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As connected vehicles, robots, and other physical AI systems cross borders, data sovereignty becomes about more than storage. Curtis Govan at floLIVE argues regulators and operators must address “network sovereignty” to ensure data remains compliant while it is in transit.
Your data is sovereign at rest – and then the car drives across a border. Across a rapidly evolving global landscape and the regulatory land-rush to manage data sovereignty concerns elevated by advances in AI, there is one piece of this very complex ecosystem that has been largely ignored – the sovereignty of data as it traverses the network infrastructure. In everyday commerce and operation, the network is quickly becoming a potential compliance risk vector when Physical AI enters the picture.
Evolving almost as quickly as AI itself is Physical AI – intelligence embedded in things that move and act in the real world, such as vehicles, robots, industrial systems, or distributed agents making decisions at the edge. Connected vehicles represent a very large and diverse range of mobile Physical AI endpoints operating around the world today. However, the mobility of these smart endpoints creates a unique challenge for businesses and network service providers seeking to ensure data sovereignty compliance in every jurisdiction a vehicle may travel through.
When most of the market refers to “data sovereignty,” the focus is often where data is at rest. While minding the rules of every jurisdiction can be complicated, it is addressable and compliance can be easily proved. However, smart endpoints in motion can dramatically change the sovereignty equation when they traverse borders, necessitating the facilitation of multiple network providers, network identities assigned to device SIMs, and the location of packet gateways that deliver IoT services access.
Network sovereignty
This presents a matrix of variables where vehicles are in motion while data is being transmitted and received across multiple network pathways. Managing sovereignty of data in transit can only be done at the network level. This operational construct is called Network Sovereignty, and it is quickly gaining the attention of operators and regulators.
In its June 2026 report, ‘Global regulations for connected vehicles’, industry research firm Transforma Insights clearly calls out the risk of ignoring the network layer when considering sovereignty, noting that the presence of connected vehicles “supported by foreign infrastructure or roaming using foreign network identities” raises digital sovereignty concerns. In short, it is not only where the data rests that creates exposure, it is the network identity the device roams on and the foreign infrastructure it leans on while the data is moving.
Network Sovereignty requires comprehensive control of the infrastructure, network and device identities, and the computing resources that touch data while it moves. Regardless of whether the data is used or even accessed, transit through a foreign system may violate some regulations.
For example, to maintain compliance, a model must run inside the country where a vehicle operates. The network path feeding that model must also stay inside the country and all data generated locally must also be kept locally. This is not easily accomplished through common global roaming and connectivity models. Conventional models were built to optimize coverage or compliance, making them ill-suited to the needs of Network Sovereignty for Physical AI which require both at the same time and in every country in which it operates.
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What network sovereignty looks like
Network Sovereignty requires a global purview of the network encompassing full visibility and control, as well as localized execution. Fundamental requirements include:
Full-stack coordination of core network, SIM, and the operational and business support systems that manage them. Every handoff or control function can create a gap for noncompliance. If a third party, such as a hyperscaler or neocloud, provides a part of the transmission chain, deterministic and compliant management of data in transit cannot be assured.
Unobstructed view of the compute resources that touch the data. Sovereignty-in-transit isn’t only about routing a packet to the right place. It’s about location and management of the gateway and the network functions that process the data on the way through.
Comprehensive understanding of the global and local regulatory landscapes with granularity to assure compliance at the jurisdictional level. This must also provide the flexibility to adjust and align network functions, terminations, stores, and connections as regulations evolve or are implemented anew.
Options for gateway and server deployment to address business and compliance requirements. Packet gateways should be deployable on-premises, in an in-country cloud, on a neocloud, in a co-location facility, or at the edge, to assure efficient operation that shapes the network to the need, rather than the network’s architecture dictating where the data is allowed to go.
Looking to the next sovereignty wave
The industry has conducted serious work on sovereignty-at-rest and solutions are emerging to ensure compliance. The rapid expansion of Physical AI is heightening risk and demand for solutions that address the less defined and complex landscape of Network Sovereignty. When data intelligence rides in cars, robots, and distributed systems, the network becomes the place where sovereignty is either maintained or breached.
Physical AI needs physical connectivity managed for Network Sovereignty – in-country and under control while data is in motion. Without this foundation, risk factors increase exponentially, and compliance becomes practically impossible.
Curtis Govan serves as floLIVE’s President, North America. He has more than 25 years of experience and expertise in technology leadership, business development and sales. He was most recently the GM/Global VP Dealer and Heavy Equipment for Uptake, an industry leader in industrial AI and IoT. Prior to joining Uptake, Curtis spent almost 12 years with Cisco Jasper where he held several roles with the most recent being Head of Global Sales Business Development and Regional Managing Director for Canada.
