Gaia-X
With Gaia-X, the German federal government, industry and science are pursuing the goal of creating a high-performance, competitive, secure and trustworthy data infrastructure for Europe. Since the initiative was launched in October 2019, several hundred experts have been working on the comprehensive European data ecosystem. While in 2022, the main focus was on the idea behind the initiative, 2023 saw it marked by concrete progress in building European data ecosystems.
The eco Association also actively supported Gaia-X in 2023. Through the project management for the Gaia-X Federation Services Project (GXFS-DE), eco made an important contribution to the development of Gaia-X ecosystems. As a member of the Gaia-X Architecture Board and Technical Committee, eco was also able to provide intensive support and help shape the technical development of Gaia-X in 2023.
Gaia-X Federation Services: The OSS toolbox was expanded and handed over to the OSS community
In 2023, the GXFS toolbox was further developed under the leadership of the eco Association with open-source software (OSS) components from the areas of sovereign identities, federated catalogue services, assistance for sovereign data exchange and compliance considerations. These components form a technical basis for the development of a European data infrastructure for the secure digitalisation and networking of different participants. In addition, the software code was placed under the auspices of the independent Eclipse Foundation, where the GXFS components will continue under the Eclipse XFSC (Cross Federation Services Components) project. More information is available here.
GXFS Connect 2023: eco Association hosted a successful evening event on the sidelines of the annual conference
While 2022 focused on the initiative’s idea and the start of the funding projects, over 40 speakers at the GXFS annual conference “GXFS Connect 2023” discussed concrete progress in building a European data ecosystem. Under the motto “Entering The Next Level”, the focus was on technical implementation and the rapidly growing community.
In 2023, the eco Association and its partners once again organised the Gaia-X Roadshow powered by eco on the evening of the first day of the event as part of GXFS Connect 2023. In addition to a welcome speech by Harald A. Summa, the founder and honorary president of eco, guests could network informally with the Gaia-X community in a late summer atmosphere. A review of the conference and the Gaia-X Roadshow can be found here.
Gaia-X as a central topic at Cloud Expo Europe Frankfurt 2023
With significant participation in the stage programme at Cloud Expo Europe Frankfurt 2023, the eco Association was able to further promote the topic of Gaia-X. The topic was strongly promoted in various panel discussions in a dedicated Gaia-X theatre and a GXFS-DE stand at the Gaia-X Arena. You can find a review here.
GXFS-DE promotes awareness of Gaia-X in Germany and Europe through a variety of communication measures
In 2023, the Project Management Office in the eco Association also intensified its communication activities on GXFS-DE and Gaia-X. Numerous videos made the technical project more tangible, and several white papers and studies on the acceptance of Gaia-X and the adaptation of GXFS components not only targeted technicians. All publications can be accessed here. In addition, numerous other measures were taken to publicise Gaia-X in Germany and Europe. eco’s activities included various events, podcasts, webinars and participation in events, workshops and conferences such as the Gaia-X Summit.
