What is behind GAIA-X? Representatives of the German federal government, business and science want to create the next generation of a data infrastructure for Europe together with other European partners: A secure and networked data infrastructure that meets the highest standards of digital sovereignty and promotes innovation. The project serves as the cradle of an open and transparent digital ecosystem in which data and services can be made available, brought together and shared with confidence. - This is the claim of the project formulated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The aim is to network decentralized infrastructure services into a homogeneous, user-friendly system. The resulting data infrastructure is intended to strengthen both the digital sovereignty of cloud service customers and the scalability and competitive position of European cloud providers.

But can such a project really create a cloud infrastructure that can stand up to the established cloud platforms of market-dominating providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google? At first glance, GAIA-X gives the impression of a bureaucratic, politically motivated research monster.

The preparatory work

On closer inspection, however, a long-term and down-to-earth structure of the project becomes apparent. It is not only the Association of the Internet Industry eco with its more than 1100 member companies that supports the GAIA-X endeavors. But what counts at least as much: Both the Industry 4.0 platform and the International Data Spaces Association have already done important groundwork. For example, the International Data Spaces Association already offers a reference architecture supported by over 100 partners that enables an ecosystem for the sovereign exchange of data with clearly defined usage rights and thus describes a component of the networked, open data infrastructure that GAIA-X is striving for. The reference architecture defines a technical infrastructure and a semantic set of rules for the exchange and use of data in ecosystems. Technically, a software component, the IDS Connector, prevents or allows data links and analyses between different members of an ecosystem. This allows existing and new cloud services to be embedded in an interoperable digital economy while maintaining data sovereignty.

The implementation

The first companies have already adopted the GAIA-X spirit and are acting accordingly. A striking example: the Friedhelm Loh Group. The owner and CEO Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Loh himself is one of the key players who helped bring this major project to life. Together with the companies Rittal, German Edge Cloud and IoTOS from his own group of companies, he is driving the GAIA-X idea forward.

Together with Bosch Connected Industry, the three Friedhelm Loh companies presented the scalable edge cloud solution Oncite on October 16. The aim is to enable customers to better convert existing production data into digital added value. The real-time-capable solution is based on a scalable edge cloud data center that is located on site at the user's factory. The data is therefore collected, stored, processed and analyzed close to the time and location. By keeping all collected data on site, the user retains full control and decides for themselves whether and how to transfer the processed data to other digital production platforms of OEMs or top tier suppliers. Data storage and the exchange of production-relevant information with customers and suppliers can take place via IoT platforms such as SupplyOn or Mindsphere from Siemens while maintaining data sovereignty.