Gaia-X: A European Cloud Infrastructure
Gaia-X is a project presented by the Federal Minister of Economics and Energy Peter Altmaier during the Digital Meeting in Dortmund.
It should be a networked data infrastructure for the whole of Europe. This means that not another central cloud platform is to be created, but rather a connection of existing central and decentralized infrastructures (such as cloud and edge services) to form a uniform, user-friendly system.
Gaia-X in the course of time
Data is the new oil. Digital platforms can only be successful with this raw material. It is therefore of particular importance to keep control of this data and its value chain. Gaia-X wants to tie up right here.
Before data can be made available at all, it must first be stored and processed locally. They are then transferred to cloud platforms by so-called cloud and edge applications, where they are evaluated and analysed. Only then are they made available for use.
It is precisely for this reason that it is of crucial importance that data security and control is guaranteed along the entire value chain.
Gaia-X in conjunction with the Data Intelligence Hub
Where is the connection to the Data Intelligence Hub? To understand this, one must first mention that two processes are of particular importance along the entire data value chain. On the one hand these are the data that is stored (data in rest) and on the other hand the data that is used (data in use).
In order to guarantee a high level of data sovereignty, these two processes must be secured. While the IDSA (International Data Spaces Association) is responsible for securing the data used (data in use), the sovereignty of the stored data (data in use) is lacking.
Gaia-X wants to close this gap with a uniform cloud infrastructure. The International Data Spaces Association uses the same reference architecture model as the Data Intelligence Hub.
The combination of these two parties is the vision of a holistically networked and sovereign data infrastructure for Europe.
