Data Sovereignty 2026: Sovereign Data Exchange under the EU Data Act

In 2026, regulatory requirements for the European economy have reached a new level of quality. With the fully effective EU Data Act and the tightened requirements from NIS-2 and DORA, companies face the challenge of not only storing data but making it controllably shareable in federated data spaces. The focus has shifted from mere storage to granular access control and interoperability.

Many organizations face the dilemma: How can valuable data assets be shared with partners or authorities without falling into the dependency of proprietary cloud ecosystems (vendor lock-in) or losing physical sovereignty over the information? The solution lies in an architecture based on sovereign interfaces and dedicated API gateways, decoupled from the major US hyperscalers.

Federated Data Spaces: Architecture of Sovereignty

At the core of federated data spaces is the principle that data remains with the producer until explicitly requested and authorized. Instead of copying data into central, externally controlled data lakes, in 2026 we use a decentralized infrastructure. Technically, this is realized through OCI-compatible microservices that handle data exchange via standardized protocols.

By using Nextcloud as the central hub for data storage in combination with a hardened Kubernetes infrastructure, companies retain full control. Authentication is handled via Keycloak (OIDC/SAML), enabling fine-grained role-based access control (RBAC). This ensures that only verified participants within a data space have access to specific datasets.

API-First & Nextcloud: The Technical Implementation

Implementing sovereign interfaces requires a consistent API-first approach. Nextcloud serves not only as a file-sharing tool but as a robust content platform with extensive REST APIs.

• Granular Access Control: The Nextcloud API allows for dynamic generation of share links and access rights. Combined with an Ingress Controller (like NGINX or Traefik) and TLS termination, traffic is secured at the network edge.
• Dedicated API Gateways: To protect internal infrastructure, we place API gateways in front of Nextcloud instances. These handle rate limiting, payload inspection, and mapping of external identities to internal permissions.
• Audit Logging: In the context of compliance requirements, comprehensive monitoring is crucial. By integrating Grafana Loki, all access logs are centralized and stored in a revision-proof manner, directly fulfilling the Data Act’s traceability requirements.

Automation and Compliance through GitOps

Manual configuration of data interfaces is no longer acceptable in 2026 due to complexity and security risks. At ayedo, we consistently rely on GitOps with ArgoCD. The entire infrastructure—from namespace to network aids to Nextcloud configuration—is stored as code (IaC).

This offers the business benefit of a security-by-design architecture. Changes to access permissions or API endpoints undergo a review process in the Git repository. In case of misconfigurations, automated replication and quick rollback provide extremely high availability and ensure that the sovereign data space always complies with defined compliance rules.

Conclusion

Data sovereignty in 2026 is no longer just a buzzword but a business-critical necessity. Relying on US hyperscalers today risks not only legal sanctions under the Data Act but also long-term strategic control over your most valuable assets. ayedo supports companies in achieving true digital sovereignty with managed open-source solutions like Nextcloud and a modern cloud-native architecture. We bridge the gap between regulatory obligation and technical excellence.

FAQ Data 26

How does Nextcloud support the requirements of the EU Data Act? Nextcloud offers full transparency and control over storage location due to its open-source nature. With extensive APIs and file access control features, the access rights required by the Data Act for users and third parties can be precisely controlled and technically enforced.

Why is traditional file sharing insufficient for federated data spaces? Federated data spaces require interoperability and standardized metadata. Traditional tools often offer proprietary formats. A sovereign approach relies on OCI compatibility and open interfaces to make data usable across systems without conversion losses or lock-in effects.

What role does Keycloak play in sovereign data exchange? Keycloak acts as an identity and access management (IAM) layer. It enables federated identity management, allowing users to authenticate securely across different organizations without having access credentials centrally stored by a provider.

How is security guaranteed in data exchange? Security is based on a layered architecture: TLS-encrypted connections, mTLS for service-to-service communication within the cluster, and API gateways for threat management. GitOps also ensures that security configurations remain consistent and tamper-proof.

Can Nextcloud be integrated into an existing GitOps pipeline? Yes. Through Helm charts and deployment on Kubernetes, Nextcloud can be seamlessly integrated into modern CI/CD pipelines and GitOps workflows (e.g., with ArgoCD). This enables fully automated scaling and management of the entire platform.