In 2021, we expanded our scope by creating a DO TANK.
This strategic intelligence offering is the natural extension of Digital New Deal’s work to build a third European digital way, as an alternative to Big Tech, through the creation of:
a framework of trust through regulation → THINK TANK
a trusted ecosystem through cooperation → DO TANK
The Do Tank helps companies structure their industries as digital ecosystems through joint initiatives — including industry-wide initiatives — and by building sovereign technological alliances.
How?
By leveraging the opportunities created by current and upcoming European regulations (DGA, DSA, DMA, AI Act, etc.).
By taking advantage of the resulting European funding opportunities, particularly calls for projects requiring consortium-based approaches.
The Do Tank’s initiatives, led by Arno Pons, can be carried out in partnership with major consulting and IT services firms, particularly to coordinate and integrate the various stakeholders involved.
The Do Tank has successfully launched several industry-wide digital initiatives stemming directly from the think tank’s publications:
SCOVERY : The European Cyber Scoring Agency
Do-Tank supported the implementation of the flagship proposal set out in the report ‘Cybersecurity: Guardian of our Strategic Autonomy’, which called for the creation of a European sovereign cyber risk rating agency.
Winning consortium of the European SIMPL tender (€150 million): do-tank drafted the ‘Sovereign Infratech’ strategy and brought together public and private sector stakeholders during the drafting of the ‘Trusted Data’ report, thereby enabling it, alongside Sopra Steria, to form this consortium of 25 companies from 15 different European countries, endorsed by Gaia-X and selected by the Commission to develop the ‘smart middleware’ for the European Data Strategy.
THEMIS-X : Data collaboration for AI
Data Space for the tourism sector: the do-tank has established and fully operates this consortium, which puts into practice the recommendations of the white paper ‘Data sharing: an opportunity for tourism stakeholders to take back control’, based on the use cases shared at the Tourism Data Forum organised by Digital New Deal and Bpifrance. Themis-X subsequently merged with EONA-X (ADP, Air France, SNCF, Accor, Renault, Amadeus, etc.) to secure €20 million in funding.
Agentic AI for travel: development of a generative AI system designed to enable travel assistants to act as agents (in a consortium with Mistral AI, Linagora, Capgemini, EONA-X, Docaposte, etc.), based on data from member companies of the EONA-X Data Space, following the white paper ‘GenAI: unite or face the consequences’, co-published with MEDEF. Project supported by France 2030, with an R&D budget of €3.7 million
Stemming from the work carried out for the think-tank’s ‘AI is Law’ report, this consortium brings together 43 organisations from 10 European countries, coordinated by Atos and Themis-X. Its aim is to industrialise compliance in order to accelerate the development of trustworthy AI in Europe, notably through the use of data spaces. The aim is to transform compliance into a shared, automatable and reusable digital asset, drawing in particular on the capabilities of agent-based AI.
IRN
In 2026, we launched the Digital Resilience Index.
The Digital Resilience Index (DRI) was designed as an industry standard by David Djaïz (Ascend Partners), Yann Lechelle (Sens Digital) and Arno Pons (Digital New Deal). Their conviction is simple: move beyond the rhetoric of sovereignty towards an offensive resilience strategy that enables European industries to break free from unwanted dependencies and regain strategic autonomy.
The DRI turns digital resilience into a strategic lever for competitiveness and autonomy. It gives companies a clear, objective view of their critical dependencies, enabling them to manage their information systems as strategic assets.
Neither a new regulatory standard nor an additional compliance tool, the DRI provides a common language for executive committees, comparable to what B Corp represents for CSR. It structures dialogue across IT, risk, procurement, compliance and strategy functions, while enabling companies to communicate credibly with partners and investors.
By moving beyond siloed assessments covering cybersecurity, business continuity, GDPR, procurement and other areas, the DRI provides a single strategic compass. At the end of the process, the company receives an overall, concise and actionable score, which can be independently certified and leveraged with key stakeholders.
Designed as an industry standard by David Djaïz, Yann Lechelle and Arno Pons, the DRI is led by the Digital Resilience Initiative association, with Olivier Sichel serving as Honorary Chairman.
