IOTA Withdraws from Gaia-X – Project Participation Was Controversial

The IOTA Foundation likes to rush ahead with optimistic announcements about cooperation and project participation. But when one of such initiatives turns out worse than hoped, IOTA’s communication is often less transparent.

The most recent example is Gaia-X: In the summer of 2021, IOTA was still touting its participation in the project on IT infrastructure in the EU as exemplary and was still defending Gaia-X in May 2022, when even the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology was already doubting its funding. But now IOTA CEO Dominik Schiener has announced Gaia-X’s withdrawal in an online discussion.

If you want to find more details about Gaia – X and the withdrawal of the IOTA Foundation from the project, download for free the Born2Invest mobile app. Our companion business news app brings you the most important market updates and the latest crypto news in the world so you can stay informed.

Schiener writes that Gaia-X is in some ways “too political” and a “waste of resources”

At the IOTA Foundation, staff had to be cut recently, and in the current austerity measures, the side project Shimmer (SMR) with the planned launch on September 28th has priority. But skepticism about whether IOTA is doing itself a favor with politically desired projects is nothing new. The argument is often put forward that publicly financed IT projects cannot seriously compete with the offerings of the US giants such as Amazon and Microsoft anyway. At Gaia-X, IOTA had most recently focused on Mobility 2.0 – but this topic has long since reached the industry as well.

It is not yet known whether IOTA still intends to publish a final report on Gaia-X. At ENSURESEC on safety in e-commerce, the IOTA Foundation presented such a report at the beginning of September. However, it should be noted here as well: The EU project has succeeded in offering IT tools to small and medium-sized enterprises. But it remains questionable whether these small and medium-sized enterprises will actually dock with ENSURESEC or prefer to continue relying on commercial IT security solutions in practice.

Conclusion: IOTA and publicly funded projects – euphoria fades away

For a while, it looked like the IOTA Foundation was going to rely more on publicly funded project money for its funding. With the completion of ENSURESEC and the withdrawal from Gaia-X, two such initiatives are now coming to an end, with no follow-up projects in sight. On the other hand, IOTA – as far as is known – is still on board for the EU projects EBSI and SECANT. Thus, Schiener and the IOTA community could still hope that one of these projects wanted by the EU will one day make a breakthrough and actually develop solutions that will be accepted by citizens and industry.

__

(Featured image by Tim Rechmann CC BY 2.0 via Flickr)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.

First published in BLOCK-BUILDERS.DE, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.