Questions related to Gaia-X
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Gaia-X is a privately funded non-for-profit association that enables a neutral global digital ecosystem where consumers and providers can conduct business in a trusted, transparent, and secure environment. It provides the foundation for a competitive alternative to proprietary platforms that impose vendor lock-in and operate in opaque environments regarding data privacy, extraterritorial laws, and security.
Our vision: to enable trusted decentralised digital Ecosystems.
Our mission: to create the de facto standard to enable federated and trusted data and infrastructure ecosystems, by developing a set of specifications, rules, policies, and a verification framework.
By establishing a common framework based on European values, Gaia-X ensures that organisations retain control over their data, benefit from open collaboration, and drive economic growth in a digital ecosystem that is transparent, compliant, and competitive.
Gaia-X provides this common framework by establishing a trusted federation of infrastructures for data and other popular cloud services. This layer of trust enables digital sovereignty, security, and user control while providing innovation for businesses, governments, and research institutions.
Members of Gaia-X benefit from joining a trusted and federated digital ecosystem that secures data exchange, interoperability, and innovation. By participating in Gaia-X, organisations gain access to a framework that ensures compliance with European regulations while enabling them to build, implement, and scale sovereign data-driven ecosystems. The shared commitment to transparency and trust allows members to establish secure data value chains, reducing risks associated with data exchanges and ensuring that all participants adhere to the same high standards.
For users, Gaia-X provides the ability to exchange data in a trusted way by implementing common rules that ensure compliance, security, and interoperability. Organisations benefit from reduced costs in cross-organisational data management, as Gaia-X facilitates standardised processes that streamline data sharing. Through its federated model, Gaia-X accelerates the development of sovereign data ecosystems and enables global data-driven value chains, allowing companies to operate seamlessly across borders while maintaining full control over their data.
For service providers, Gaia-X offers significant opportunities for market expansion and increased visibility. Providers who certify their services as compliant with Gaia-X gain a competitive advantage by offering trusted and interoperable solutions that align with European values. Additionally, by becoming a Gaia-X Digital Clearing House (GXDCH) provider, organisations can act as a one-stop shop for existing and new customers looking to leverage the Gaia-X ecosystem. Additionally, providers can deliver DataSpace as a Service (DSaaS), following Gaia-X’s decentralised digital trust architecture, allowing businesses to implement fast, cost-efficient, and transparent data-driven applications that are built on a foundation of trust and reliability.
A digital ecosystem is a non-hierarchical organisational structure of a multilateral set of partners that interact digitally in order for one or more focal value propositions to materialise.
Neither. Gaia-X is not a Cloud Provider nor a Cloud Service Provider. It is a framework that enables cloud and data service providers to interoperate under shared technical and ethical standards, ensuring transparency and facilitating data sovereignty.
Unlike cloud services, Gaia-X does not provide cloud applications, infrastructure or storage. Instead, it establishes a model for trust and interoperability, ensuring that users can securely share and manage data across multiple providers without vendor lock-in.
Gaia-X Strategy
Gaia-X’s strategy is built on four fundamental pillars that drive trust, interoperability, and digital sovereignty, ensuring the success of a federated and secure data ecosystem. These pillars focus on end-user adoption, market readiness, global expansion, and ecosystem growth, creating a sustainable and scalable foundation for the future of European and international data spaces.
The first pillar, End-User Adoption, focuses on increasing real-world adoption by providing reference stories that showcase the value of Gaia-X. By working with policymakers who support and advocate for Gaia-X in Europe, the initiative strengthens its position as a trusted framework for data sovereignty. We are collaborating with cloud service providers, including hyperscalers, to ensure that organisations can use Gaia-X-compliant services while maintaining control over their data. Additionally, Gaia-X plans on the establishment of Gaia-X Hubs in more European countries, which will enable deeper regional engagement and acceleration of the implementation of Gaia-X principles across different markets.
The second pillar, Market Readiness of the Technology, is designed to enhance the practical usability of Gaia-X standards. Strengthening collaboration with Data Spaces Business Alliance (DSBA) and Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) communities is ensuring continuous innovation and alignment with industry needs. By engaging with lighthouse projects, Gaia-X reinforces its role in real-world applications. Regular deep-dive sessions are held to demonstrate how federated cloud-based data spaces can be realised, helping businesses understand the “Powered by Gaia-X” certification as a mark of compliance and trust.
