Europe-first by design: why trust and control matter more than ever

In today’s geopolitical and regulatory landscape, many organisations across Belgium and Luxembourg are asking very practical questions:  
Where does our data live? Who operates the technology we depend on? And how do we continue to innovate without losing control?

These questions are not driven by ideology. They are driven by responsibility.

At Esri BeLux, we work every day with organisations that must operate securely, transparently, and in line with European values. At the same time, they need to remain agile, innovative, and connected to a broader ecosystem. Helping them strike that balance has been part of our role for decades.

We are part of a uniquely European way of working within Esri.

Rather than operating through distant subsidiaries or centralised control from outside Europe, Esri works through a network of locally owned and independent European companies. As Esri BeLux, we operate under Belgian and Luxembourg legislation, with local teams serving local customers.

This model creates proximity where it matters most:

• We understand national priorities and regulatory realities 

• We build long-term relationships based on trust, not transactions

• We bring local feedback directly into the evolution of the technology

Accountability stays close to home. Decisions are made in Europe, by people who live and work here.

In today’s debate, control is sometimes confused with isolation or technological self-sufficiency. What we see in practice is something far more pragmatic: organisations want the freedom to choose.

Digital sovereignty is about choice and control, not isolation or self-sufficiency at any cost. 

In a European context, it means the ability to choose technologies freely, control where data is stored and processed, and operate under European laws and values, while still benefiting from global innovation.

In Belgium and Luxembourg, this translates into: 

• Clear data governance

• Legal certainty

• Operational resilience

• Freedom to integrate with existing systems 

Esri’s approach to sovereignty is designed around these principles.With the ArcGIS platform, we give our customers full flexibility in how and where their systems are deployed:

• Fully on-premises, within their own data centres

• In cloud regions – you pick where

• Or in hybrid architectures that combine both 

For cloud-based services, we rely on a dedicated EU-based cloud environment, ensuring that data is stored and processed exclusively within the EU, on servers located in the EU. For more sensitive or regulated environments, hybrid models allow innovation while keeping systems of record firmly under local control.

This flexibility is a core design principle.

Our customers operate in one of the most demanding regulatory environments in the world. Technology must support that reality, not work around it.

That is why the ArcGIS platform aligns with:

• GDPR and European privacy principles

• Security frameworks such as ISO 27001  

• European data standards and initiatives, including INSPIRE (the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community directive)  and emerging data spaces.

Equally important is openness. We rely on open standards, documented APIs, and FAIR (findable, accessible, interopable and resuable) data principles to ensure our customers avoid vendor lock-in and remain free to integrate ArcGIS into their broader IT and data ecosystems.

Control also means being able to evolve over time.

Emerging technologies, including AI, raise understandable questions around dependency and exposure. Here too, we take a pragmatic approach.

With ArcGIS, organisations can integrate their own models, algorithms, or trusted European AI solutions, without sending data or queries to environments they do not control. Innovation does not require giving up oversight.

This ensures new capabilities strengthen operations rather than introduce new risks.

Across Europe, we support organisations responsible for:

• Public safety and crisis response

• Infrastructure and mobility

• Environmental protection and climate resilience 

• Defence, security, and civil protection

When crises occur, local Esri teams respond on the ground, supported by a strong European ecosystem and decades of operational experience. These responses are delivered by people who understand local conditions and urgency.

Trust is built through action.

For organisations in Belgium and Luxembourg, today’s context demands clarity and reassurance.

At Esri BeLux, we combine:

• Local expertise and proximity

• A deeply European operating model 

• Proven, flexible technology used across Europe’s most critical domains

We care about continuing a long-standing commitment to control, transparency, and trust.

Today, and for the future.