453 pages that clearly set out the terms of our dependence on Big Tech. Valuable and courageous work, whose diagnosis and ambition I share.
I would like to add one building block, in the same spirit.
The French parliamentary commission of inquiry into France’s digital dependencies has just delivered its report (Philippe Latombe, Cyrielle Chatelain, no. 3054).
The report describes the digital infrastructure very well through data centres and submarine cables. Between the two, there is an equally decisive layer: interconnection, where networks exchange their traffic, notably through internet exchange points (IXPs) and peering.
France has a real asset here: neutral, shared exchange points, operated from our territory, exactly the “digital commons” model the report calls for.
But let’s be clear-eyed: these exchange points currently see only a minority share of traffic.
Most of it flows through transit and private interconnections, along paths we do not map.
So we have the instrument of sovereign interconnection, without knowing where our traffic really goes, or what share stays in France.
Yet sovereignty is decided as much where data travels as where it is stored.
A first step, simple and consensual: measure where French traffic really goes, and make neutral interconnection a recognised building block of our sovereignty strategy. It is also, incidentally, a guarantee of resilience.
At France-IX, we would be glad to contribute, alongside parliamentarians and all the players involved. We have prepared a short summary note with concrete proposals: I am happy to share it with anyone who wants to go further. On to volume 3 of the parliamentary report!
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