White paper
Generative AI has already entered the French public service. The question is no longer whether to adopt it, but how to do so without losing control. A framework for choosing the right level of sovereignty, use case by use case.
Since November 2022, generative AI has gone from technological curiosity to infrastructure.
As soon as sensitive data, decisions affecting citizens, or vital interests are involved, knowing who really controls the model, the infrastructure, and the data is no longer theoretical.
It is a condition of legitimacy.This white paper does not aim to advocate for a single solution. Its goal is to provide keys to understanding the levels and needs of sovereignty, the state of the art in the French ecosystem, grasp the technical architecture, project use cases, and measure their limits.
Five questions to ask before any deployment to place each use case on the sovereignty scale: data, role of the system, harm, traceability, non-European dependency.
Timeline, stakeholders, the shared Albert API platform, the model market, and a benchmark of 18 configurations weighing sovereignty, performance, and cost.
A shared common foundation, a business layer routed according to risk, and a reinforced sovereign layer for the most sensitive use cases. Agents that are governed and supervised.
Sovereignty breaks down into 3 maturity levels
Legal posture. GDPR compliance is displayed and European jurisdiction is claimed, but the technical stack is not mastered in depth.
Operational control. AI is hosted and operated on controlled infrastructure (SecNumCloud-qualified cloud, or even on-premise). The right balance point for many use cases.
Full autonomy, from model to hardware. Reserved for the most critical cases: defense, intelligence, operators of vital importance.
Map use cases by sensitivity and criticality. Choose the sovereignty level per processing activity, not globally.
Small model by default, large model by exception, with explicit routing between the two.
Shared Albert API by default. Sovereign self-hosting is reserved for high-volume sovereign (régalien) use cases.
Require contractual, technical, and operational reversibility with every purchase, and capture price drops.
Costs and impacts (financial, environmental, social) from the design stage, via a systematic impact block.
La souveraineté numérique ne se proclame pas : elle se démontre. Entre labels et réalité opérationnelle, seules les preuves techniques, juridiques et contractuelles permettent à l’État de garder le contrôle de ses données.
Nos points de vue sur l'IA, l'ingénierie logicielle et la transformation digitale, issus du terrain, pas de la théorie.
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Using digital to build trust, deliver impact and strengthen sovereignty in the public sector.
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