The Gaia-X project aims to establish a secure, open, and sovereign digital infrastructure for data sharing within Europe, promoting data sovereignty and reducing dependencies on single providers. The Finnish Gaia-X hub seeks to enhance cooperation between Finnish companies and their European counterparts in data-sharing initiatives, focusing on innovation and economic competitiveness. The initiative involves a collaborative approach with multiple stakeholders, emphasizing the importance of clear legal frameworks, interoperability, and funding opportunities to support the development of data economies.

1. Finnish Gaia-X Hub
17.06.2021
Jaana Sinipuro
Project Director, Sitra

2. What is Gaia-X
The Gaia-X project was initiated to enable a secure,
open and sovereign use of data.
In this way, self-determined decisions can be made
on how and where data is stored, processed and used
within the data infrastructure.

3. Gaia-X aims at building a trusted,
sovereign digital infrastructure for Europe
Sovereign Data Exchange
EU Policies & Code of Conduct
Sovereign Infrastructure
Creation of digital
infrastructures and an
ecosystem for innovation
- Trusted environment
between partners and
interoperable links between
smart service applications
and infrastructure services.
Data sovereignty
Strengthen the digital sovereignty
of business, science, government
and society.
Increasing transparency
and attractiveness of
digital services
Reduce barriers to compliant
service usage; enable the
development of new services
and products.
Reduction of dependencies
Reduce private and business
consumers’ dependency of single
providers; control over location
and regulatory environment of
stored data; reduce sector-specific
dependencies.

4. A strong alliance of companies and
organisations has joined
1800+ participants from
ca. 500 companies and organisations
3 out of 4 organisations are private
companies, about half of which are SMEs*
Organisations from different industries, such as
Mobility, Energy, Manufacturing, Finance etc.
Large Companies
SMEs
Start-Ups
Universities
R&D
Associations
Public Sector
Mentioned explicitly in the European Data Strategy and proactively addressing
key issues. Exchange between Gaia-X and the European Commission to
identify synergies between Gaia-X and initiatives and programs such as the
European Cloud Federation, CEF 2 and Digital Europe.

5. What are we are trying to
create?
Creation of digital infrastructures
and an ecosystem for innovation
Data sovereignty
Increasing transparency and
attractiveness of digital services
Reduction of dependencies
Gaia-X goals
• Data-based business models
• Raise the value of data
• Fairness and transparency
• Data commercialisation
• Infrastructure
• Interoperability
• Data protection
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2
3
4

6. The challenges we face
together in Europe
- Decentralised processing locations
- Multiple technology stacks
- Insufficient clarity about the applicable jurisdiction
- Lack of transparency and sovereignty over stored and
processed data and infrastructure
- Absence of widely accessible application programming
interfaces
- Sector-specific data spaces and lack of ontology
- Multiple stakeholders and difficult accessibility of
existing data and infrastructure services
Finland is small but
big enough to make
an impact.
The domestic market for Finnish
companies is Europe. Finland must
play an active role in European
development work from the very
beginning in order to increase its
opportunities for influencing.
Cooperation with other countries is
essential in order to spread Finnish
ideas to Europe.

7. Gaia-X Finland: our mission
Increase cooperation between Finnish companies
with European companies in data sharing projects
The future is built on
network models and
complementing
strengths.
– Jyrki Katainen
1
2
3
4
Linking data sharing projects and actors within
Finland
Ensure the coherence of Finland's data space
development with European development
Promote the competitiveness of Finnish companies
in the European market

8. Structure in Finland
In Finland, GAIA-X
hub has an important
role to create the
Finnish data-based
innovation ecosystem
and connecting it to
the European
ecosystem.
– Ilona Lundström,
Director General,
Ministry of Employment and
the Economy
Interested parties
Domain working groups
Co-operation group
Strike team
Co-Ordinator
Sitra and
National
Leadership
Group
EU Domain
working groups
GAIA-X
Foundation
Co-ordination
group
Members

9. Challenges related
to legal issues are
not an obstacle to
the development of
data-driven
solutions
Finnish companies
are aware of the
progress of
European data
space development
at any given time
The domains have
clear goals for the
creation of data
spaces and these
goals are linked to
the objectives of
Finland’s data
economy
development
There are clear
funding paths for
data-sharing
projects
Finnish data-
sharing projects
and solutions are
attractive to
European partners
Gaia-X Finland hub aims to ensure that..
A network of domains
that work actively
together
instead of
Each party promoting data
sharing in individual and
separate projects
Companies know
where to look for
information on legal
and regulatory issues
instead of
Lacking the courage to
develop data-sharing
solutions because of legal
issues being unclear
Finnish companies
seek European and
Finnish funding for
their projects
instead of
Low awareness of
European funding
opportunities and the
processes being perceived
as being too arduous
Finnish companies
understand what is going
on in the Gaia-X project
instead of
Gaia-X having a low degree
of awareness and its
developments not being
monitored
The European
development community is
aware of Finnish solutions
and their potential
instead of
Finnish solutions being left
unused when the European
data economy is built

10. Financing possibilities
Existing financial instruments:
1) Regional funding provided by the Centre for Economic
Development, Transport and the Environment
2) National funding, in particular by Business Finland
3) EU funding through various European projects, such as
Horizon and Digital Europe
The creation of a new financial instrument may also be
considered.
The Hub offers
support and provision
of examples for
funding acquisition.

