Gaia-X

Gaia-X is an initiative to develop a federated secure data infrastructure for Europe, whereby data are shared, with users retaining control over their data access and usage, and according to some to ensure European digital sovereignty. It aims to develop digital governance, based on European values of transparency, openness, data protection, and security, which can be applied to cloud technologies to obtain transparency and controllability across data and services. The project name is a reference to the Greek goddess Gaia.

Gaia-X started as an initiative by the former German Minister of Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier, and his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, in 2019. Originally presented at the 2019 Digital Summit in Dortmund, Germany, the initiative is under the von der Leyen Commission of European strategic autonomy and is under continuous development. The initiative is based in Belgium and has the legal form of an international non-profit organization (AISBL). It aims to develop a proposal for the next generation of data infrastructure for Europe, and promote the digital sovereignty of European users of cloud services.