Safespring is a Swedish member of GAIA-X

Fredric Wallsten

CEO, Safespring

The initiators are Ericsson, City Network & Netnod. The purpose is to increase the region’s ability to be self-sufficient in digital infrastructure and to promote innovation based on European data legislation.

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The project, initiated by companies and organizations that use cloud services and need an open and flexible environment for innovation based on European data legislation, is now establishing an organization in Sweden.

Stockholm, April 20, 2021 – The European collaboration project for cloud services, GAIA-X, has established a collaborative organization in Sweden. The overarching goal of GAIA-X is to increase Europe’s self-sufficiency in digital infrastructure and create an open and flexible environment for digital innovation based on the region’s data legislation. The initiators of the Swedish organization are Ericsson, Netnod, and City Network. At the same time, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) has been tasked by the government to monitor GAIA-X.

GAIA-X was formed by the governments of Germany and France as a direct response to the needs of several major industrial companies for alternatives to non-European cloud services for their digitalization. European companies, public authorities, and private individuals are today essentially entirely dependent on non-European cloud services, which are often not compatible with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Europe’s need to strengthen its digital sovereignty is also an important issue for the European Commission, which views a European digital infrastructure as crucial for Europe’s long-term competitiveness.

Over the past 10–15 years, Sweden and the rest of the EU have slowly but surely become completely dependent on a few companies outside the EU to manage our data infrastructure. This not only hampers the possibility of independence in the world’s largest economy, but also places our most valuable asset—our data—outside European jurisdiction. As an advocate for lawful and compliant handling of information, it was only natural to be one of the initiators of the Swedish GAIA-X organization, says Johan Christenson, CEO and founder of City Network.

A central component of the project is a digital marketplace where the private and public sectors in Europe can access digital services within eight defined sub-areas for innovation: Industry 4.0/SME, smart cities, finance, health, public sector, mobility, agriculture, and energy. All services in each sub-area are being developed for cross-border use throughout the EU. Against this background, openness and transparency are key starting points for all subprojects within GAIA-X.

The Swedish GAIA-X organization is aimed at everyone operating in the digital industry—companies, universities, and the public sector. This may involve organizations that have a specific digital service or technology and want to make it available via GAIA-X, or entities that want to participate in existing projects within the GAIA-X framework in Sweden or another member country.

– Europe must build a data infrastructure based on values such as openness, accessibility, and the protection of personal privacy. In that context, GAIA-X will play a key role in shaping the next generation of data services in Europe. Given the extremely diverse potential users of GAIA-X data services, ranging from the storage of personal data such as photos and letters to process-critical industrial data, it is crucial for GAIA-X to provide a wide range of use cases and requirements. We therefore encourage Swedish industry and Swedish authorities to engage in GAIA-X and especially in the Swedish GAIA-X hub to develop use cases and requirements that help secure success from a Swedish perspective, says Per Beming, Head of Standard & Industry Initiatives, Ericsson.

For more information about GAIA-X’s Swedish activities, please visit www.gaiax.se. Information about the central initiative is available at www.gaia-x.eu.

Contact

• GAIA-X’s website
• For questions and membership, please contact coordinator@gaia-x.se

Press contact GAIA-X Sweden

Carl Forsström
+46 708 33 02 10
carl.forsstrom@beachfrontpr.se.