Roundtable 1 · 10:40–11:40
Sovereignty Begins with SiliconSecuring the foundations of the digital economy
Semiconductor supply chains, hardware roots of trust, post-quantum readiness and the hardware security underneath trusted AI — and what it takes for a country or a company to own those foundations rather than rent them.
About the discussion
What this session is for
Semiconductors are where technology sovereignty stops being a policy word and becomes an engineering decision. Who designs the chip, who manufactures it, who injects the keys, and who can revoke them later — those four answers decide how much control a country or a company actually holds over its own infrastructure.
This session looks at what can realistically be built, financed and governed in the next few years, rather than at what would be ideal.
Objective 01
Name the dependencies
Which parts of the chain — design, fabrication, packaging, personalization — create the dependencies that matter most, and which are tolerable.
Objective 02
Agree what "trusted" requires
The minimum a device needs — a hardware root of trust, a verifiable identity, an update path that survives the move to post-quantum cryptography.
Objective 03
Find who pays
Where public money, private capital and international partnership each fit, and what has already been shown to work.
Session information
Format and practical details
- Event
- Technology Sovereignty: From Trusted Chips to Secure Space
- Date
- 20 January 2027
- Time
- 10:40–11:40 (60 minutes)
- Venue
- Morosani Schweizerhof, Promenade 50, 7270 Davos
- Format
- 10 minutes of opening perspectives, 35 minutes of moderated discussion, 15 minutes of audience questions
- Moderator
- Carlos Creus Moreira, Founder, Chairman and CEO WISeKey
- Who should attend
- Semiconductor executives, cybersecurity leaders, government representatives, AI infrastructure specialists and strategic investors
Discussion themes
What the panel will discuss
These themes are a guide for the moderator, not a fixed running order. The session follows the room.
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01
Strategic dependencies in the chip supply chain
Reducing strategic dependencies in semiconductor design, manufacturing and personalization.
Key questions
- Which stage of the chain creates the dependency that would hurt most if it were cut?
- Where is regional capacity realistic within five years, and where is partnership the only honest answer?
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02
Hardware roots of trust in connected devices
Embedding trusted identities and hardware roots of trust into connected devices.
Key questions
- What is the minimum a device needs before it can be trusted on a critical network?
- Who holds the keys after the device leaves the factory, and who can revoke them?
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03
The transition to post-quantum cryptography
Preparing long-lived infrastructure for the transition to post-quantum cryptography.
Key questions
- How do you plan a migration for equipment that will still be in service in twenty years?
- What should an organisation be doing this year rather than when standards finish settling?
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04
Hardware security underneath AI
Protecting AI systems, data and connected equipment through hardware-based security.
Key questions
- What does a hardware root of trust protect in an AI system that software controls cannot?
- How do you prove where a model ran and on whose data?
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05
Paying for sovereign capability
Financing sovereign capabilities through public-private partnerships and international collaboration.
Key questions
- Which funding structures have actually produced capability rather than announcements?
- What return makes a private investor comfortable with infrastructure on a state timetable?
Central question
The question the session comes back to
How can governments and businesses secure the critical technologies underlying their digital economies?
Everything above is a route into this one question.
Meet the panel
Moderator and panellists
Speakers are announced shortly
Would you like to propose a speaker for this session? Use the comment field in the invitation request.
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