Navigating data spaces

Approximately 200 participants joined the EuProGigant Open House Day 2024, which highlighted the crucial role data spaces play in transforming the European manufacturing industry.

The yearly EuProGigant Open House Day 2024 took place at the magnificent Palais Ferstel in Vienna. The event offered a platform for partners and SMEs interested in data spaces with its five research and innovation projects. The event attracted an international audience from all over Europe and parts of Asia and North America. Under the theme “Navigating data spaces” approximately 200 participants witnessed an event which highlighted the crucial role data spaces plays in transforming the European manufacturing industry.

Opening remarks by political and academic leaders

Several presentations were the focal point of the event: Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology, discussed the environmental and societal benefits of data space projects like EuProGigant. Christina Decker, Director-General for Digital and Innovation Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, emphasised the value of Austrian-German collaboration in Gaia-X-compliant data-sharing efforts. Jens Schneider, rector of Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien), explored how data spaces can empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to innovate and thrive in the current landscape. Claudia Schickling of TU Wien Pilotfabrik Industrie 4.0 highlighted the project’s success in fostering collaboration between both academic institutions and industry representatives.

Keynote tresentations by renowned experts

Afterwards, the Open House Day provided interesting panels and keynotes into crucial topics to the manufacturing sector. The keynote “Ready for the shopfloor. The projects’ demonstrators“ showcased the practical demonstrators that originated within the research projects. The panel titled “Why Should We Care? Gaia-X for SMEs” discussed how SMEs could harness the benefits of Gaia-X’s secure, federated data infrastructure. The keynote “Digital Twins of the Future” highlighted the transformative potential of Asset Administration Shells (AAS) for improved operational efficiency. “Beyond Barcodes: The Power of Digital Product Passports” examined how Digital Product Passports (DPPs) could revolutionise product tracking and compliance. Additionally, “Make Money! How to Create Profitable Business in Data Ecosystems” gave examples for strategies optimising supply chains and thus unlock new revenue streams in data ecosystems.

Networking Success in Focus

Participants at the event were further able to explore the project demonstrators of the project that are part of the ecosystem first hand. EuProGigant, AMIDS, DIONE-X, ESCOM and Flex4Res showcased their different models to the participants interested and raised awareness of how differently data spaces can be leveraged.

The event was made possible by the generous support of sponsors. CONTACT Software served as the Premium Sponsor, contributing cutting-edge solutions in digital transformation. INDUSTRIEMAGAZIN acted as the Media Partner, spreading the event’s impact across Austria’s production industry. T-Systems Austria and Gaia-X Hub Austria sponsored the event and the networking sessions.

The success of the EuProGigant Open House Day 2024 demonstrated the large-scale potential of data-sharing in driving the future of European manufacturing. With key stakeholders engaging in discussions and knowledge exchanges, the event left a lasting impression, setting the stage for future innovations.

Highlight photos:
You can view some highlights from the event through our photo gallery, which is available here.

EuProGigant Magazine:
To revisit some of the key topics discussed, feel free to explore the “EuProGigant Magazine for souvereign data usage – 2024”, which you can access here.

Business modelling in data spaces:
We were very fortunate to publish the Whitepaper “Federating a Manufacturing Data Space. Aspects of Business Modelling and Governance.” before the event. Authored by Dr. h.c. Wolfgang KNIEJSKI (EIT Manufacturing East) and Felix HOFFMANN (Technische Universität Darmstadt) the paper provides an overview on how business and governance models, aligned with European values, can foster collaboration among manufacturing stakeholders. This is a critical step towards building federated data-sharing services within a manufacturing data ecosystem using the Gaia-X framework and supporting the European Manufacturing Data Space initiatives. You can access the full White Paper here.