Keynote – Prof. Boris Otto (Fraunhofer ISST)

Summary

Prof. Boris Otto delivered a keynote focused on the essential role of data spaces and trust-based data sharing as foundational elements in Europe’s digital and AI future. His main points included:

• Data sharing is not an end, but a mechanism to unlock value across ecosystems.
• Emphasized three principles: reuse, fairness (reciprocity), and trust.
• Trust must exist in both the participants and the data itself (quality, control, and rights).
• Data spaces are the enabling framework for trusted data sharing—built on interoperability, metadata, policies, and governance.
• Referenced CEN/CENELEC JTC 25, IDSA, Gaia-X, and ISO 20151 as standardization anchors.
• Positioned data spaces across a cloud-edge continuum, from hyperscalers to edge nodes.
• Highlighted the importance of basic data objects (e.g., product and organizational metadata) to enable a digital twin of the European market.
• Connected data spaces with Europe’s AI ambitions, especially the concept of AI Gigafactories and data labs, where trustful data sharing is a prerequisite for foundation models.

“Data is a treasure, but it only has value if used—and used fairly, transparently, and with trust.”
— Prof. Boris Otto

Full Transcript

Boris Otto · Keynote Speech · European Cloud Accelerator Technical Workshop · 4 June 2025

Introduction

It is a pleasure for me to take this opportunity and share some thoughts with you about data spaces and data sharing in the cloud. I want to cover three points:

1. Why data sharing is important and not an end in itself.
2. The role of data spaces as tools to share data while ensuring trust and sovereignty.
3. A vision of how cloud-based data spaces will evolve.

Data Sharing Rationale

The EU data strategy is built around principles that remain true today:

• Data is a strategic resource for competitiveness and sustainability.
• Data is only valuable if reused — value often arises later in the “data value chain.”
• There must be balance and reciprocity between data providers and consumers.
• Trust is fundamental and comes in two forms:
  • Trust between participants in a dynamic ecosystem.
  • Trust in the data itself — quality, rights, usage control.

Data Spaces

The Data Spaces Support Centre defines data spaces as interoperable frameworks with shared rules, standards, and governance to enable trusted data transactions.

A trusted data transaction includes:

1. Rights granted by the data rights holder
2. Metadata publication
3. Data discovery
4. Negotiation
5. Exchange
6. Use

Referenced standards and protocols:

• CEN/CENELEC JTC 25
• IDSA Data Space Protocol
• Decentralized Claims Protocol
• ISO 20151

The ecosystem includes:

• IDSA, Gaia-X, OPC UA, and EDWG for implementation and standardization
• Alignment across initiatives (e.g., IDSA and IDTA convergence)

Otto emphasized the importance of two basic data objects:

• Organization data (e.g., names, registrations, certificates)
• Product data (e.g., lifecycle, reusability, technical specs)

These objects underpin a digital twin of the European Single Market.

Edge-Cloud Continuum

Cloud is the backbone of the modern economy—and by extension, of data ecosystems. Otto envisions:

• A mix of large cloud platforms and many edge/cloud service providers
• Edge computing integrated into vehicles, production lines, etc.
• Cloud ecosystems, as discussed in Gaia-X, bridging this continuum

Fraunhofer’s research (e.g., Cognitive Internet Technologies) supports this infrastructure.

AI and Europe’s Future

Data spaces will be vital for Europe’s AI transformation:

• Foundation models need: models, skills, funding, infrastructure, and data
• Europe has these—but they’re distributed
• The concept of AI Gigafactories introduces data labs that prepare data for AI use
• Data sharing for AI requires trust and fairness — which data spaces enable

Closing

Prof. Otto closed by reiterating the importance of collective alignment and trust. Without it, data’s potential for innovation—especially in AI—cannot be fully realized.

“Thank you for your attention. Let’s continue building the infrastructure that makes trusted data sharing real.”