feat: add criteria and selection for european sovereign cloud

[niorg]

This pull request introduces a new document on the topic of European Sovereign Cloud, providing an in-depth overview and assessment of leading EU-based cloud providers. The document outlines the motivations for adopting sovereign cloud solutions, key evaluation criteria, and a comparative analysis of several major European providers. It also includes a recommendation for conducting a proof-of-concept to validate provider suitability for projects requiring digital sovereignty.

Key additions and changes:

Overview and Rationale:

• Introduces the concept of European Sovereign Cloud, highlighting the importance of digital sovereignty, regulatory compliance (GDPR, Schrems II), and reduced dependency on US hyperscalers.

Selection Criteria:

• Details essential criteria for evaluating sovereign cloud providers, including EU ownership, use of open standards (OpenStack), managed Kubernetes, service catalogue breadth, infrastructure as code compatibility, certifications, and data centre location.

Provider Assessments:

• Provides a comparative analysis of leading European providers (Cyso, Scaleway, OVHcloud, STACKIT) with strengths, considerations, and verdicts for each, as well as mentions of other notable providers.

Recommendation and Next Steps:

• Recommends conducting a structured proof-of-concept comparing Cyso with another shortlisted provider, and outlines key evaluation dimensions such as Kubernetes maturity, Terraform/OpenTofu coverage, managed services, support, and exit strategy. (

[edgarvonk]

We are starting an internal project to take this further but I think good to already merge this one in any case. At least it shows that we are making some progress here. :-)