Equinix, Inc., the world’s digital infrastructure company, has joined Gaia-X, an international non-profit organization, to support its ambitious plans to build a trusted, sovereign digital infrastructure for Europe.
Given recent geopolitical developments, European leaders are focusing on ensuring solidarity and assurance in areas such as data privacy and digital sovereignty. The Gaia-X project arose from a desire to create the next generation of digital infrastructure for Europe while ensuring that European values such as transparency, openness, data protection, and security are fully embedded.
Gaia-X intends to construct a framework of open information technology standards and APIs to support a comparable and decentralized regional, federated digital infrastructure. Through an interconnected ecosystem of providers, this qualified data infrastructure will enable European service providers to interoperate and exchange data.
Equinix aims to advance the project by sharing its expertise in delivering a global, federated network interconnection platform based on neutral traffic exchange points, in line with its shared mission of providing a secure, open, and transparent foundation for the digital economy. Equinix Fabric and Equinix Internet Exchange® enable autonomous customer and partner networks, technology systems, and applications to communicate and share information. Members of Gaia-X are also working on a common repository of data sources and infrastructure systems to ensure stored data can be exchanged in accordance with European data protection regulations, while also addressing data sovereignty, availability, and innovation goals.
Commenting on Equinix’s role in the project, Peter Waters, Chief Privacy Officer for Equinix, said: “Equinix hopes to use its vast expertise in interconnection and digital infrastructure to play a key role in bringing this ground-breaking project to fruition, as part of the company’s global efforts to play a role in future-proofing businesses and societies alike.
“In recent years, cybersecurity vulnerabilities have increased due to the vast amounts of data generated by companies as they grow their digital footprints to meet demand. Digital ecosystems should be designed to meet data privacy requirements, but also foster a free, but secure, flow of data, so users can collaborate without needing to worry about security issues. Equinix Fabric, and the diverse service provider partners it hosts, is delivering on the same essential elements Gaia-X is working towards. We are pleased to offer our expertise to support Gaia-X’s mission to create a federated and secure data infrastructure where businesses and individuals can retain data sovereignty and ensure their data can be exchanged, securely” he added.
The Gaia-X software framework will also provide significant learnings for other regions looking to increase connectivity between countries while maintaining data sovereignty. The European project’s common set of policies and rules can be applied to any existing cloud/edge technology stack to achieve transparency, controllability, portability, and interoperability across data and services. This is critical as businesses continue to seek new business opportunities and expand into new markets in order to reach a broader audience.
According to the most recent Global Interconnection Index findings, digital leaders have grown their digital infrastructure faster in the last five quarters than in the previous five years. Interconnection bandwidth is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 35% as businesses continue to expand into new markets, with 85% of global companies planning to expand multicloud access across multiple regions by 2025. This demonstrates how critical it will be for future business growth and stability to connect network and cloud operators via secure and open digital infrastructure.
