On Friday March 18, 2022, the members of the Gaia-X France Hub met to a first face-to-face plenary. It was the fourth meeting in Franceto advance this initiative for a European cloud.
A difficult development for this European initiative
This project, which was launched in June 2020, initially in the form of a Franco-German “European cloud” initiative, is evolving over the months. Its implementation is not a long calm river. Since October 2020, Gaia-X is also open to American, Chinese and Indian giants. A wish of the 22 founding members of the project, and in particular of the German Minister Peter Altmaier, who explained at the time that “the central challenge of the project is to bring together existing service and infrastructure providers around a repository that lists mandatory attributes”.
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Many observers at the time considered that this initiative went against the initial project which was precisely to offer an alternative to American or Chinese solutions. The Gaia-X association has therefore evolved. Today, rather than a project to develop a technological offer, the idea is more to standardize existing offers. In 2022, almost two years after the start of work, it is clear that reviews arrive faster than labeled offers. In particular because American and Chinese actors were invited to the discussions.
How is the work of the Gaia-X France Hub progressing?
The France Hub of Gaia-X, created under the impetus of Cédric O, the Secretary of State for Digital is nevertheless trying to move things forward. The plenary session on Friday March 18 was the first face-to-face (in hybrid mode with online relay). On this occasion, first practical results have been presented. In particular, the work of the sectoral working groups was discussed. That on agriculture (Agdatahub), that on mobility (Eona-X project), that on energy (Omega-X) and finally that on education and skills (Prometheus-X).
Other working groups have also been set up with the aim of exploring the possibilities that the cloud could offer in the automobile or even tourism. Together, the members of the Hub France of Gaia-X try to propose a “formal framework” (Trust Framework) to manage trust in federated services. Pearse O’Donohue, Director for Future Networks at the European Commission’s Directorate General Connect, took the floor during this plenary to highlight the fact that “the European Commission relies on the standards and labels defined by Gaia-X, otherwise the cloud strategy will be a dream invented by the bureaucrats in Brussels”.