Description
In the post COVID-19 era, digital transformation (DX) has become a global phenomenon, and the world is now entering an era of AI transformation (AX). In this context, data has emerged as the indispensable strategic resource for states. The elevation of data onto the agenda of international politics reflects a growing recognition that data-driven emerging technologies—most notably AI—now shape not only national economies and industries but also core dimensions of national security. A catalytic case was the late-2010s U.S. ban on Huawei under the Trump administration, which effectively securitized data. Washington’s pressure on its allies to participate in the Huawei ban and the Clean Network initiative triggered intensified debates within Europe, Japan, and other allied countries over technological sovereignty and strategic autonomy. Amid these debates, this study centers on data sovereignty as a critical concept for the AX era. States have increasingly focused on data infrastructure as the foundation for securing data sovereignty: not only the domestic capability to build data infrastructure on the basis of national technological competencies, but also the capacity to protect that infrastructure.
The analysis focuses on Japan’s recent measures. As a relative latecomer in AI, Japan has embarked on extensive investments across multiple sectors—establishing data centers for AI, expanding semiconductor production, and fostering generative AI technologies. While such moves are often interpreted through the lens of economic security, this study advances a distinct argument by reframing Japan’s trajectory through the prism of sovereignty. This article first traces how ‘data sovereignty’ has been employed in prior research and develops an analytical framework. It then examines the proximate causes of Japan’s turn to data sovereignty, highlighting the erosion of sovereignty via alliance pressures. Lastly, it maps Japan’s efforts to secure data sovereignty across multi-domains—terrestrial, undersea, space, and cyber.
