warned that Generative AI exacerbates concentration and asymmetry, creating “data-opolies” that undermine democratic accountability and trust. As an alternative, data cooperatives offer actionable infrastructures for collective agency, algorithmic transparency, and public-interest innovationCalzada 2025 PCS2 ICDS2025 7Sep…Calzada_ICDS2025_SpeakerScript_…ICDS2025 2paper26_ppt_ICDS2025.

3️⃣ Chairing Role and Policy Dialogue

In addition to his presentations, Prof. Calzada chaired one of the ICDS sessions focusing on innovation systems and AI governance, facilitating debate among international researchers, policymakers, and technologists on embedding sovereignty in AI infrastructures.

He emphasized that digital sovereignty requires interdisciplinary governance, integrating technical design, institutional reflexivity, and democratic legitimacy—bridging insights from innovation theory (Nelson, Lundvall, Mazzucato), science and technology studies (Jasanoff, Ulnicane), and political economy (Srnicek, Couldry & Mejías).

4️⃣ Towards a Comparative Observatory of Data Cooperatives and AI Governance

In closing, Calzada proposed establishing a global comparative observatory on Data Cooperatives and AI Governance, linking academic, civic, and policy actors to monitor how cooperative and sovereign digital infrastructures are developing worldwide.

He concluded that:

“Digital sovereignty is not a single state project—it is a distributed, cooperative, and institutional practice.
To govern AI democratically, we must design systems that make sovereignty visible in code, contracts, and institutions alike.”

References

• Calzada, I. (2025). Human–AI Governance through Innovation Systems: Digital Sovereignty in the Basque Country’s Healthcare System. Presented at ICDS 2025, Oslo.
• Calzada, I. (2025). Data Sovereignties in the GenAI Economics: From Data-opolies to Data Cooperatives, Trust, and Geopolitical Governance. Procedia Computer Science.
• Institute for Energy Technology (IFE). 2nd International Conference on Digital Sovereignty (ICDS 2025) Program.

Keywords: Digital Sovereignty, Data Cooperatives, Generative AI, Human–AI Governance, Innovation Systems, Basque Country, Web3, Geopolitics, Data Trusts, Algorithmic Accountability.