James Robinson warns of Portugal's lack of digital sovereignty

Nobel laureate James A. Robinson and researcher Nuno Palma have highlighted the critical role of institutions in Portugal's development, warning that digitalization and artificial intelligence cannot replace sound economic structures or the incentive systems faced by public officials.

The authors argue that while technology can modernize the state, current Portuguese proposals—such as AI for court processing and digital single desks—fail to address essential questions regarding who builds, maintains, and owns the data within these systems. They critique a pattern of systematic outsourcing, where the Portuguese state buys external expertise rather than building internal technical competence, leading to a dependency on third-party providers.

In contrast, the authors point to France's 'Notre IA' plan as a model for digital sovereignty. The French approach prioritizes secure and sovereign solutions by integrating specific architectural decisions from the outset, whereas the Portuguese model is characterized by a lack of focus on technological sovereignty and internal capacity building.