Digital sovereignty of the modern state: from control to communication

Abstract

The article attempts to conceptualize the concept of digital sovereignty. The author suggests understanding digital sovereignty as the possibility of exercising power at three levels of the information space: hardware, software, wetware (communication practices). The peculiarities of the functioning of the modern information space have led to the fact that people have developed certain patterns of communication practices. The study and analysis of these practices are necessary to develop strategies for the effective implementation of power at the wetware level. The author believes that at the wetware level, creating an attractive environment for communication and the implementation of familiar practices is the exercise of sovereignty. In the study, the author relies on theories and propositions developed and described within the framework of the neoinstitutional approach and network analysis.