The third pillar, Globalisation Strategy, expands Gaia-X’s impact beyond Europe. Partnering with international members ensures alignment with regulations in non-European regions, promoting Gaia-X principles worldwide. Gaia-X Hubs serve as multipliers, helping local stakeholders implement Gaia-X standards in their respective markets. Involving international regions in the definition of Gaia-X labels enables greater interoperability and trust. Participation in global events further strengthens awareness and positions Gaia-X as a key player in shaping the future of secure data collaboration worldwide.
The fourth pillar, Growth of the Gaia-X Ecosystem, ensures that Gaia-X remains a vibrant and expanding community. Increasing analyst relations enhances global visibility, while demonstrating tangible benefits for existing members strengthens engagement. Gaia-X provides added value for large corporations, SMEs, startups, universities, and developers, ensuring that innovation thrives across all levels of the ecosystem. The initiative also prioritises efficiency within its Committees and working groups, using agile methodologies to ensure continuous progress. A dedicated, growth-focused team is driving this expansion, providing strategic thought leadership and supporting the long-term success of Gaia-X.
Gaia-X is not just a conceptual framework but a fully operational and evolving initiative that is shaping the future of secure, sovereign, and interoperable digital ecosystems in Europe and beyond.
Gaia-X provides the data infrastructure necessary for AI innovation, ensuring data accessibility, transparency, and compliance, which are critical for developing and deploying ethical AI solutions.
Gaia-X Governance and Ecosystem
The Gaia-X Association is a member driven organisation and the highest decision competence is within the General Assembly meeting of all members. The overall strategy is defined by the Board of Directors of which members are elected by the General Assembly meeting every 2 years.
The Management Team is composed of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), the Chief Innovation Officer (CINO), the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
As the General Assembly gathers all members annually, the members can decide and vote upon the proposals brought forward by the Management Board of Gaia-X, ensuring that members constitute an integral part of the decision-making of the Association.
Moreover, the Board of Directors decides on strategic matters regarding the Gaia-X Association. It is headed by a Chairperson and they have a mandate of two years.
The Board is selected during the General Assembly for a two-year term and receives advice from the Governmental Advisory Board with government representatives from 17 different European member states plus the European Commission.
The Gaia-X Statute is limiting the membership of the Board of Directors to only EU companies, as per the Article 19.2.1 of the Articles of the Association. Hence, member companies that are outside the EU cannot join the Board of Directors, which decides the overall strategy of the Association, its membership fees, and approves the yearly budget (Art 20).
Only companies from the EEA can propose a Director to be voted in by the General Assembly. The proposed director has to be a senior executive of a European Member and “must be an expert regarding one or more services or activities of the Association” as per Article 19.2.2 of the Articles of Association.
The Association – The Gaia-X European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL represents the core of the organisational structure. It is an international non-profit association under Belgian law (French: Association Internationale Sans But lucratif, shortened to AISBL).
Lighthouses – These projects aim to enable data and ICT service exchanges built on transparency, trust and openness. They target multiple industries, such as Agriculture, Mobility and Manufacturing, to name a few. These projects will help us bring and create a coherent data infrastructure ecosystem. These initial business cases are the front-runners implementing the Gaia-X framework that will equally enable a comprehensive pipeline of future lighthouse projects.
Hubs – Gaia-X Hubs bundle user interests across Europe to facilitate the creation of European Data Spaces. They gather use cases, requirements, and standards, to support the Gaia-X Association in setting up and establishing a sovereign data-infrastructure via a common Gaia-X architecture as well as policy rules. Gaia-X Hubs are the central contact points for interested parties in each country, and grassroots supporters of the Gaia-X project.
Gaia-X Hubs are not a body of Gaia-X Association, they are self-organised while closely aligned with the Gaia-X Association. Any organisations and companies that work on and with use cases, create expertise and resources, or are interested to become a stakeholder and create data spaces, are welcome to join the Gaia-X Hubs.
Ecosystems – Our Ecosystems bring together diverse stakeholders—ranging from businesses, industries, and researchers to public sector entities—into communities tailored to specific sectors, such as Health or Agriculture, as well as horizonal domains, such as Location and Smart Cities. Ecosystems are independently organised by a (co-)lead supported by the Gaia-X Association. Their activities include regular online meetings, producing white papers, organising webinars as well as helping the automatisation of domain regulations, code of conducts, or best practices possible via the Gaia-X framework.
No. In order to benefit from the Gaia-X AISBL membership, you need to become a Gaia-X member. You can do so at the following link:
- Use our contact form and let us know that you are interested in becoming a member or contact aisbl-membership@gaia-x.eu.
- We will email you the documents you need to fill out for your application.
