Nextcloud’s Digital Sovereignty Index ranks countries by self-hosted tech use, with Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands leading the way in digital independence.

Nextcloud checks about 50 open-source apps—file storage, groupware, chat/video, notes, project management, and so on. Each tool is weighted the same, and then the category scores are averaged into a single national figure. That design favors a balanced ecosystem over dominance in just one niche.

However, according to Nextcloud, the method favors SMEs and hobbyists—servers hidden behind firewalls, VPNs, or hosted by large enterprises don’t always show up—yet the index still offers a “pretty loud signal” about grassroots tech choices.