GAIA-X: The major European digital project

Currently, almost all operations in the field of digitalisation, such as software development, digital infrastructures, web services, or internet standards, are under the control of the USA. The Silicon Valley is known to companies worldwide and is also where Google and Amazon influence communication channels on the internet and thus shape our daily lives. Europe has not been able to establish itself in this market so far, but with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - albeit controversial - it has made its first step towards shaping the internet.

Now, another project follows with GAIA-X: This aims to create a data infrastructure that offers more security, transparency, and data protection. The main responsible parties for the success of the project are the German and French governments, which are closely collaborating with more than 300 different organisations and companies from the business, political, scientific, and industrial sectors. The large-scale project started off bumpy in 2020, but currently, work is underway on the technical implementation. Eight overarching categories have been developed, which are intended to be incorporated into the development: Industry 4.0, SMEs, finance, smart living, health, public sector, mobility, agriculture, and energy. In early 2021, the first prototype GAIA-X services were implemented, which are intended to serve as a guide for further development. The underlying idea behind the entire data infrastructure is to strengthen the following areas: economic development, data protection, transparency, internet security, as well as user-friendliness and innovation, among other aspects. The main goal of GAIA-X is to strengthen the economy in the field of digitalisation and to increase independence from other countries such as China or the USA.

As mentioned earlier, the German and French governments support the project, hoping to strengthen the common economic interest and to manifest the innovation and competitiveness of Europe on the internet in the future. Additionally, companies like Siemens, SAP, Telekom, and Bosch are involved in the development. However, it is not only economic interests that are at the forefront. With institutions like the Charité in Berlin or the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg, the aim is to strengthen and further develop areas of science and medicine in collaboration with GAIA-X.

In the foreground of GAIA-X is currently the creation of cloud computing systems. In today's time, the relevance of storage space and computing power has become increasingly important, but it is not economically viable for many small and medium-sized enterprises to build their own data centre. Instead, they entrust their data to third parties. This is where GAIA-X aims to provide more security and transparency. Therefore, we at Flixhost plan to build our own data centre in the near future according to European standards and in compliance with GDPR, in order to assist small and medium-sized enterprises and provide them with an affordable and secure space in a data centre in Germany. If digital services from non-European countries were to suddenly fail or cease to be offered, this could lead to massive damages for businesses. Furthermore, many questions regarding data protection in non-European countries are not adequately resolved. GAIA-X aims to address these issues in the future.

Conclusion: GAIA-X is still in its infancy and needs significant further development. However, an alternative to the current digital market offers hope that Europe can gain more independence, transparency, and security on the internet through this project. Not only large companies would benefit from this, but also those struggling with current digitalization issues. We at Flixhost believe that this project will gain more importance in the near future, enabling us all to have a better experience on the internet and in the digital market.