Airbus Chooses Scaleway for European Sovereign Cloud
Airbus is a strategic reality for Europe, being the main player in the civilian aircraft sector and having a significant presence in the military and space sectors as well. The company has now announced that it has chosen Scaleway, the operator that is part of the Iliad group, as part of a project to achieve greater sovereignty in the cloud world.
Airbus Chooses Scaleway's Cloud
Airbus has announced the result of the procurement process for its cloud infrastructure, aimed at reviewing the company’s approach to the cloud and obtaining services from a reality under European control, with legal certainty regarding jurisdiction and data control, and strategic autonomy in the long term.
Airbus analyzed the offers from various operators based on technical capabilities (including interoperability, scalability, and AI-related capabilities), operational excellence (in terms of security, resilience, service continuity, and integration with Airbus's existing multi-cloud ecosystem), and legal certainty (understood as certainty of European jurisdiction, data protection according to European regulations, and protection from extra-European laws).
There will not be a wholesale migration of all Airbus cloud activities to Scaleway; rather, there will be an integration with other cloud operators and the migration to Scaleway of applications and data that are particularly sensitive. Scaleway states, in the press release announcing the agreement, that its platform will support Airbus in critical applications such as aircraft design, engineering, production, and business activities.
Although 'sovereignty' often becomes a generic term that means everything and nothing, used to define anything, in this case, the intent seems clear: to maintain critical data and applications for a highly strategic sector like aerospace on an entirely European infrastructure, which uses open-source tools and is therefore not tied to a specific supplier.
"Artificial intelligence is redefining how the world’s most advanced industries design, produce, and operate. Unlocking its full potential requires a digital infrastructure that combines world-class performance with trust, openness, and long-term control. We are proud that Airbus has chosen Scaleway to help it build this next chapter of its cloud strategy and to demonstrate that Europe can provide sovereign cloud capabilities to the highest international standards," said Damien Lucas, CEO of Scaleway.
"This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our broader commitment to European digital sovereignty. By integrating a trusted, high-performance cloud environment that keeps our critical data assets safeguarded from foreign extraterritorial laws, we are ensuring that our digital infrastructure keeps pace with our aerospace innovation while maintaining control and resilience over our industrial operations," said Catherine Jestin, Executive Vice President Digital at Airbus.