11. Opportunities
- New business models for companies, created by
unexpected combinations based on the data sharing
markets.
- Possibility to participate in shaping the data sharing
markets in Europe -> Opportunity to shape the
competitive field for Finnish companies
- Being present in discussions, the possibility of gaining a
competitive advantage by implementing the learned
immediately
- Creating networks with other European actors > partners
in other European data mobility bodies
- Participate in open tenders like
https://www.gxfs.de/public-tender/
Finland’s
advantages
An excellent level of digital
expertise, leading proficiency in
this field and good co-operation
networks. According to the EU’s
Digital Economy and Society
Index (DESI 2020), Finland is
the leading country in Europe.

12. Contributors so far
Thank you to partners who have been participating in the
development of the Gaia-X strategy. We welcome new contributors,
join Gaia-X Finland hub to continue the good work.
No one is big
enough alone to
master the
complexity of
future businesses
and business
models.
– Jyrki Katainen
President, Sitra
1001 LAKES
AALTO UNIVERSITY
BC PLATFORMS
BUSINESS FINLAND
CINIA
CSC
DIMECC
GEOFORUM
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
AND COMMUNICATIONS
NATURAL RESOURCES
INSTITUTE FINLAND
NIIS
NOKIA
MOTIVA
ROBORIDE
SITRA
TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES
OF FINLAND
MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC
AFFAIRS AND EMPLOYMENT
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
UNIKIE
VASTUU GROUP
VTT TECHNICAL RESEARCH
CENTRE OF FINLAND

13. The next steps in starting the hub’s
operations
Domain working groups starting in August 2021
- Agriculture, lead Marko Turpeinen
- Circular Economy, lead Ilkka Lakaniemi, co-lead Kari Muranen
- Geoinformation, lead Juha Saarentaus
- Health, lead Jaana Sinipuro, Sitra
- Industry Data, lead llkka Lakaniemi, co-lead Kari Muranen
- Mobility, lead Jouni Salo
- Smart Cities, lead Ilkka Lakaniemi
Gaia-X work co-ordinated by VTT gaia-x@vtt.fi
Building hub operating model & community plans gaiax@sitra.fi
The Finns are very hands-on
people so we tend to not launch
any moonshot initiatives.
Instead, we work very hard and
very concretely every day for a
more prosperous and fair
future.
– Jaana Sinipuro,
Project Director, IHAN - Human-driven
data economy, Sitra

14. THANK YOU!
For additional information about the activities of the Finnish Gaia-X hub,
please contact gaiax@sitra.fi

15. Finnish GAIA-X Hub
Inauguration
Hubert Tardieu
Ex-Chairman of the Gaia-X Association Board of Directors /
Independent Member of the Board of Directors
June 17th 2021

16. 18 June 2021
Gaia-X Information Web Seminar 2
The Gaia-X European Association for Data and Cloud, AISBL
Gaia-X Association
22 Founding members
Open to all
Open community-
based implementation
Creation of data
spaces and industry
plattform
Multiparty governance
Policy Rules,
Architecture of Standards,
Federation Services
Data and infrastructure
define enable open ecosystems

17. User
12 %
NPO
24 %
Start Up
25 %
CSP
39 %
User
NPO
Start Up
CSP
270 members and distribution

18. With a position paper detailing priority use cases and clear funding schemes
JUne, 17th 21
Gaia-X Finnih Hub Inauguration 4
Data spaces facilitated by Gaia-X Association
Skills
Mobility
Agriculture
Health Financial
Energy
Industrial
Green Deal

19. National Hubs
Participants engage in the Association and its work processes
Focus on bundling user interest
across Europe to facilitate the
scaling up of GAIA-X use case and
data spaces
Has the exclusive responsibility for
the policy rules and standards
Defines overall Data Space structure
in line with EU Data Strategy to
ensure technical and semantic
interoperability
Not acting as subsidiaries of the Gaia-X Association
MoUs1 underline the cooperation in the intended network
Supporting its endeavour
will prioritize certain domains where intense cooperation with
the Hub is envisaged
1MoU - Memorandum of Understanding
Set up and establish a well-functioning sovereign data infrastructure following Gaia-X Policy Rules and
Standards and the required Federation Services.
Gaia-X Association
Gaia-X User Hubs

