One of the largest aerospace companies in the world, Airbus, is all-in on making EU digital sovereignty initiative Gaia-X a success and plans to put every last byte of the company’s data onto the platform.
Former CIO and current executive vice-president of data at Airbus, Catherine Jestin, is also on the board of directors for Gaia-X, an EU-backed data sovereignty project. In addition to improving compliance, she says the project could safeguard European companies from political turmoil.
What is Gaia-X?
Gaia-X is an association of governments and companies that’s received over €3.5bn (£2.9bn) in funding from the EU and member states. The open source project aims to automate regulations, keep data flows compliant and enforce “European values” in the digital space.
If there’s conflict, I don’t want somebody in the US to decide I have no access to my data
Since its announcement, there were misconceptions that Gaia-X was an EU-funded cloud computing platform aimed at challening the US’s large cloud service providers, or hyperscalers. The plan was not to compete but to address concerns about the dominance of US hyperscalers, such as AWS and Microsoft, in the European cloud market.
The concept arose from concerns that European businesses lacked full sovereignty over their data when stored with US companies, on infrastructure outside the EU and subject to extraterritorial laws.
Can Gaia-X protect European interests against the hyperscalers?
With Donald Trump’s re-election as US president increasing the likelihood for another US-China trade war, Jestin says Gaia-X could prove invaluable in building data resilience for businesses in the case of political turmoil.
“It may never happen but, as a leader, you need to consider what will happen if there was a major conflict between Europe and the US,” says Jestin, adding that she hopes this does not occur. “If there’s conflict, I don’t want somebody in the US to decide I have no access to my applications, to my data and everything else I need to run my business.”
According to Jestin, the Gaia-X project could help ensure data sovereignty in Europe, given these shifting political sands. One element of the project’s plans is a compliance label Level 3, which is designed to exempt EU data services and infrastructure from extraterritorial laws.
“We want to make sure that intellectual property cannot be stolen,” Jestin says. “The infrastructure has to physically be in Europe and be operated by a European company.”
Building in a compliance layer for “European values” could help to protect businesses across the region, should some unexpected scenario unfold.
Achieving compliance with data spaces
The Gaia-X Digital Clearing House, a planned data exchange that applies compliance measures automatically, is another element of the Gaia-X initiative. When data is exchanged between companies in different countries, the clearing house will automate data standards to ensure regulatory compliance across territories.
“When you look at Europe, we have the Data Governance Act, we have the Data Act, we have the AI ACT and we have GDPR,” says Jestin. “We wanted to create a framework where, if you get the Gaia-X compliant stamp, you’re compliant with all the regulations and values in Europe.”
Instead of a large EU cloud, Gaia-X runs decentralised ‘data spaces’. These are shared zones where companies or organisations, typically grouped by industry, can trade data in the knowledge that everything in this space meets the same compliance standards. It aims to establish interoperable digital ecosystems, where data can securely and freely flow between participants, no matter the infrastructure they’re using or their physical location. This will standardise data flows and allow global organisations to deal digitally with one another more easily.
The automotive industry is already experimenting with its own data space called Catena-X, an association that has nearly 200 members, including AWS, Renault and Siemens. It aims to bring uniform data standards and compliance to the car manufacturing sector and allow member organisations to exchange data, utilise shared data sets and track components for ESG reporting or supply chain visibility.
Jestin hopes something similar can be established for the aerospace industry. “The technical side of this aerospace data project will be finished in under two years,” she says. “Our objective is to have the infrastructure, the mechanism, the components, identity and access management and contracts all in this data space.”
However, onboarding Airbus’s 10,000 suppliers will be a challenge. Trust will be paramount, Jestin adds, and Airbus plans to educate companies in its supply chain about the benefits of joining.
“Suppliers will need to trust that when they exchange data they are still in control of their data,” she says. “They can make the decision to share information with different companies and exclude those that are a competitor.”
This would be a benefit to suppliers because they likely also trade with other companies in the aerospace sector, Jestin says. Currently SMEs have to meet different standards and compliance requirements for each customer. With a shared data space, Jestin says suppliers could trade with Airbus or competitors, such as Boeing or Bombardier, from a single location using a single standard. “It will be in the same format and make your life easier,” she adds.
Gaia-X: a paper monster?
But this relies on Gaia-X succeeding. The ambitious project has faced delays over the years. Critics have labelled Gaia-X ‘slideware’ – where projects have countless whitepapers and documentation but never come to fruition – and have suggested it’s too slow-moving and bureaucratic.
Others, including Gaia-X board member Francisco Mingorance, say the project has been stalled by “intense lobbying” from trade associations. Meanwhile, US hyperscalers have also criticised the initiative, claiming it will restrict data services.
When people are innovating you always have some who are really cynical
Gaia-X has been compared by some commentators to Airbus, which was formed from a consolidation of European aerospace businesses. Given Jestin’s ambition to put all of Airbus’s data onto the Gaia-X platform, she says the company is invested in Gaia-X being a success.
“When people innovate you always have some who are really cynical,” Jestin says. She suggests the project’s open-source vision may be opposed by some cloud vendors who might feel threatened by a model that allows for data sharing outside of those platforms’ ecosystems.
“It’s just part of the game,” she says. “We need to stay strong and, with the other members of the board and all the members of the association, continue to believe in our goal and make it happen.”
