Precise IT tools to transform the economy through sovereign data exchange and new cloud infrastructures: Data ecosystems for artificial intelligence were the focus of the seventh XFSC Tech Workshop, which took place on 12 June in Hürth, Germany.
The AI Village, the innovation campus for artificial intelligence (AI) in Hürth near Cologne, provided the perfect location for the XFSC Tech Workshop #7. Upon entering the event hall, an artificial intelligence (AI) component via a camera lens captured and described the appearance, clothing style and physique of all attendees. This was just a preview of what AI can achieve in the future. Gaia-X will play an important role in the development of future AI capabilities. This was the consensus among the approximately 40 experts in the XFSC (Cross Federation Service Components) toolbox of the Gaia-X community. They gathered in Hürth on 12 June and presented the community with their innovations from the XFSC Specification Phase 2.
Personal exchange helps with software development
The presentations, discussions and exercises showed that working hand in hand makes it possible to build a trustworthy data ecosystem and corresponding infrastructures in which data owners retain full control. This makes the regular personal exchange among project participants all the more important. “Personal meetings at the tech workshops offer a great opportunity to get to know each other better and share experiences,” said Gerald Ristow from Software AG – a company involved in several Gaia-X research and implementation projects: EuProGigant (mechanical engineering), DIONE-X (mechanical engineering), iECO (construction industry) and Gaia-X 4 AMS (mobility). As Ristow went on to say: “In daily work, detailed questions arise that can best be clarified in direct dialogue. This requires a common understanding of the topics and tools.”
Matteo Makovec from the NTT Data Group, one of the world’s leading IT service providers, travelled from Luxembourg with two colleagues to be there on-site: “The tech workshop is a boot camp where we work together intensively.” He is currently working on a healthcare use case aimed at accelerating and improving the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. “With the XFSC, a toolbox is currently being created that can be used to shape the paradigm shift towards data ecosystems,” said Technical Project Manager Lauresha Memeti in her welcome address. The open source-based software components are used to build federated digital ecosystems that connect different participants with each other. This enables the development of new innovative products and services, the optimisation of existing processes, and the exploitation of previously untapped potential through data.
Challenges of Specification Phase 2 in the centre
After the welcoming address, the presentations provided a glimpse into the engine room of the XFSC toolbox developed as part of the GXFS. Carsten Stöcker from Spherity invited the audience to the first technical deep dive. He spoke about the further development of the Organisation Credential Manager (OCM) with Extension 1, which enables secure interactions within the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)-based ecosystem.
Valery Kalashnikov from T-Systems then presented a new component from the toolbox, known as the Organisation Credential Manager W-Stack, which improves participants’ interaction with the SSI-based ecosystem in a trustworthy and secure manner. He presented business cases and discussed the respective functions. After the coffee break, the programme continued with a presentation on the PCM (Personal Credential Manager) Cloud and the provision of all necessary components for the independent management of a principal’s digital identity in the Gaia-X context. The cloud-based wallet was introduced as a new component that, in addition to the smartphone wallet, now enables people as principals of an organisation to act within the SSI-based Gaia-X ecosystem in a data protection-compliant, trustworthy and secure manner via a computer browser. The PCM Cloud provides a user-friendly web interface for managing OCM, OCM W-Stack and TSA. This PCM Cloud orchestrates these use cases through plugins, such as the “ID Card Proof Plugin”, which enables functions such as automatic ID card verification. By creating trustworthy users in the subsequent exercise, the attendees were able to try out what they had learnt in practice. The community immediately provided feedback on the usability of the newly released software.
Improved components for identity management and trust building
At the lunch break, the participants benefitted from personal exchanges on current challenges of interoperability, the development of new components or their practical applicability. Flavia Ostermann from Dataport is currently working on the Merlot project. In her shared conversation, she commented that, “We are building a marketplace for data exchange in the education sector with the help of XFSC tools.” This is both very exciting and challenging, and the GXFS/XFSC tech workshops offer an important exchange platform. Ostermann went on to say that “I would also wish for more interaction within the Gaia-X community in the digital space.”
Christian Weiers from TU Dortmund is currently working as part of the Gaia-X 4 Future Mobility Initiative on a research project for Gaia-X use cases in logistics. This can optimise processes at the very beginning and end of a logistics chain through federated cooperation between different partners. As he pointed out, “The development of the technological components takes time.” His sights are firmly set on his goal: to use Gaia-X 4 ROMS to develop concrete technology building blocks for vehicle-based transport concepts for people and goods and to make these visible within the community. The afternoon was opened by Kalin Canov from Vereign AG. He spoke about the Trust Services API Extension 1 and presented project highlights, such as the improved structure of the architecture and other code optimisations, which enable users to reduce IT costs.
High security, easy to use
Dr Detlef Hühnlein from ecsec presented the functions that extend the Notarisation API component. The extension will also include interfaces (APIs) to seamlessly integrate the notarisation component into external software for use by non-IT operators such as law firms, notary offices and public authorities.
The participants once again availed of the coffee break for further discussion. Berthold Maier from T-Systems spoke of the challenge of ultimately creating technology that everyone can understand, despite all of its complexity. “Security must not be too complex, people only use IT security tools if it’s simple,” he said. This is why the XFSC Trust Management Infrastructure (TRAIN) is based on established trust mechanisms, such as DNS (Domain Name Systems) technology, which is currently one of the basic technologies of the modern Internet. “If we can reliably verify the identity of the counterpart, then we can build chains of trust on that.”
Fabian Scheidt from Accenture added: “We need these meetings to improve collaboration and to share our experiences within the funding projects.” The talks were a good illustration of the progress made within the trades over the past months. “I am always impressed by how dynamically and agilely this project is developing. But there is still a lot to do in terms of integration and interaction between the trades.” “The XFSC toolbox is being used more and more in practical applications. That’s why people need simple and clear information on how to use and apply them,” said eco Managing Director Andreas Weiss in the hybrid panel discussion following the presentations. All participants ended the day with the certainty that they had once again achieved important steps. Project Manager Emma Wehrwein bid farewell to the participants: “With your commitment as a community, we will soon bring more components to the market and jointly shape a secure, open and transparent data infrastructure of the future.”