Spain promotes coordination and open strategic autonomy in the Cloud, Data and Artificial Intelligence in the EU with the European community of data spaces

Under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Government of Spain has led the Gais-X summit Summit 2023 in Alicante, an event that has brought together leaders of the European data space community and that has culminated in the promotion of open strategic autonomy in the cloud, data and artificial intelligence.

The document, the fruit of the collaboration between the European association Gaia X AISBL, the Spanish hub of Gaia X and the Data Office (dependent on the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence), and framed in the Spanish Presidency, constitutes a joint call to give a “more coherent and coordinated” response in the development of European programs and projects related to cloud, data and artificial intelligence.

The statement notes that the interconnection of cloud, data and artificial intelligence will be a fundamental pillar for future competitiveness and highlights the importance of data for efficiency in the industrial value chain. It also advocates interoperability, backed by a robust cloud services infrastructure and advocates the development of high-quality, data-driven Artificial Intelligence with strong governance that meets European regulatory frameworks.

The appeal is part of the various European initiatives and programmes already under way, from the IPCEI-CIS to the European SIMPL project. However, it underlines the need for broader and more effective coordination to drive industry projects, advance the standardization of trusted data and cloud labels, and ensure high levels of cybersecurity, data protection and algorithmic transparency.

With the Gais-X initiative, the generation of a model to deploy data spaces and achieve efficient data exchange is sought. In this regard, the communiqué stresses that the exchange of data provides two relevant benefits, such as the increase in the general availability of data and its usefulness to produce joint data of higher quality.

Single Data Market and Europe's Global Leadership in Data and AI

The aim is to achieve a “flexible, dynamic and highly scalable” data economy that facilitates access to more and better data from heterogeneous but complementary domains, improving the quality of products and services within the value chain.

With the aim of achieving a Single Data Market, the text points out that data exchange processes must follow a common governance framework. Thus, he values that the new set of digital and data legislation, such as the Data Law or the Data Governance Law, is becoming a global reference, but points out that there is still a need for its practical articulation to generate traceability and trust and enhance coordination in data.

“Europe has the capacity to become a world leader in a data-driven future, based on reliable data processing, with key industry data spaces as input for Artificial Intelligence that will serve international competitiveness and productivity gains,” the statement said. “All this in compliance with the European values and rights that define us, including the promotion of efforts for strategic autonomy,” he adds.

Gais-X Summit Summit 2023

The Gais-X Summit Summit 2023 has served as a space for the exchange of ideas and for the presentation of key projects. During the event, the implementation of a Strategic Plan was announced by Ulrich Ahle, CEO of the European Gais-X Association for Data and Cloud AISBL, focused on ensuring end-user adoption and boosting collaboration with cloud and data service providers.

The intensity of the discussions during the event and the results achieved, embodied in the document, underline the relevance and commitment of the European data space community.

Suscrito por la secretaria de Estado de Digitalización e Inteligencia Artificial, Carme Artigas, y el Chief Data Officer of Spain and Chairman of the Gai-X Government Council, Alberto Palomo, is supported by representative leaders of the European data ecosystem, such as Gaia X AISBL, the Spanish hub of Gaia, the International Association of Data Spaces, the EU Data Space Support Centre, the European Data Centre, the European Union, the European Union, the European Union, the European Union and the European Union. Big Data Value Association (BDVA), the Spanish Platform for the Adoption and Dissemination of ICT (Planetic), the Cervera Network or the Spanish Federation of Technology Centres (FEDIT) or AMETIC.

The communiqué is open to new members, marking a milestone in shaping Europe’s digital future. In the face of the move towards a Data Economy, the joint call encourages the creation of a reliable, transparent and secure ecosystem that promotes collaboration and effective exchange of data throughout Europe.