ECOFED

10 Januari 2024 – A Dutch consortium consisting of Info Support, i3D.net, BIT, AMS-IX and TNO starts building a federated European cloud. The project ‘European Cloud Services in an Open Federated Ecosystem’(ECOFED) is partly financed by the Dutch government, after approval from the European Commission.

IPCEI-CIS: An Important Step for European Cloud Infrastructure

On 5 December 2023 the European Commission approved the Important Project of Common European Interest – Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS). With this project a total sum of 2.6 billion will be invested in the development of a European cloud infrastructure. The Netherlands is participating in IPCEI-CIS with three projects for €70 million. One of those three projects is the ECOFED project, which will focus on cloud federation as an important basis for future digital infrastructure.

ECOFED-project: Towards an Open and Federated Cloud Ecosystem

The ECOFED project focuses on the development of open interfaces and open source software tools to facilitate the unbundling of software and cloud solutions. This makes switching easier within the cloud ecosystem and offers more choice to users. The project also includes the creation of a national testbed.

Collaboration and Goals

The project will run from 2024 to 2027 and includes collaboration with European partners such as OpenNebula and Arsys in Spain, Engineering in Italy and SAP in Germany. The goal is to lay the technical foundation for an open and federated cloud ecosystem, in which integrators and infrastructure providers can trade different services without the need for a central platform provider.

From Dutch Expertise to Continental Reach

The ECOFED project aims to leverage the strengths of the Dutch sector, such as the high density of data centers and the large number of cloud service providers. The project aspires to become the national testbed for companies looking to transition from closed hyperscale cloud platforms to a federated cloud ecosystem.

Stefan Ideler, CTO of i3D.net, states: "i3D.net has always recognized the importance of a decentralized internet landscape. We are committed to building an open and distributed cloud platform, in collaboration with our partners, to create more growth opportunities in the digital world."

European Sovereignty

Wido Potters of BIT emphasizes the consortium's vision: "Together with our partners, we are developing technology that enables a decentralized, federated cloud. This ensures cloud portability for European businesses and cloud sovereignty for European citizens." AMS-IX, one of the largest Internet exchanges in the world, underscores the importance of implementing an open and federated cloud. This step also demonstrates that the Netherlands is the digital hub of Europe, ensuring that Dutch companies remain leaders in adopting advanced technologies, according to Peter van Burgel, CEO of AMS-IX.

Cloud Infrastructure of the Future

The allocation of European funding marks an important step towards the cloud infrastructure of the future. Lammert Vinke, Unit Manager at Info Support, emphasizes the importance of sovereignty: "Making a concrete contribution to a decentralized, open, and federated cloud that should enable European data sovereignty is a technical challenge we gladly accept." As cloud becomes an increasingly important part of digital infrastructures, the knowledge institute TNO is making scientific knowledge applicable for an open and future-proof digital infrastructure. TNO is also the lead organization for the ECOFED consortium.

Sharing Our Knowledge

The consortium is developing a website to keep stakeholders and interested parties informed about the project's progress. Additionally, participants will proactively share knowledge through events, workshops, knowledge sessions, and webinars.