FAIR Data Spaces provides a common data space for science and industry

The joint project "FAIR Data Spaces", sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 6.3 million euros, has recently started. FIZ Karlsruhe is participating as a project partner in the development of a common cloud-based data space for science and industry by linking Gaia-X and the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). First project results are expected by the end of the year.

July 15, 2021 — Better knowledge transfer between research and application is essential to accelerate innovations. In this context, the cross-disciplinary exchange of data plays an increasingly important role. Therefore, the FAIR Data Spaces project is in the context of fundamental initiatives that were already launched: The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) aims to network research data and make it more usable for scientific disciplines. With Gaia-X, a secure, trustworthy and open data and infrastructure system for Europe is currently being established, which is intended to help strengthen European digital sovereignty.

Objectives and tasks of FAIR Data Spaces

The new joint project "FAIR Data Spaces" goes one step further. It creates the roadmap for collaboration between the two initiatives, clarifies ethical and legal frameworks for data exchange between science and industry, creates common technical foundations, and demonstrates the use of Gaia-X technologies for providing and using research data along FAIR principles in various scientific disciplines and industries. And it will demonstrate that a common data space for science and industry in Germany is feasible.

The project partners began their work in May and will present the first project results in the form of demonstrators for specific data exchange scenarios between science and industry as early as the end of this year. Demonstrators are planned for a "Biodiversity" data room, for quality assurance of research data and for cross-platform data analysis. They are to be expanded by May 2024 to include further data exchange scenarios and services. The long-term goal is to expand the national architecture into a Europe-wide (or global) infrastructure for data exchange and data use - based on European standards and values.

In the FAIR Data Spaces project, FIZ Karlsruhe is addressing the data protection issues of linking NFDI and Gaia-X. The research team will analyze the data protection classification of data in Gaia-X and NFDI and develop the data protection framework for linking the two infrastructures. Specific questions regarding the use of personal data in linking the infrastructures will also be investigated, for example, how the purpose principle can be complied with when merging the data.

The project is coordinated by Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Informationstechnik FIT in collaboration with Verein Nationale Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) e.V.

Scientific contact:

Dr. Dara Hallinan, Unit „Intellectual Property Rights in Distributed Information Iinfrastructures“ (IGR)
dara.hallinan [at] fiz-karlsruhe.de (dara[dot]hallinan[at]fiz-karlsruhe[dot]de)