Gaia-X Hub Austria

Gaia-X Hub Austria Vision

What

The European data strategy envisions a fair and open model accessible to all, enabling any organization to exchange data and build data-driven business models.

Why

With the rapid digitalization of all areas of life, the prosperity of current and future generations will be significantly influenced by the success or failure in the field of data-driven business models. Therefore, organizations of all kinds are developing new and innovative digital business models. By adopting new frameworks such as Gaia-X and other standards, organizations can retain control over their data and reduce dependencies on individual cloud solutions. This is especially relevant for data-oriented public services and the education sector.

For whom

Austrian companies that are already successful due to their specific technological capabilities can use data-driven business models both to secure their existing market positions and to increasingly generate new value creation. Public administration organizations across various areas such as security, education, transport, healthcare, or citizen services can develop effective and modern services through innovative data exchange and processing models. The Austrian Hub aims to massively accelerate and comprehensively support these efforts.

Gaia-X Hub Austria MISSION

The Gaia-X Hub Austria will ensure that, in this crucial phase of digital transformation, no time is wasted and that policymakers, scientists and researchers, businesses, public administration, and civil society organizations actively and in some areas even take the lead in shaping the European data ecosystem.

To effectively, visibly, and sustainably support the Gaia-X vision, the Gaia-X Hub Austria will pursue the following four strategic goals for all involved or interested Austrian organizations and individuals:

The Gaia-X Hub Austria is establishing itself as the national center of competence for building data ecosystems. The Hub will support political and economic decision-makers in shaping framework conditions and making strategic decisions. It will also ensure that work results, guidelines, documentation, or open-source code are made available to all interested stakeholders in Austria in a timely, accessible, and understandable manner.

The Gaia-X Hub Austria will support Austrian organizations in entering data-based business models and specifically enable Austrian companies of all sizes to launch innovative implementation projects or participate in such projects. This will allow them to gain experience, build know-how, and strengthen their competitiveness in the European market.

The Gaia-X Hub Austria will support organizations in networking across industries and establishing self-directed working groups and concrete implementation alliances. The Hub will highlight access to national and international funding opportunities and promote successful Austrian implementation projects in other EU countries. It will ensure maximum synergies with relevant Austrian initiatives and programs.

The Gaia-X Hub Austria will build a strong network with other national hubs – especially those from neighboring and Eastern European countries. This shared, strong voice is intended to ensure that Austria-specific topics and concerns are heard at the European level, that Austrian projects are visibly positioned, and that Austria’s influence on data economy-related decisions at the EU level is increased.

Gaia-X Hub Austria OBJECTIVES

Based on the four strategic areas of action defined in the Mission Statement of the Gaia-X Hub Austria, the Hub aims to achieve the following operative objectives by the end of 2025

  1. The hub provides consulting services to political decision-makers with the goal of integrating Gaia-X into the digital agenda and shaping the national data strategy.
  2. The hub operates an interoperability lab based on a reference infrastructure in cooperation with the planned national Gaia-X Clearing House.
  3. The hub supports the development of an Austrian trust framework.
  4. The hub establishes partnerships with the Austrian representatives of the DSBA (Data Space Business Alliance) as well as the DSBC (Data Spaces Support Center) and coordinates the establishment of a “DSBA Hub Austria.”
  5. The hub advocates for the active involvement of the Austrian public administration in the Gaia-X ecosystem.
  6. The hub offers regularly updated communication and information formats.
  7. The hub supports the establishment and coordination of domain working groups, reference projects, and reference architectures.
  8. The hub develops specific recommendations for interested organizations to facilitate entry for potential participants into data spaces.
  9. The hub provides, in collaboration with funding agencies, a periodic overview of Austrian and European funding programs.
  10. The hub contributes to shaping the national data strategy by coordinating and aligning key stakeholders.