2nd Plenary Session for the French Gaia-X Hub: Towards the Creation of Data Spaces at the European Level
May 11th, 2021
Paris, May 11, 2021 – On Friday, May 7, 2021, the French Gaia-X Hub, supported by Cigref, the Academy of Technologies, and the Systematic Paris-Region Competitiveness Cluster, held its second plenary session online. This new major event of the Hub aimed to provide an update on the Gaia-X Association and to transparently present the progress of the sectoral and cross-sectoral working groups launched during the first plenary session, as well as those established since then.
Gaia-X: A European Opportunity
Christophe Leblanc, Administrator of Cigref, reiterated during the plenary session’s opening: “The Gaia-X association aims to promote the free flow of data within the European Union,” akin to the free movement of goods, people, and services, all “in trust, and in line with our European values.” This framework of trust will undoubtedly be achieved through the certification of cloud services from European or non-European providers, which is by no means guaranteed by their membership in the Gaia-X Association. The Steering Committee of the French Gaia-X Hub affirmed in an op-ed published in Le Monde on May 6, 2021: “Realism and determination compel us to work, without naivety, [towards the success of Gaia-X] because, let us be convinced, there is no operational alternative to Gaia-X, except to give up and let other continents decide our digital future.”
A Call to Join the Movement for All Stakeholders
More than 600 members from 300 different organizations have already demonstrated their commitment by joining the various sectoral working groups, illustrating their strong interest in valuing data within a secure, transparent, and trustworthy European framework. The French Gaia-X Hub invites all interested parties to come forward, if they have not already, to join this dynamic and contribute to the work by contacting us.
