FEATURE
For local cloud providers, sovereignty cannot be a bolt-on service. Haasbroek says that, at Datacentrix, infrastructure is owned and operated locally, while management and operational teams are based within South Africa. This creates greater ability to provide genuine local accountability, transparency and contractual flexibility.
This is particularly important for highly regulated sectors such as financial services, government and healthcare, where sovereignty is increasingly a compliance requirement rather than a competitive differentiator.
The conversation becomes significantly more complex when AI enters the picture. Historically, organisations focused on where data was stored, but AI shifts the discussion towards where data is processed, how it is transformed and who may ultimately have access to it. Even locally developed AI solutions frequently interact with global AI engines, creating new sovereignty challenges that previously might not have been considered.
36
INTELLIGENT CIO AFRICA www. intelligentcio. com