Building National Cybersecurity Solutions as a Necessary Condition for Achieving State Cyber Sovereignty

Abstract

The article addresses the issue of state cyber sovereignty in the context of decisions regarding the development of national cybersecurity solutions and products. The aim of the study is to answer the question of whether developing indigenous technological capabilities in this area constitutes a necessary condition for ensuring effective state control over its own cyberspace. The analysis was conducted from four complementary perspectives: economic, architectural-systemic, market-oriented, and competence-based. From an economic standpoint, it was demonstrated that centralized development and provision of cybersecurity solutions can generate significant savings across the public sector through economies of scale and the elimination of duplicated expenditure. The architectural-systemic perspective highlighted the need for a selective approach to building national solutions, based on a clearly defined catalogue of critical infrastructure systems. Market analysis revealed that an active state role in this area entails interference with competitive mechanisms; however, this interference is transformative in nature and does not eliminate the market but leads to its restructuring. The competence-based perspective confirmed the existence within the public sector of capabilities to design, implement, and maintain advanced IT systems. Additionally, risks arising from the absence of national solutions were identified, and alternative positions to the main thesis were examined. On this basis, the conclusion was drawn that building national cybersecurity capabilities constitutes a necessary condition for achieving state cyber sovereignty.