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Could Westminsterban VPNs in the UK? What business leaders should knowabout digital sovereignty The C-suiteAgenda EU firms seek to shaketheir silicon shackles How SMB leaders can unlock time,growth and profitability Distributed in Public and private sector organisations in the bloc are worried about US techsupremacy. In a bid to gain greater control over data flows, they are turning to Running an SMB often means time lostto manual tasks. AI-driven tools canfree leaders to prioritise growth, makesmarter decisions and boost profitability ContributorsSam BirchallStaff writer at Raconteur, focusingon the inner workings of the financefunction and the trends shaping the Tamlin Magee The instability of US-EU relationshasawakened European govern-ments to the dangers of relying tooheavily on US technology. Under-girding all of the controversy is anE4C via GettyImages unning a small or medium sizedbusiness can feel like an uphillbattle. With too much efforta more efficient way to operate, “fromgettingcustomers right through togetting paid”. peanorganisationsarereplacing US software withdomesticalternatives in a move-ment that’s come to be filed underA Tamlin MageeSenior technology writer at Raconteur.He's interested in big ideas shapingbusiness tech and the impact of new spent on admin and manual tasks, SMBleaders are often left with little time andlimited visibility of the bigger picture.Infact,recent research indicatesthat business owners spend 36% oftheir working time on administrativetasks. Simultaneously, they are jugglingbetween seven and 25 different digi-tal tools to manage operations – fromaccounting and payroll to marketingand customer relationships. The lackofintegration between these tools,can create further inefficiencies in theshape of costly subscriptions, endlessduplicate data entry and an incompleteA new industry standardThe redesign of QuickBooks isn’t justaboutbringing tools into one place.According to Williams, it represents aturning point in how SMBs approachfinancial management.“Theredesigned QuickBooks onIntuit’splatform sets a new stand-ard by unifying apps for accounting,expenses, sales and payroll into a singleuser interface. We’ve essentially builta platform where everything is in oneplace to run and grow your business.”Thisintegrated approach unlocks Digitalsovereigntyislooselydefined as the ability of a governingbody,such as a national govern-ment, to control the tech stacks anddataflows within its boundaries. Some tech experts and politiciansbelieve it is time to ditch US soft-ware. Relying instead on the world’salternative tech powerhouse, China,comes with its own set of issues. So Toachieve digital sovereignty,countries or organisations typicallyadopt open-source tools rather thanproprietary software. Open-source Still, advocates for digital sover-eigntywarn that modern digitaleconomiescannot be completelyindependent from foreign compa-nies without fully sovereign digital Since the dawn of digital products,with their often labyrinthine termsand conditions, debates have ragedabout who really owns their tech.Some governments, such as China’s, The digital sovereignty movementis a similar effort to build security ofdomesticresources.Instead ofenergy, its focus is on tech stacksand data – the lifeblood of moderneconomies. Yet, for all the renewed Special projects editorIan DeeringCommercialcontent editorsLaura Bithell Design and illustrationKellie JerrardJames Lampard SMB leaders are often leftwith little time and limited Design directorTim WhitlockCommercialproduction managersAlex DatcuAudrey DavyJessica Lynn beganfalling over themselves tosponsor his January inauguration,no doubt to curry favour.A month later, JD Vance, the USvice-president,delivered a disas-ture in Europe. There’s a long roadto go to build alternative hardware,from chips and devices to networksand data centres.Thefirst organisations to take From beta to breakthrough Breaking down barriers For more information please visitquickbooks.intuit.com/uk/ Although this publication is funded through advertising andsponsorship, all editorial is without bias and sponsored featuresare clearly labelled. For an upcoming schedule, partnership and hardware to spy on businesses, Furthermore, the ability to central-isedata provides business leaderswith holistic insights that were previ-ously unavailable. This access to real- Butit wasn’t until DonaldTrump’sfirst presidency in2016, characterised by eco-nomic protectionism, thatthe concept began to take Raconteur is a leading business media organisation and the 2022PPA Business Media Brand of the Year. Our articles cover a widerange of topics, including technology, leadership, sustainability,workplace, marketing, supply chain and finance. Raconteur special reports are published exclusively inThe TimesandThe SundayTimesas well as online at raconteur.net, where you can also findour wider journalism and sign up for our newsletters.The information contained in t