FAIR Data Spaces Project

Abstract

The “FAIR Data Spaces” project aims to connect the "Gaia-X" federated and secure data infrastructure and the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) to a common, cloud-based data space for industry and research in compliance with the FAIR Principles, i.e., to share data in a findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable way.

The project enables cross-domain data interoperability by implementing FAIR principles within the Gaia-X framework and aligning with the needs of the research and industrial communities. It creates technical, organizational, and legal frameworks to facilitate secure and FAIR-compliant data sharing.provides organizational, legal, technical, and practical building blocks for a unified data space, ensuring that data remains under the ownership of the entity until retrieval. It develops technical foundations required for demonstrators, ensuring compatibility with Gaia-X standards and implementing applications based on these foundations. It emphasizes the use of globally unique and persistent identifiers, such as DOIs, to remove ambiguity in the meaning of published data. It ensures that metadata clearly and explicitly includes identifiers of the data described, enhancing the association between metadata files and datasets.

Overview

Country	Germany
Start date	2021
Annual Budget	€3.5M
Responsible organisation(s)	Ministry
Target group(s)	Firms|Firms|Higher education institutes|Private R&D|Public research institutes
Policy instrument type	Information services and access to datasets

Background

FAIR Data Spaces was launched in June 2021 as a part of Germany's broader digital transformation strategy. The project has an initial timeline of three years and is supported by funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project involves a consortium of German research organizations and companies, including Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Helmholtz Association, Leibniz Association, Universities, data infrastructures, and industry partners. It also collaborates with Gaia-X and the EOSC Association to ensure alignment with European data strategies.

Objective(s)

To create a roadmap for the collaboration of both initiatives (GAIA-X and NFDI).

To clarify the ethical and legal framework for data exchange between research and industry.

To establish a common technical foundation.|Demonstrate the use of Gaia-X technology for providing and using research data along the FAIR Principles in different fields of science and business sectors.

To establish an interface between the EOSC and Gaia-X (focused on secure and federated data sharing for industry).

Public access URL

https://www.nfdi.de/fair-data-spaces/?lang=en

All tags

• Higher education institutes
• Ministry
• Germany
• 2021
• Information services and access to datasets
• Private R&D
• Technical Standards & Practices
• Firms
• Public research institutes
• Findability

This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

© OECD 2025

   Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Attribution – you must cite the work.

Translations – you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text: In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and the translation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.

Adaptations – you must cite the original work and add the following text: This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.

Third-party material – the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and for any claims of infringement.

You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.

Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shall be Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one.