BRUSSELS, September 15, 2020 – The GAIA-X Initiative announced today that it is one step closer to its goal of a trustworthy, sovereign digital infrastructure for Europe, with the official signing of incorporation papers for GAIA-X AISBL (association internationale sans but lucratif), a non-profit association that will take the project to the next level. The initiative’s twenty-two founding members signed the documents in Brussels to create an association for securing funding and commitment from members to fulfill the initiative’s vision for Europe.
"We are deeply motivated to meet the challenges of the European digital economy.” said Servane AUGIER, Chief Operating Officer at 3DS OUTSCALE. “Through GAIA-X, we are building, all together, a sovereign and reliable digital infrastructure and an ecosystem for innovation in Europe. In this way, we will strengthen the digital sovereignty of businesses, research and education, governments and society as a whole."
While final incorporation is pending, the founding members of GAIA-X AISBL are seeking active participation and membership from national and multi-national, European and non-European companies, as well as partners in the worlds of science and politics, who share European standards and values. The association views its members as the primary drivers of progress and innovation, working closely together to define standards and prototype implementations from both provider and user perspectives.
“The BMW Group sees the future of automotive software in the cloud, whether it is about pioneering IT solutions for the development and production of premium vehicles, new digital services for our customers or innovative features in the car,” said Marco Görgmaier, Head of DevOps Platform and Cloud Technologies, The BMW Group.” Participation in the GAIA-X project is a logical step in our intention to further expand our innovative strength. The goals of the GAIA-X project—striving for data sovereignty, reducing dependencies, establishing cloud services on a broad scale and creating an open ecosystem for innovation—are fully in line with our own efforts.“
As the incorporation process is moving forward, the association will continue to set-up its head office in Brussels and establish key organizational structures. Planning is also underway for the GAIA-X Summit, scheduled for mid-November 2020. Overall, the GAIA-X founders aim to establish a culture of trust, knowledge exchange and transparency. They anticipate that as the membership of GAIA-X grows, it will be able to have an increasing impact on innovation and collaboration in the development of technical solutions and standards for business, science and society across Europe.
About GAIA-X: Launched in 2019 with the goal of developing a trustworthy and sovereign digital infrastructure for Europe, GAIA-X is a digital ecosystem regulated by its members. The initiative is working to create an environment in which data can be shared and stored under the control of data owners and users; and where rules are defined and respected, so that data and services can be made easily available, compiled and exchanged. Gaia-X has the potential to create unprecedented opportunities for innovative, data-driven business models and new solutions that help European companies of all sizes and industries to scale up and compete globally. The result will be a strong foundation for modern, next-generation infrastructure that meets the needs of business, science and society.
Founding Members: 3DS OUTSCALE, Amadeus, Atos, Beckhoff Automation, BMW, Bosch, CISPE, DE-CIX, Deutsche Telekom, Docaposte, EDF, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, German Edge Cloud, IMT, International Data Spaces Association, Orange, OVH, PlusServer, Safran, SAP, Scaleway, Siemens.
GAIA-X Communications Team
Contact GAIA-X AISBL: aisbl@data-infrastructure.eu