Related initiatives in Europe
The Observatory is not an isolated case: it is part of a broader European movement that measures, with open and verifiable methods, institutions' dependence on foreign digital infrastructure. Here we gather kindred initiatives.
The strength of civic monitoring lies in its replicability: the same methodology, applied across several countries, enables comparisons and reinforces the European debate on digital sovereignty. The Italian Observatory stems from this shared approach.
The MxMap family in Europe
Projects that use the same methodology as the Observatory — the analysis of the MX records of public administrations' domains — to map email providers and their jurisdiction. The original project is MxMap.ch, created by David Huser for Swiss municipalities; the up-to-date list of instances is maintained on the project's GitHub repository.
| Country | Instance |
|---|---|
| 🇮🇹 Italy Observatory | mxmap.it |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland (original project) | mxmap.ch |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium | mxmap.be |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | mx-map.de · b42labs.github.io/mxmap |
| 🇫🇷 France | mxmairies.fr |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | mxmap.nl |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal | mxmap.pt |
| 🇱🇻 Latvia | securit.lv/mxmap |
| 🇳🇴 Norway | kommune-epost-norge.netlify.app |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | swedish-mail-dependency.netlify.app |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | mxmap.uk |
| 🇪🇺 EU / world aggregate | livenson.github.io/mxmap |
List source: README of davidhuser/mxmap. The list evolves over time: the Italian instance is managed within the Observatory.
Related project
CAmap (Nordic & Baltic) — applies a similar approach to TLS Certificate Authorities instead of email: koldex.github.io/ca-sovereignty-map
Other digital sovereignty measurement initiatives
Initiatives that measure digital sovereignty from angles that are different from, and complementary to, the Observatory.
sovranita-digitale.it Italy
An independent Italian civic initiative that collects and analyses multiple databases and public sources (cloud, DNS, ASN, TLS, lock-in, interoperability) to produce a multidimensional sovereignty analysis of the PA — with maps and indices per body. A broader approach than the Observatory's focus on email, and complementary.
sovranita-digitale.itpa.zerozone.it Italy
An Italian initiative that catalogues and monitors the websites of the PA bodies registered in IndicePA, with screenshots, domain analysis and MX record analysis (including the use of providers such as Google). A complementary snapshot of public digital infrastructure, on the web side as well as email.
pa.zerozone.itEDRIX — European Digital Resilience Index
A 0–10 index of the digital dependence of the 27 EU member states, broken down into 4 pillars — including public-sector hosting sovereignty, the area closest to ours. Data from public and scriptable sources.
edrix.euNextcloud — Digital Sovereignty Index (DSI)
Measures the adoption of self-hosted collaboration tools (files, video conferencing, groupware) in around 60 countries, as an indicator of digital independence.
nextcloud.comEU Cloud Sovereignty Framework (SEAL)
The European Commission's official framework for assessing the sovereignty of cloud services in public procurement, with SEAL 1–4 assurance levels (from data sovereignty to full technological autonomy).
commission.europa.euDo you know another digital sovereignty measurement initiative? Report it to us on GitHub and we will add it.