GAIA-X, the European digital project to strengthen Europe’s global competitive position, is evolving into a competent organisation with legal capacity. The aim is to develop a European data infrastructure for the secure digitalization and interconnection of industry, finance and healthcare and as the basis for the use of new AI (artificial intelligence) applications. Last autumn, Prof. Friedhelm Loh helped to launch the major European project initiated by German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier. The Friedhelm Loh Grop with its subsidiary German Edge Cloud is a founding member of the new GAIA-X Foundation.
The fast, efficient analysis of data is the driving force behind modern technologies and efficient processes. Protecting this data from unauthorised access is crucial to the competitiveness of companies throughout the entire European economic area. The key question here is, who owns the data? Data sovereignty has become a critical success factor. As a European-wide network organisation with legal capacity, the GAIA-X Foundation’s mission is to strengthen industry and promote solutions to the challenges faced by European companies.
“With our customers and at our own Rittal factories, we have learned what is important for the manufacturing industry: Real-time capabilities and links to existing cloud solutions with data sovereignty. Data is a valuable commodity and must be protected from theft and misuse so that we can build new, data-driven business models. We have contributed our knowledge and expertise to drive GAIA-X forwards,” explains Prof. Friedhelm Loh, owner and CEO of the Friedhelm Loh Group.
An idea becomes reality
On 29 October 2019, the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Peter Altmaier, announced the official launch of the project at the 2019 Digital Summit in Dortmund. On 4 June 2020 a group of supporters from politics, research and industry, now under the patronage of the German and French Ministries for Economic Affairs, unveiled the next stage: GAIA-X has set up an international non-profit organisation with the legal format AISBL (Association internationale sans but lucratif) based in Brussels, which will act as a competent legal entity to drive development of the network forwards. GAIA-X will use a transparent, open European process to develop numerous small, geographically distributed edge data centres with an open cloud link, paving the way for a new class of industrial applications.
The Friedhelm Loh Group with its subsidiary German Edge Cloud is one of the founding members, together with eleven German and eleven French companies, institutions and organisations. These include Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Atos, Bosch, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, BMW and Siemens. The joint project team of founding members is aiming to set up the new organisation by the end of September this year. On 4 June 2020, the members sealed the deal with a Letter of Intent.
“We would like to thank the Ministry for this initiative and their support. With GAIA-X we are creating a platform for the more effective protection of intellectual property in Europe. Politics and industry must work together, and take action now. Setting up this organisation is the next step, and we are fully committed to it,” says Prof. Loh.
GAIA-X solution already on the market
The Friedhelm Loh Group was already on board with the project on the technology side: The F.L.G. companies German Edge Cloud and Rittal, in collaboration with Fraunhofer Institut and Bosch, have developed and marketed a solution that will form part of GAIA-X: ONCITE is the first turnkey edge cloud data centre for real-time Industry 4.0 application scenarios with data sovereignty. The solution, winner of the Innovation Champions Award 2020, stores and processes production data almost in real time (“on premise”) and harmonises it for AI-based analyses. Small and medium-sized suppliers can network their factories with the digital production platforms of their clients, such as automotive manufacturers, with complete data sovereignty.
This allows companies to digitally optimise their production sites internally and between factories with a minimum lead time, maximise the value of their data, and make this data available for subsequent use. Users retain full sovereignty over their data and can decide for themselves who is given access to which data and which platforms and public clouds they wish to use to connect with their partners. “ONCITE was developed in response to the key challenges currently facing manufacturers in particular. Other sectors such as healthcare and smart living are likewise required to safely store, select, process and add value to ever-expanding data volumes, creating additional potential for ONCITE and Gaia-X,” explains Dr. Sebastian Ritz, CEO of German Edge Cloud.
Rittal are digitalization pioneers
“ONCITE arose in response to our own requirements in the factories and those of our customers. We use it ourselves and our customers benefit from our experience. This solution helps us to safeguard our own data sovereignty, shape progress, and future-proof our company,” says Prof. Loh. In 2019, Rittal, the largest company in the Friedhelm Loh Group, built a new factory in Haiger with over 250 interconnected machines and systems based on an integrated 4.0 concept. Every day, some 18 terabytes of data are generated by enclosure manufacturers. ONCITE analyses and processes data in real time and optimises production operations.
Rittal laid the foundations back in 1961 with an enclosure innovation. Today, the Friedhelm Loh Group supports its customers across numerous different sectors on their journey into the digital future – from the value creation chain in enclosure production, to market-leading IT racks and modular data centres, through to edge and hyperscale solutions and ONCITE.