A sovereign Cloud and Data Infrastructure for Germany and Europe

There are ongoing discussions about a European cloud and data infrastructure to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty and data sovereignty in Europe, culminating in the concrete project of Gaia-X led by the German government. At its core lies the question how to maintain Europe’s ability to act independently in the digital world. This question pertains to both governments, as well as to entrepreneurial and individual customers’ actions. Sovereignty in this context refers to the ability to develop capacities in central technological fields as well as services. It includes the possibility to freely choose between viable alternatives provided by trustworthy international partners. The following paper describes some of the central aspects for the further development of the project from Bitkom’s perspective.