IDS standard as access code for the future of data

GAIA-X and the IDS initiative together make it possible for companies to achieve self-determined control over their data, whether that data at rest or in motion.

The GAIA-X AISBL is developing federated services as the basis for an interoperable data infrastructure for Europe, based on common standards for transparency, interoperability and trustworthiness.

The IDS standard is the blueprint for data exchange itself, based on European values, such as data protection and security, equal opportunities through a federated design and the guarantee of data sovereignty for the creator of the data and trust between participants.

This position paper, created under the direction of Professor Boris Otto, Fraunhofer ISST, demonstrates how elements of the International Data Spaces Reference Architecture Model fit the GAIA‑X principles and architectural elements.

The IDS standard defines how trustworthy data spaces can be set up and how the access points to such data spaces must be designed. In this way IDS guarantees certified identification of parties and compliance with the rules of the data exchange set by parties involved in the exchange of sensitive and valuable data sets. Further, the standard ensures a level playing field and enforces data sovereignty with technical measures. It’s the access code unlocking a new economy in which data can be used for new products, services and efficiencies, safely and securely.

The IDS standard is also a major contributor to the success of GAIA-X, which gets all the benefit of five years of our member’s work on existing IDS concepts, the IDS standard and the experience transfer from developing the reference architecture.