Trust and Interoperability, the DNA of digital sovereignty

When it comes to data exchanges, most of the organisations are rushing towards creating a flow of data, point to point, without getting more altitude to avoid risks and loss of value.

In nowadays digital world, where data is so valuable, is it worthy losing control over it, sending it to a partner where most of the time a technological lock-in will be imposed and where an old fashion paper contract will be the only barrier to an over-use of your data? Is it worthy building point to point connexions whereas sharing data to a third party would mean starting everything again from zero?

Actually, to power data exchanges in a meaningful and secure way and creating value, the only solution is to keep sovereignty over the processes and obviously the data itself.

Thus, which mechanisms could enable digital sovereignty?

Let us deep dive in the data exchanges and focus on two concepts, trust and interoperability.

To trust is "to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you, or that something is safe and reliable" (Cambridge Dictionary).

In the world of Data, trust is required between participants:

• Are the participants (data provider, service provider, consumer) legitimate?

• Will the data solely be used for the permitted purposes?

Trust is a pillar for the Economic boom of data sharing, but also a must-have to build connexions with partners keeping sovereignty over the data exchanged.

On the other hand, the interoperability is “the degree to which two products, programs, etc. can be used together, or the quality of being able to be used together” (Cambridge dictionary)

Concerning data exchanges, the aim of interoperability is the ability to switch to another technology without any impact on the data flow and processes set up with some partners. Thus an organisation can use the service offering from one partner, but also another one without any disruption nor massive evolution to perform.

Interoperability can be involved in four different layers, as described by the European Interoperability Framework: legal, organisational, semantic, and technological. Being interoperable or implementing interoperable solutions is a way to keep sovereingty over data exchanges. But then, how could trust and interoperability being set up? Which concepts have to be deployed to ease sovereignty in digital data exchanges?

Gaia-X is providing a set of policies, standards and verifiable framework to do so, through the Gaia-X Compliance and the Gaia-X Technical Compatibility.

The Gaia-X Compliance ensures that data providers, consumers, and digital infrastructures for example adhere to principles of transparency, data protection, security, and European sovereignty. The Gaia-X Compliance is bringing digital trust, impossible to temper, between partners focussing on legal and organisational interoperability.

The Gaia-X Technical Compatibility is a way to validate that organisations are using the same kind of technology and technical vocabulary, easing a switch to another solution if required, and thus interoperability on the semantic and technical sides.

Conclusion

In today data-driven and digital economy, trust and interoperability are the cornerstones of digital sovereignty. By ensuring secure, transparent, and seamless data exchanges, organisations can retain control over their data with confidence and flexibility while fostering innovation and collaboration, thanks to the framework provided by Gaia-X provides the framework.