Airbus is set to adopt a European sovereign cloud for its critical data, with a contract worth over EUR 50 million spanning up to ten years expected to open in early . This strategic move aims to reduce the aerospace giant’s exposure to non-EU regulations, such as the US CLOUD Act, safeguarding sensitive operational and design data.
Airbus announced its intention to migrate key operational systems to a European sovereign cloud environment. Catherine Jestin, Executive Vice President, Digital at Airbus, stated that certain information is extremely sensitive from a national and European perspective
and requires assurance that it remains under European control. The company plans to issue a public tender early in to evaluate bids from European providers. The tender is estimated to be worth more than €50 million and will cover a period of up to ten years.
Airbus plans to transfer core systems vital to its global industrial operations. These include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), manufacturing-related tools, and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platforms. These environments manage supply chains, factory processes, and design data, and integrate with suppliers and partners. The company emphasizes that compromising this data could result in significant economic and strategic damage. This migration is part of Airbus‘s broader digital transformation efforts, which also include leveraging digital twins and advanced analytics to optimize design, manufacturing, and operations.
The primary driver for Airbus‘s shift to a European sovereign cloud is to mitigate risks associated with the US CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act), enacted in . This law allows US law enforcement to compel US-based cloud providers to hand over data they control, even if that data is stored overseas. Airbus seeks to ensure that its data is physically located within the EU, under European jurisdiction, and subject to strict EU privacy and security standards like GDPR. This concern was reportedly reinforced when Microsoft indicated it could not fully guarantee protection against such extraterritorial laws for EU customers.
The specific European cloud provider(s) Airbus will select for this initiative remain unknown, as the tender process is scheduled to open in early . While the general timeframe for migration is a multi-year project, a detailed timeline for the full transition of all specified systems has not been disclosed.
Airbus is preparing to launch a public request for proposals (RFP) in early and expects to make a decision before summer. The successful implementation of this European sovereign cloud could set a precedent for other multinational corporations, bolstering the EU’s digital independence objectives and fostering innovation among European cloud providers. The move is expected to stimulate developments within the European cloud ecosystem, aligning with the broader EU digital sovereignty agenda.
Follow us on Bluesky , LinkedIn , and X to Get Instant Updates