20. Establishment of Gaia-X Hubs
Portugal
Vasco Lagarto
Fasco.lagarto@tice.pt
Germany
Peter Kraemer
kraemer@acatech.de
Slovenia
Andreja Lampe
andreja.lampe@gzs.si
Greece
George Chryssolouris
xrisol@otenet.gr
Estonia
Doris Põld
Doris.pold@itl.ee
Denmark
Carolina Benjaminsen
Cb@digitallead.dk
Austria
Horst Bratfisch
Horst.bratfisch@msg-plaut.com
Sweden
Tony Hallén
coordinator@gaia-x.se
Spain
Alberto Gago
alberto.gago@economia.gob.es
Finland
Laura Halenius
laura.halenius@sitra.fi
Ireland
Ray Walshe
ray.walshe@dcu.ie
France
Marine de Sury
mdesury@cigref.fr
Luxembourg
Peter Sodermans
peter.sodermans@luxinnovation.lu
Great Britain
Amanda Brock
amanda.brock@openuk.uk
Poland
Dariusz Śpiewak
Dariusz.spiewak@piit.org.pl
Netherlands
Jesse Robbers
jesse.robbers@tno.nl
Italy
Michele D‘Ambrosio
M.DAmbrosio@confindustria.it
Belgium
Jelle Hoedemaekers
jelle.hoedemaekers@agoria.be
Legend
In progress (established
by end of Q2)
Established
Slovakia
Martina Maláková
malakova@electric.sk

21. Q3
Q2
Q1 Q4
Gaia-X Information Web Seminar 7
Important milestones are upcoming
January March
February
2021
Day 2 Re-Opening
Technical Deep Dive
Sessions
Gaia-X Policy Rules
Rel. 04.21
Technical Architecture
Document Rel. 06/21
Gaia-X
Policy
Rules
Rel.
09/21
April August
July September
Federation
Services alpha
1st General Assembly
Additional national hubs to
expand coverage
Demonstrator
on verticals
1st Data Spaces
Architecture of
Standards Rel. 03.21
Technical Architecture
Document Rel. 03.21
Prefiguration of European
Alliance on Industrial Data and
Cloud
Webinar
“Edge Computing”
Webinar
“Data Spaces"
October November
Webinar “Policy
Rules Committee I”
Webinar
“Policy Rules
Committee II”
December
May
Technical
Deep Dive II
Election of the 1st
Board of Directors
June
Federation
Services
Specification
Webinar
“Gaia-X and AI“
4 Data Space are set up

22. 18 June 2021
Gaia-X Reporting HMI 2021 8
The Gaia-X Executive Team

23. © 2021 Gaia-X European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without
the express written permission of the Gaia-X European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL
www.gaia-x.eu
Thank you!

24. Delivering
Trust.

25. Ecosystem Orchestrator
Population
disruption – growth
in some cities,
reduction in others
Post-Covid
restructuring,
multitenancy, multi-
purpose assets
Transition
economy – policies
on sustainability,
energy, equity
The need for internationally certified, mobile workers
Explosion of data – sensors, low power networks, the growing role of AI

26. Technology and Humanity
Attractiveness of the
Grey Economy*
The incentives for
Information
Lockout*
* as the complexity and
bureaucracy of taxes,
regulations, work safety,
worker legality,
energy and emissions,
etc multiplies
* as proprietary
information balloons, and
integrators exploit
incompatibility
The two fatal flaws in
scaling trust

27. Future of Democracy
Grey Economy
“Level the playing field”
Data economy
Information Lockout
“End the lockout”
Lower integration cost
Data sovereignty
Nordic roots in the dialogue where everybody can accept the result but no one is
really happy about it, the art of compromises in the world full of shades of grey
The way that leads towards resilient system of systems

28. Growth and Industry
Vastuu Group’s mission is to create
better living conditions for people
by enhancing Trust between cities,
companies and societies
Data ownership and
empowerment
Data sharing and identity
ecosystem
Data compatibility and
harmonization
Scaling up service
deployment
Scaling up interoperability
Scaling up data asset
exchange

29. Ecosystem complexities
Old and new world
acknowledging legacy and
unique strengths
The growing importance and
role of local communities in
globalized world
Gaia-X as the central anchor
for data initiatives
Direct link to Gaia-X and
relevant EU initiatives ensure
consistency and efficiency
across Europe
Decentralized soft infrastructure and public-private governance
Data spaces as enablers for business and people
Ecosystem sensitive approach continuous learning and curiosity

30. Lets build
data spaces
Together

31. Thank you.