Bringing data spaces into practice: acatech Foundation agrees strategic cooperation with Gaia-X and IDSA

Berlin / Munich, 23 July 2026 – The acatech Foundation has sealed a cooperation with the Gaia-X European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA). Gaia-X and IDSA contribute their international network of hubs and competence centres as well as the established technological and organisational foundations of sovereign data spaces – including the IDSA Rulebook, Manifesto for Data Spaces and Reference Architecture Model, and the Gaia-X Trust Framework. Planned activities include joint initiatives, mutual involvement in network and exchange formats, awareness and knowledge sharing campaigns, and coordinated activities to position sovereign data spaces vis-à-vis politics, business and society as an integral element for conducting the multi-faceted transformational changes we are encountering these days. Together with the acatech Foundation, we are accelerating their application – in Germany, Europe and worldwide.” Manfred Rauhmeier, Board Member of the acatech Foundation: “The phase of concepts is behind us – now implementation counts. With IDSA and Gaia-X, we connect our ecosystem with the leading initiatives for trusted data spaces and bring them to where they create value: in the practice of business and society.” Lars Nagel, CEO of IDSA: “We have developed the foundation for trusted and sovereign data sharing – now we need partners who bring them into wide-scale application. It has developed over the last 10 years the technical and governance foundations for global data spaces, including the IDS Reference Architecture, the IDSA Rulebook and international standards