Keynote (Auditorium): “Emerging Governance of European Tech Resilience & Sovereignty: A case for Cross-Border knowledge exchange and alliance building”

Martin Hullin – Director, Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty, Bertelsmann Stiftung

“Emerging Governance of European Tech Resilience & Sovereignty: A case for Cross-Border knowledge exchange and alliance building”

Martin Hullin – Director, Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty, Bertelsmann Stiftung

Chair: Sara Thabit-Gonzalez, European Commission  Joint Research Centre

Session Description: This session introduces the European Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty (ETRS), a coalition of 30+ European think tanks and research institutions launched in November 2025. We trace the evolution from the European Technological Stack (EuroStack) concept to ETRS’s three-pillar framework: network strengthening, knowledge coordination, and techplomacy. Drawing on ongoing research. The presentation examines how cross-border collaboration can help reduce fragmentation in Europe’s approach to technological dependencies, from AI infrastructure to secure data regimes. We argue that sovereign tech capacity requires not just national policy but also coordinated knowledge production and strategic international partnerships with countries India, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and beyond. A true transnational knowledge engine. The session will be relevant for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working on AI governance, digital infrastructure, and multilateral tech diplomacy in the era of geopolitical competition.

Martin Hullin is the Director, Network for Technological Resilience & Sovereignty at the Europe’s Future Program at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, having previously directed the foundation’s “Digitalization and the Common Good” program from 2023 to 2025. His areas of expertise include international digital and data policy, AI and sustainability policy.

Prior to joining Bertelsmann Stiftung, Hullin was co-founder and Deputy Executive Director of the Datasphere Initiative and the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network in Paris. He has held professional positions in Washington DC, Geneva, and Berlin, including roles at the United Nations, GIZ and in global multistakeholder policy networks. Before building thematic expert networks in the field of international digital and data policy, he was responsible for formalizing a leading global renewable energy network and worked as a consultant for the United Nations Environment Programme.