Sovereignty is the buzzword of the moment in the data centre world. But what does it mean in practice, and what role can Belgium play in this story?
The Belgian data centre market is on the rise. According to the latest State of Belgian Data Centers report from the industry organisation BDIA, the colocation market grew by 15 percent in 2025 to 105 megawatts of IT capacity. By 2031, that figure is expected to reach 344 megawatts. The hyperscalers did their bit: Google is expanding further in Wallonia and Microsoft opened its first Belgian cloud region.
This growth coincides with a debate that has picked up speed: how dependent does Europe want to be on non-European tech players? ITdaily put the question to Patrick van der Wilt, Chief Commercial Officer of the European data centre operator Penta Infra, and to Carole Santens, managing director of BDIA. They know each other well: Penta Infra, which gained a foothold in Belgium two years ago, is a partner of the industry federation.
Penta Infra and BDIA agree that sovereignty is about freedom of choice, not about building walls around your own environment. They do put different emphases on how Belgium should play that card.
Not a black-and-white story
People who talk about sovereignty today often mean very different things. Van der Wilt is bothered by the oversimplification and polarisation in the political debate. “The term is often used as if everything of Belgian or Dutch origin is sovereign by definition and everything from outside the EU is not. That calls for nuance,” he says.
“The times we live in make it clear that certain subjects require a degree of sovereignty. It is about making conscious choices. I mainly see opportunities to improve our own position. Let’s not polarise.” According to him, that choice starts with the data itself. “You have to ask yourself whether sensitive data of Belgian citizens might need a different storage location than, say, your holiday photos.”
Santens is on the same page. “Many different views and interpretations are circulating. For us, sovereignty starts with control and freedom of choice,” she says. “Not every technology has to be developed in Belgium or Europe by definition. That doesn’t seem realistic to me either. Keeping control over your data and infrastructure is essential, though, especially for critical processes.”
She also takes the definition beyond the question of where data is physically located. “It is also about whether you can move your data, and whether essential services keep working if geopolitical circumstances change. Sovereignty is not a marketing label: you have to be able to demonstrate it.”
Like Van der Wilt, she warns against the dangers of black-and-white thinking. “We have to steer clear of black-and-white thinking. For me, digital sovereignty does not mean isolationism. Above all, Europe needs enough alternatives to keep making its own choices.”
You have to ask yourself whether sensitive data of Belgian citizens might need a different storage location than, say, your holiday photos.
Patrick van der Wilt, Chief Commercial Officer Penta Infra
The call for sovereignty
Van der Wilt sees that the topic is alive in his home country, the Netherlands. “There, politicians are calling for sovereignty, although that call is not always nuanced. The government is looking for local solutions and gives them priority,” he says. “Recent geopolitical incidents make the topic tangible for the general public.”
But in Belgium too, Penta Infra is winning major customers such as the VUB and hospitals that opt for local solutions. “Although sovereignty is not always the main reason,” Van der Wilt admits. “Cost and flexibility are just as good reasons to choose local colocation, for example for monitoring critical infrastructure. A European data centre in the IT stack does make sovereignty more explicit.”
The BDIA report confirms that trend. Geopolitical discussions are prompting some Belgian organisations to reconsider their dependence on non-European cloud platforms. That is leading to renewed interest in private and sovereign cloud environments within national borders.
A distinguishing element
For Penta Infra, sovereignty is a distinguishing element, but not the only trump card it can play. “We are one hundred percent in European hands,” says Van der Wilt. “Proximity matters too: a data centre houses business-critical infrastructure. Customers want to be able to call a Belgian or Dutch phone number. It helps if you have a physical data centre presence and if, as a customer, you can choose from several network providers, so that you don’t depend on a single party.”
A local colocation provider like Penta Infra can also compete with the hyperscalers on price. Van der Wilt: “The global market leaders have large ecosystems and focus on large deployments. For many customers, interconnection becomes a hefty cost item there. Customers want it to stay within reasonable limits. We do offer that flexibility.”
Santens looks through a different lens. “For certain applications, a local player is important, for example because of jurisdiction. But for other solutions, hyperscalers are the logical choice,” she says. “For me, the question is not whether we need international players, but whether we have enough alternatives. Dependence only becomes a problem when there are no alternatives.”
Hyperscalers: engine or brake?
The Belgian data centre market still leans heavily on the big cloud players today. Of the 478 megawatts of IT capacity Belgium has, 162 megawatts come from hyperscale data centres, according to the BDIA report. Google, with its campus in Hainaut, is largely responsible for that. The colocation market accounted for 105 megawatts in 2025. Enterprise data centres represent the largest share at 211 megawatts: Belgian companies still like to do it themselves.
Santens sees the investments by big players such as Google and Microsoft in Belgian data centres mainly as an asset. “Their presence confirms that Belgium is an attractive location. That is an important signal. Hyperscalers bring capital and technology and create economic activity, which helps the ecosystem.”
“But a healthy digital ecosystem needs diversity and freedom of choice,” she adds. “Hyperscalers, colocation providers and regional operators each play a different role. Sovereignty only makes that diversity more important. You can interpret sovereignty in many ways, but that doesn’t move anyone forward. We have to engage in dialogue constructively with all stakeholders. Data centres are crucial to the digital and economic infrastructure.”
Van der Wilt sees it differently. “The market is dominated by American players, and that is not the best option for sovereignty. That also has to come from the government. If governments choose sovereign providers, that can help absorb shortages in permits and power.”
A healthy digital ecosystem needs diversity and freedom of choice. Dependence becomes a problem when you no longer have a choice.
Carole Santens, Managing Director BDIA
Competition on several fronts
According to Van der Wilt, competition with the big players is not just about customers, but also about permits and power, an increasingly topical issue. “When grid capacity is scarce, European data centres deserve a place too. Scarcity is gradually setting in on the market. We don’t need the same amounts of megawatts.”
For Van der Wilt, sovereignty is also a choice about whom you open your data centres to. “Sovereignty is also about the choices you make as an operator: who are you building your capacity for? If you want a long-term business case, you have to be patient,” he says.
That takes an effort from everyone, including the customer, Van der Wilt concludes. “AI is flooding everyone. The big market leaders find it easier to get capacity, but you must not give up sovereignty for short-term commercial success. Sovereignty also means filling data centres sovereignly. To profile yourself as a sovereign service provider, you have to dare to look for customers who consciously choose it.”
This editorial contribution was produced in collaboration with Penta Infra.