A SDR-WebRTC Platform for Digital Sovereignty in Global South

In the context of rising digital sovereignty challenges, particularly critical for Global South countries, current communication platforms (Teams, Zoom, Google Meet) present major vulnerabilities: complete dependence on external infrastructures, lack of confidentiality guarantees, and unavailability during Internet connectivity interruptions. This paper presents a novel approach coupling SDR (Software-Defined Radio), WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) technologies to design a fully autonomous audio-video communication platform, rapidly deployable without dependence on operator infrastructures. Building on our established expertise in SDR network deployment in African contexts, the proposed architecture combines the flexibility of software radios, the ubiquity of WebRTC and the robustness of IMS to ensure integrity, confidentiality and availability of communications in constrained environments. Validation tests demonstrated the establishment of stable audio-video communications with 500-meter radio coverage via USRP B210 equipment, effective interoperability between heterogeneous terminals, and complete autonomy against network interruptions. The solution leverages the existing Senegalese technological ecosystem (ADIE fiber optic network, distributed datacenters) to demonstrate the feasibility of developing sovereign communication capabilities without dependence on international technology giants. This contribution opens practical opportunities for technological autonomy in developing countries, particularly in critical contexts requiring secure and independent communications (government, military, education, emergencies).