GAIA-X is intended to develop a proposal for shaping the next generation of a data infrastructure for Europe. Now U.S. technology companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google are also on board, to whose monopoly GAIA-X was supposed to offer an alternative. Now there are many discussions about the seemingly “questionable partners.”

DIO President Günther Tschabuschnig emphasizes: “GAIA-X bundles the best of all worlds and therefore sets the framework around cloud providers – regardless of whether AWS, Azure or HUAWEI are on board,” Tschabuschnig comments on the concerns. “GAIA-X is about creating a framework, not a purely European infrastructure.”

An overall concept to strengthen Europe

An important goal of the initiative is to reduce dependence on foreign providers*. However, the aim is not to exclude them completely from the market. The aim is to create a solution that follows European values and thus ensures data sovereignty and secure, trustworthy data exchange. However, the aim is not to isolate European players and this would be neither possible nor effective on a global scale. Rather, it is a matter of an overall concept that demonstrably and transparently follows European standards (for example, through GAIA-X certification). This should strengthen data-related business in Europe and cover the needs of European countries in such an ecosystem. The specific members of the initiative are therefore less important than the central maxim of close coordination among EU countries regarding legal and ethical guidelines and the creation of a solid framework that opens up new opportunities for European companies in data-driven ventures.

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