STOCKHOLM, Feb 13 - Fifteen international technology firms, spearheaded by Microsoft and Ericsson, on Friday unveiled the Trusted Tech Alliance, a collective grounded in five core principles aimed at enabling safe technology deployment no matter where it is developed.
The initiative represents the first coordinated effort by a group of multinational companies to tackle concerns about the location and control of data, at a time when what the companies describe as an increasingly isolationist United States under U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified focus in Europe and Asia on "digital sovereignty." Governments have been weighing new regulatory measures and domestic investment approaches to diminish reliance on the United States and other foreign suppliers for digital services and infrastructure.
Microsoft President Brad Smith framed the alliance as a response to those geopolitical pressures. In an interview he told Reuters: "This is a period of time when many governments and countries are feeling pressure to create stronger technology borders, to focus more on their own digital sovereignty." He added: "Our companies are working together to set this high standard to really make clear what the definition of trust is."
The alliance includes companies across several technology areas, naming Anthropic, Amazon Web Services, Alphabet's Google, India's Reliance Jio Platforms, Finland's Nokia, Canada's Cohere, Japan's NTT, and Germany's SAP among its members.
Its five principles require strong corporate governance, ethical conduct, secure technology development, adherence to global security standards across supply chains, and support for an open digital environment. Ericsson and Microsoft began conversations about forming the alliance in the middle of last year, according to the companies.
Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Börje Ekholm cautioned against narrow definitions of sovereignty, saying: "What does the word sovereignty mean? If you label it... it can actually be a trade barrier." He added: "There are no countries on this planet that alone can be fully sovereign."
Members of the Trusted Tech Alliance operate across connectivity, cloud infrastructure, semiconductors, software, and artificial intelligence. Companies joining the alliance will self-attest that they adhere to the stated principles, Smith said, and the framework also contains provisions for independent assessments.
On what would constitute success for the initiative, Smith said: "We will know we are successful if the current trend of countries pulling apart on technology issues finds a counterweight in what were doing."
Context and implications
The formation of the Trusted Tech Alliance is positioned as a corporate response to geopolitical shifts that are prompting government-level consideration of new rules and investment policies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign digital suppliers. By codifying governance and security principles and offering independent assessment mechanisms, the alliance seeks to present an industry-led alternative to policies that could fragment global technology markets.