- Fill in the documents and send them back to us.
- We will come back to you with the decision taken by the Board of Directors and guide you through the onboarding.
In Early 2021 the Gaia-X Association (AISBL) was established as a member-driven association according to Belgium law by 11 French and 11 German organisations. In the meantime, the organisation grew exponentially in the number of members, covering the operating costs of the Gaia-X AISBL. The Gaia-X AISBL has been self-sustainable from the beginning.
The Gaia-X AISBL joined one project funded by the European Commission due to its strategic importance. The project, Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC), started in September 2022 and lasts 42 months. The DSSC project is contributing appr. for 5% of the overall yearly budget of the Gaia-X AISBL.
Technical Questions
The Gaia-X Trust Framework or Trust Framework is composed of the technical, legal, semantic and organisational tools and utilities to allow interoperable dataspaces, both on technical level and on compliance level. It’s comprised of specifications (Architecture Document, Compliance Document) as well as software and libraries (Gaia-X Ontology, Gaia-X Compliance, Gaia-X Signature Library)
The Gaia-X Digital Clearing House commonly abbreviated as GXDCH or even DCH is the mechanism adopted by the Gaia-X Association to provide running software to assert compliance without becoming a host or a point of centralisation for the ecosystem.
It relies on a set of Providers, accredited by the association to run the components enabling the operationalisation of the Trust Framework
Gaia-X is providing software that is developed following the principles of Open Source. The license commonly used is the Eclipse Public License 2.0 (EPL2.0).
The specifications are provided free of charge and openly on docs.gaia-x.eu under the Creative Commons CC-BY-ND license.
Gaia-X is providing software in two ways. The association provides the components enabling to attest the compliance to the Compliance Document criteria. These components, run by the GXDCH are the Compliance Engine, the Registry and the Notary.
To help with adoption and more accessible usage of the Trust Framework, the association, thanks to the Lab, provides libraries and tools to generate DIDs, sign credentials or even GUI. All these components and libraries are available on our Gitlab . The developers page of our website is a good stop to understand the hierarchy of the GitLab repositories.
Membership and Involvement
Participation in Gaia-X is designed to be collaborative, allowing organisations to engage in discussions, influence standards, and contribute to the development of technical frameworks that drive innovation and compliance.
One of the primary ways to contribute is by joining Working Groups, where members collaborate to define the policies, governance, and technical specifications that form the foundation of Gaia-X. These groups bring together experts from various industries to ensure that Gaia-X standards remain relevant, adaptable, and aligned with regulatory requirements. By engaging in these discussions, members have the opportunity to shape the direction of Gaia-X and ensure that the ecosystem meets the needs of different sectors.
Another avenue for contribution is through Sprints, which are focused, short-term initiatives designed to tackle specific challenges or accelerate the implementation of key Gaia-X components. Sprints allow members to work in an agile environment, contributing technical expertise, sharing best practices, and developing solutions that enhance the functionality and usability of Gaia-X frameworks. This hands-on approach ensures continuous improvement and real-world applicability of Gaia-X standards.
Additionally, members can contribute by working with the Open Source Software (OSS) Community, which plays a vital role in ensuring the transparency, accessibility, and adoption of Gaia-X technologies. By participating in the OSS community, members can contribute code, provide feedback on implementations, and collaborate on the development of open-source tools that support Gaia-X-compliant solutions. This fosters innovation and ensures that Gaia-X remains a dynamic and evolving initiative that serves the needs of businesses, governments, and research institutions.
Finally, the Association also engages with other external stakeholders who contribute from the business or operational side. By taking part from within a national Gaia-X hub, one or more specific Gaia-X domain ecosystems, or from within one or more Endorsed projects, these contributors help ensure the practical nature and applicability of the technical WGs and Gaia-X Compliance Sprints.
By actively contributing, organisations can help build a resilient, trusted, and federated data infrastructure that benefits industries across Europe and beyond.
Gaia-X is open to both users and providers, either from SMEs or large enterprises, or from Associations and Academic Institutions.
We are looking for both users and providers to participate in the project. The success of Gaia-X depends largely on user-driven demand and the definition of users’ requirements. We are also looking for companies and organisations from different industries representing the user perspective. The contributions of technological companies, including providers, is key to the development of the technical concept.
- Use our contact form and let us know that you are interested in becoming a member or contact aisbl-membership@gaia-x.eu.
- We will email you the documents you need to fill out for your application.
- Fill in the documents and send them back to us.
- We will come back to you with the decision taken by the Board of Directors and guide you through the onboarding.