Porto, 20.–21. November 2025: The Gaia-X Summit 2025 demonstrated impressively that sovereign data spaces in Europe have long since reached the implementation stage. Under the motto “Digital Ecosystems in Action”, it became evident how far technical foundations, interoperability, and governance have progressed—crucial prerequisites from which the Gaia-X Lighthouse Data Space COOPERANTS directly benefits. As an exhibitor, neusta aerospace represented both COOPERANTS as project coordinator and the ASD-X Clearing House (GXDCH).
COOPERANTS was present with its own booth and through the active participation of Arno Scheidereiter, CEO of neusta aerospace and Co-Lead of the Gaia-X Ecosystem for Aviation, Space and Defence, in the panel “Data Spaces Ready in Action.” The discussion with Wolfgang Kniejski (EIT Manufacturing) and Ralph Hustadt (BT Group), moderated by Alberto Curatolo (Gaia-X AISBL), made it clear that interoperable architectures are the key to connecting data spaces across project and industry boundaries. This creates new opportunities, especially for SMEs, as they gain low-threshold access to data-driven ecosystems for the first time.
Across numerous discussions and contributions, the relevance of data spaces for industry and high-tech became unmistakably clear: they protect intellectual property, support compliance with global regulations, and enable the secure handling of sensitive business data. Catherine Jestin, Chairwoman of the Gaia-X Board of Directors and Executive VP at Airbus, put it succinctly: data spaces are essential to safeguard mission-critical information. For COOPERANTS, this assessment from industry is a clear validation of its approach.
In his presentation “How to Scale a Data Space and Onboard a Heterogeneous Ecosystem in the Aerospace Sector,” Arno Scheidereiter emphasized that successful data spaces require more than technology—they depend on clear messaging, tangible value, and a shared understanding among all stakeholders. Complexity must be translated into concrete benefits such as higher security, efficiency gains, new ROI, and improved value creation.
Another important impulse came from the Gaia-X Trust Framework 3.0 “Danube,” which enables the automation of compliance checks and thus provides a central building block for scalable ecosystems. The international exchange—among others with the Data Society Alliance from Japan and Digital Trust Canada—further underscored the global significance of interoperable standards.
For COOPERANTS, the conclusion is clear: the technological foundations are in place, demand is evident, and first projects already demonstrate the added value of sovereign data spaces. The challenge now is to scale these approaches economically and across industries. The Summit in Porto has provided strong momentum for this next step.
