6 November 2025 – Brussels, Belgium – Gaia-X announces its 2025 Summit, set for 20–21 November in Porto, Portugal, themed “Digital Ecosystems in Action.”
This year’s Summit is hosted in partnership with Gaia-X Hub Portugal, led by TICE.PT, and Porto Digital. The event will unite leading policymakers, innovators, researchers, and industry pioneers to explore how trusted digital ecosystems are shaping the future of AI, interoperability, and collaboration.
“Gaia-X has moved from concept to implementation,” stated Ulrich Ahle, CEO of Gaia-X. “This year’s Summit will showcase how trust, interoperability, and innovation are no longer theoretical pillars but the operational foundation of real, functioning digital ecosystems that enable data spaces to power the development of transparent, responsible, and sovereign AI across Europe.
The Summit will open with high-level addresses from Catherine Jestin, Gaia-X Chairwoman and Executive Vice President Digital & Information Management at Airbus, Bernardo Correia, Secretary of State for Digitalisation of Portugal, and Thomas Jarzombek, Parliamentary Secretary of State for Germany’s Ministry of Digitalisation. The discussions will set the stage for two days of keynotes, live demonstrations, and showcases highlighting the strategic, technological, and economic progress of the Gaia-X initiative.
“Gaia-X stands at the intersection of trust and innovation. This year’s Summit shows how our collective vision, built on openness, transparency, and European values, is turning into real, functioning digital ecosystems. Our work on Dataspaces and Trust captures the essence of where we are heading: a future where we can operate within a trusted framework, empowering people, industries, and societies to collaborate confidently across borders,” stated Catherine Jestin.
The Parliamentary Secretary of State for Germany’s Ministry of Digitalisation, Thomas Jarzombek, stated, “The purpose of Gaia-X is now more relevant than ever: The companies and organisations participating in the Gaia-X ecosystem can deliver a valuable contribution to moving us forward on our path towards digital sovereignty and competitiveness in Europe. I am eager to learn about the contributions on AI and data sovereignty that this year’s Summit places at its centre.”
A major highlight of this year’s program is the unveiling of the Gaia-X Trust Framework 3.0 – “Danube” Release, presented by Christoph Strnadl, CTO of Gaia-X, and Roland Fadrany, COO of Gaia-X. The new release introduces extensibility mechanisms that enable the automation of compliance and interoperability across sectors and geographies, which is a critical step towards scalable, federated digital ecosystems. “This release demonstrates that establishing trust – within and, even more importantly, between different ecosystems – no longer is a manual process. With Danube, we can automate governance rules and compliance frameworks in an extensible way, allowing for domain and regional adaptation while maintaining full interoperability,” explained Christoph Strnadl. Furthermore, Roland Fadrany added that “With the ‘Danube’ Release, Gaia-X takes a decisive step toward scaling trust across domains and regions. The introduction of domain and geographic extensions means that ecosystems can now adapt the Gaia-X Trust Framework to their specific sectoral or regional needs while remaining interoperable. BYOR – Bring Your Own Rules: This flexibility is what transforms Gaia-X from a European initiative into a truly global architecture for trusted digital collaboration across multiple ecosystems.”
Throughout the two days, participants can explore three parallel theatres. The Tech Theatre, Economic Theatre, and Partners Theatre, which offer deep-dive sessions into the technical, economic, and strategic dimensions of Gaia-X. The Tech Theatre will feature workshops on the Danube and Loire releases, open-source innovation, and interoperability mechanisms, while the Economic Theatre, hosted by Paris Dauphine University and the Gaia-X Institute, will invite data space projects to have their economic models evaluated by leading economists. Partners Theatre will feature collaborative discussions between Gaia-X and its key partners, like Cloud Temple, deltaDAO, neusta aerospace, IRT SystemX.
Sébastien Lescop, CEO, Cloud Temple, has declared that “Europe has moved beyond proving that digital sovereignty is possible. Now we must demonstrate its power to drive growth and innovation. Gaia-X Label level 3 is that proof. It enables secure, high-performance cloud services that empower European businesses to compete globally, free from dependence on non-European legal frameworks, yet fully open and interoperable. By turning trust into a tangible competitive advantage, Gaia-X is making European digital sovereignty an industrial reality.”
Highlights of the Gaia-X Summit 2025:
- Gaia-X Trust Framework 3.0 – “Danube” Release: Introduction of the first extensibility mechanisms for domain and geographic expansion, allowing the automation of arbitrary ecosystem rulebooks in a technically compatible manner.
- Pioneering Data Space Projects: Two strategic sectors — aerospace and nuclear — are building their digital future on the Gaia-X Trust Framework.
- Gaia-X Catalogue of Catalogues: A live showcase of navigating Gaia-X-compliant ecosystems and their services currently on the market.
- Portuguese Projects Spotlight: Featuring national success stories contributing to the European data ecosystem.
- Gaia-X Hubs Focus: Updates from national hubs advancing regional implementation.
- Tech, Economic, and Partners Theatres: interactive sessions, open-source demonstrations, and expert panels.
- Visionary closing session “Eyes on Tomorrow” with Catherine Jestin and Mario Campolargo.
Register now to join a global community of policymakers, innovators, and digital leaders in Porto to experience how Digital Ecosystems in Action are shaping a trusted, intelligent, and interoperable future for Europe and beyond.