Signal Digital Sovereignty: The Global South's Predicament and How to Measure It

Summary

The Digital Sovereignty Index (DSI) referenced in the report was developed in 2025 by researcher Xiong Jie through the Global South Academic Forum, and measures whether a country is actually digitally sovereign rather than whether it merely aspires to be. The index decomposes digital sovereignty into four dimensions and sixteen specific indicators, each rated on a five-level maturity scale, and is compiled collaboratively with national partner institutions, such as Argentina's UNGS. The analysis cites Nepal's September 4, 2025 ban of 26 international internet platforms, including Facebook, X and YouTube, as an example of a government attempting to assert digital control that instead triggered street protests. It also cites Brazil as an illustration of structural dependency: despite a $141.7 billion ICT market equal to 6.5% of GDP, only 24.8% of Brazil's software is domestically produced. The report argues that Global South countries rely almost entirely on a US-provided technology stack across hardware, software and information security, and warns that a government unable to establish sovereignty in digital space will struggle to govern effectively in the physical world.