TECNALIA and Sopra Steria take a major step towards application sovereignty with the new Confidential Containers concept
- The alliance will strengthen compliance and data protection even during data processing without slowing down agility
- TECNALIA and Sopra Steria validate Red Hat Confidential Containers on OpenShift to shield sensitive workloads in hybrid and multi-cloud environments
- The collaboration lays the groundwork for new use cases in AI, research and edge computing
Madrid, 8th June 2026 -TECNALIA, Spain's largest applied research and technology development centre, and Sopra Steria, a European leader in consulting, digital services and software development, have teamed up to address one of the most pressing challenges facing organisations working with critical information: how to run artificial intelligence applications and models with sensitive data without sacrificing the agility of cloud-native development and compliance with regulatory and cybersecurity requirements.
The alliance is part of the strategic collaboration between the two organisations to promote the adoption of confidential computing technologies in the Spanish business and institutional sector, with a special focus on the sectors with the highest data protection requirements: public administration, financial services, health sciences and defence.
In this context, they have completed a project using Red Hat Confidential Containers on Red Hat OpenShift, demonstrating the feasibility of protecting sensitive applications and data even while they are running, thus opening the door to new models of application sovereignty.
Tests have validated the use of Red Hat Confidential Containers on Red Hat OpenShift to enforce protection of sensitive workloads in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This technology adds a hardware isolation layer (based on Intel TDX) that ensures that deployed applications cannot be copied, inspected or redistributed without authorisation, even by the infrastructure provider.
- "Organisations need to innovate in cloud-native without relinquishing strict control of risk and compliance. With this initiative, we have demonstrated the feasibility of integrating confidential containers into OpenShift in an operable way so that 'data in use' security is guaranteed in any project with high security requirements and does not act as a brake on development", says Alfio Matesanz, CTO of Digital Platform Services at Sopra Steria Spain.
- "Security and trust are key factors in accelerating the adoption of cloud technologies in enterprise and industrial environments. TECNALIA is committed to developing and validating advanced solutions that enable organisations to deploy digital services with increased guarantees of confidentiality and data protection. The collaboration with Sopra Steria and Red Hat on this project represents a major step in the evolution towards more secure, resilient cloud infrastructures aligned with the challenges of digital sovereignty", adds Aitzol Zubizarreta, CIO of Tecnalia.
Application sovereignty, not just data sovereignty
Until now, most organisations' security strategies have focused on encrypting information during downtime and protecting communications in transit. However, execution environments, the point at which data is processed, remained a risk susceptible to attack. Confidential computing closes that gap by ensuring that data remains encrypted even while it is being run.
- This approach not only reinforces data protection: it extends the concept of sovereignty to AI applications and models, preventing them from being extracted or replicated outside the authorised environment. This is particularly relevant for organisations operating in sectors with high regulatory requirements or collaborating with third parties in environments that are not fully trusted.
- The project has advanced the use of confidential containers in OpenShift both technically and operationally, validating their integration with current continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) processes. The results lay the groundwork to address new use cases in research and innovation projects, protection of own AI models and deployments in edge computing environments or fully untrusted infrastructures.
About TECNALIA
TECNALIA is the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain, a European benchmark and member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance. It works with companies and institutions to improve their competitiveness, people's quality of life and achieve sustainable growth, thanks to a team of more than 1,500 people committed to building a better world through technological research and innovation. Its main areas of action are: smart manufacturing, digital transformation, energy transition, sustainable mobility, health and food, urban ecosystem and circular economy.
TECNALIA’s mission is to transform technological research into prosperity while its vision is to anticipate the future as the leading actors of transformation in companies and society, adapting them to the challenges of an ever-faster evolving world. This is why TECNALIA's research has a real impact on society and generates benefits in the form of quality of life and progress. In the latest brand awareness and positioning study carried out by the European Research Survey (ERS) in 2025, TECNALIA tops the list regarding R&D and Innovation brand awareness.
About Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria, a recognised European leader in consulting, digital services and software development, helps its clients to drive their digital transformation and achieve tangible and sustainable benefits. It offers end-to-end solutions to make large companies and organisations more competitive by combining in-depth knowledge of a wide range of business sectors and innovative technologies with a fully collaborative approach. Sopra Steria places human beings at the centre of its actions and is committed to its clients to make the most of their digital capabilities to build a positive future. With 51,000 employees in almost 30 countries, the Group generated revenue of EUR 5.6 billion in 2025.
Sopra Steria has been present in Spain since 2000 and has 4,500 professionals across its 13 offices. It has a full range of solutions and services for the Banking and Insurance, Public Administration, Transport, Retail, Infrastructure Management and Airline, Telco, Utilities and Energy sectors. Its clients include a large number of Ibex 35 companies, which have undertaken different transformation and optimisation programmes to use digital technology.
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