Atos co-founds GAIA-X to build a secure and transparent European data and cloud framework

Paris, 4 June 2020

Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, is proud to announce its role as a founding member of the GAIA-X Foundation, a non-profit organization that is being setup to create the next generation of data platforms for Europe, its member states, companies and citizens.

The GAIA-X Foundation, formed by 22 organizations (digital leaders, industrials, academia and associations) including Atos, underlines a joint commitment to a transparent European process, openness and broad participation. It will build on the existing work initiated by the French and German governments and supported by more than 300 businesses. The GAIA-X project enters a new stage of its development and sets an important milestone toward the European Union’s ambition to consolidate its leadership in the global data economy.

The creation of digital ecosystems requires building trust and interoperability across all cloud users and providers. GAIA-X will address this challenge through a common set of policies, an “Architecture of Standards” and a set of “Federation Services” which bring together existing Cloud providers and their services and in which data and applications can be handled in a way that ensures full control. It will enable organizations from all sizes and across all sectors to benefit from hyperscaler offerings in Europe while respecting a set of essential policies.

Involved in the development of Cloud since its inception, Atos brings its proven expertise of and experience in Cloud Computing, supported by its comprehensive portfolio and strategic partnerships with leading Cloud service providers and deep understanding of customer needs.

Elie Girard, CEO of Atos, explains: “Europe’s digital leadership in the data economy requires flexible and secure Cloud capabilities. By facilitating infrastructure, application and data portability, GAIA-X will enable European businesses and public administrations to share their decentralized data in a reliable and secure way, boosting Cloud adoption and the creation of value-added ecosystems. This will strengthen Europe’s competitiveness because the approach is unprecedented, driven by industrials, collaborative with hyperscalers, and aims at defining a reasonable set of policies and standards consistent with European values and aspirations”.