In this episode of System Change, Sherif Elsayed-Ali speaks with John Ozbay, founder and CEO of Cryptee, about the political, technical, and design dimensions of cloud computing and digital sovereignty in Europe. From John’s personal journey—from Carnegie Mellon to founding Cryptee in Estonia—to his unexpected foray into EU policy advocacy, the conversation dives deep into the monopolistic grip of American cloud giants, the systemic disadvantages facing European alternatives, and why a sovereign European cloud is not only necessary, but possible.
They cover the mechanics of web apps, the dangers of app store control, and how Cryptee and others helped reverse Apple’s attempt to disable web apps on iOS. Together, they reflect on the feasibility of building a European AWS—one that is fast, interoperable, and sovereign—and what policy, funding, and infrastructure changes are needed to make that vision real.
Guest:
👤 John Ozbay — Founder & CEO of Cryptee, open web advocate, composer, and designer.
Topics Covered
- What is “the cloud” really
- Why Cryptee is based in Estonia: encryption, sovereignty, and infrastructur
- The Apple web app controversy and successful advocacy with Open Web Advocac
- Why hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and GCP are problematic for Europe’s autonom
- The myth of “sovereign cloud” as just physical data centers in Europ
- The gaps in Europe’s cloud stack: from serverless to auth to transactional emai
- Why subsidies, procurement, and patient investment are needed to level the playing fiel
- The case for a European AWS vs. federated cloud approache
- Talent in Europe: abundance of capability, but systemic scale limitation
- The hopeful path forward for European cloud infrastructure
Links:
- Cryptee
- Open Web Advocacy
- EU Digital Markets Act (DMA)
