Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a foundational layer of the global digital economy, yet the infrastructure, technologies, capabilities, and resources underpinning AI are increasingly concentrated among a limited number of firms and jurisdictions. This concentration is intensifying debates around digital sovereignty, technological dependency, resilience, and strategic autonomy. The study argues that digital sovereignty should not be understood as technological self-sufficiency or isolation, but as the ability of states and societies to retain meaningful choice, build resilience, and benefit from global digital ecosystems while safeguarding their technological autonomy. In this context, it introduces Cooperative Digital Sovereignty as a pragmatic approach to managing technological interdependence through strategic cooperation, openness, interoperability, and investment in domestic capabilities.

To translate this concept into practical policy approaches, the study presents the DCO Framework for Cooperative Digital Sovereignty, structured around multiple interconnected AI sovereignty enablers and implementation dimensions spanning governance, regulation, industrial policy, capacity building, and international cooperation. Building on this framework, the study proposes recommendations for DCO Member States focused on institutional capacity, trusted cross-border Data governance, resilient and cooperative infrastructure, AI safety and cybersecurity, standards participation, sustainable financing, human capital, and interoperability-oriented governance. Ultimately, the study shows that digital sovereignty in the AI era is unlikely to be achieved through isolation or full technological self-sufficiency, but through the strategic governance of interdependence, enabling Member States to strengthen technological agency, resilience, and competitiveness while remaining meaningfully integrated within global digital and AI ecosystems.