The next few months will point the way forward for the GAIA-X project, often referred to in the past as the "Europacloud". The aim is to create a powerful and secure data infrastructure for Europe. One reason for the emergence of the idea is also the motivation to strengthen the data sovereignty of European users and companies and to become less dependent on US hyperscalers - especially in view of the Cloud Act, which is incompatible with GDPR compliance.

In which areas do you think your company is too dependent on IT solutions from providers outside Europe?

© eco

The fact that this dependence on American and other non-European providers is a major issue within the industry was recently confirmed by a study conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the eco Association of the Internet Industry. The IT experts surveyed considered their own company to be too dependent on solutions from outside Europe in many areas - almost 27% in the Software-as-a-Service sector and around 25% for Platform-as-a-Service. A spokesperson for the "Alliance to Strengthen Digital Infrastructures in Germany", an association co-founded by eco, stated in connection with the study that only 4% of all data available worldwide is hosted in the EU. However, in order to promote independence, the majority (52%) of the 500 IT professionals surveyed would like to see open standards for better data exchange. According to around 46%, these are lacking or should be expanded so that companies can act with greater digital sovereignty. Furthermore, almost 23% would like to see more European IT providers on the market. According to eco, GAIA-X has the backing of the IT industry.

What happens next?

Following the establishment of the GAIA-X Association, a non-profit organization based in Brussels, in summer 2020, the focus is now on the strategic and ideational direction. A key question is what role hyperscalers from the USA and other technology companies outside Europe, for example, will play in the implementation and co-design of the project. After all, cloud companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft are also involved. However, who will actually provide infrastructure services for the project is yet to be decided and, according to Hubert Tardieu, interim CEO of the association, which was founded under Belgian law, is the responsibility of the board members. An important point for GAIA-X is the creation of shared data rooms for the exchange of information. One possibility here is the use of semantic structures, which the IDSA (International Data Space Association), an initiative of the Fraunhofer Institute, has already created. Further concepts will be developed by March by representatives from seven business sectors. For companies that join the project, the focus will increasingly be on expertise in the field of IT security. The creation of 24 national hubs for the initiative is planned by the end of this year - these do not necessarily have to be located in the EU.

The last few months are cause for optimism

It seems that GAIA-X is taking shape - the project is well on the way to achieving its goal and actively shaping the next generation of a data infrastructure from Europe and guaranteeing data sovereignty for European users and companies. The goal is ambitious and the idea is innovative. It was not for nothing that German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier spoke of a "moonshot", a mission to the moon, at the official launch last year. But the developments of the last few months are cause for optimism. The task now is to remain true to the original principles and consolidate Europe's pioneering role in data protection worldwide. The fact that tech companies from the USA and China are involved is not a problem for the time being, as long as no new dependencies are created. On the contrary, it is encouraging when companies outside of Europe recognize the urgency of IT security and data protection and respond to the wishes of consumers and businesses here. As long as the project does not lose sight of its basic principles and the cooperation of international manufacturers serves data protection, 2021 will be a successful year for GAIA-X - and the way in which data is processed, stored and exchanged in Europe will change forever.