Digital sovereignty
Giving European businesses back control of their digital assets.
Sooma leads ED-X, Portugal's national Data Spaces Test Bed, built on Gaia-X, the European data infrastructure initiative. It brings together NOS, Vodafone, Altice Labs, IP Telecom and TICE.PT, with funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, to give businesses sovereign, interoperable data infrastructure aligned with European rules.
- Consortium led by Sooma
- Portugal's leading telecoms operators
- Funded by the PRR and NextGenerationEU
Entities in the consortium
led by a Portuguese company headquartered in Matosinhos
Data infrastructures
of the consortium members, interconnected
Eligible investment
PRR Component 16, "Empresas 4.0"
NextGenerationEU incentive
European funding through the PRR
What is at stake
Digital sovereignty is the power to decide where data is stored, who accesses it and who it is shared with.
A large share of European businesses' data (email, documents, invoicing, customer data) now lives on platforms run by providers from outside Europe, subject to other countries' laws. When the rules change on the other side of the Atlantic, it is businesses in Europe that are left exposed.
The European response lies in its own infrastructure and in common rules of trust and interoperability (the Gaia-X and IDSA initiatives), so that data can be shared without businesses losing control over it.
The initiative
TICE and Sooma bring the country's operators to the same table.
Instead of each operator building an isolated solution, Sooma leads a consortium in which Portugal's leading telecoms operators provide interconnected infrastructure, so that businesses can test, integrate and switch providers without being locked in to any of them.
Leads and coordinates the project, and provides one of the Test Bed's five infrastructures.
Co-promoter, with its own data and cloud infrastructure.
Co-promoter, with the infrastructure and innovation capacity of the Altice group.
Co-promoter, with its own data and cloud infrastructure.
Co-promoter, with the infrastructure of the Infraestruturas de Portugal group's operator.
Proposed the initiative. Co-promoter and cluster for Information, Communication and Electronics Technologies.
For businesses
Cutting-edge infrastructure, on impartial terms, to innovate with data.
ED-X gives SMEs and startups access to the infrastructure of Portugal's largest operators to develop and validate data-based products and services.
Demonstration
A showcase of products and services that shows, in practice, the value of using and sharing data.
Experimentation
Open, secure and scalable data and cloud infrastructure, with a technical team supporting each project.
Testing
Testing of concepts and solutions, to take each product or service to at least technology readiness level TRL 5.
Capacity building
Training teams in the Gaia-X and IDSA rules and architecture, with a "learning by doing" approach.
Open technology
Built on open European standards, not on proprietary platforms.
Sovereignty cannot be decreed: it is built with technology that any operator can adopt and that no single provider controls.
- Gaia-X: Digital Clearing House and federation components (XFSC), for compliance and trust between providers
- IDSA: Data Space Protocol and Minimum Viable Data Space, to share data without losing control over it
- FIWARE and other open-source software components
- Interoperability between data spaces from different providers
- Alignment with the GDPR, the Data Governance Act, the Data Act and the AI Act
Timeline
From consortium to the National Test Beds Network.
January 2024
Project kick-off
Start of execution of the ED-X Test Bed, PRR project No. 11078, with Sooma as consortium leader.
2024–2026
Infrastructures and pilots
Installation of the interconnected infrastructures at the consortium members and pilots with SMEs and startups.
June 2025
TECNET Trends
ED-X is one of the national Test Beds featured at the event, promoting innovation and data sharing.
March 2026
Data spaces in the spotlight
Webinar "Turning Data into Business with the ED-X Testbed" and participation in the buildingSMART Summit 2026.
August 2026
Project completion
End of execution of the ED-X Test Bed, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
In practice
The same conviction in everything Sooma does.
Data in Europe
Sooma's servers are in Europe. Client data never leaves European jurisdiction.
Discover Sooma Mail →Portuguese and European law
No CLOUD Act or FISA: any access to data is only possible under Portuguese law, with judicial oversight.
Security & privacy →No vendor lock-in
Standard email, calendar and contacts protocols: your data is never locked into a proprietary format.
Assisted migration →
The ED-X Test Bed (project No. 11078, C16-i02-15) is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), under Component 16 "Empresas 4.0", Digital Transition dimension, measure "National Test Beds Network", by the Portuguese Republic and the European Union through NextGenerationEU.
Eligible investment: €1,748,387.50 · NextGenerationEU incentive: €1,343,165.63 · Execution: January 2024 to August 2026
Frequently asked questions
Digital sovereignty and ED-X
Straight answers to the most common questions.
What is digital sovereignty?
It is an organisation's ability to decide where its data is stored, which laws apply to it, who can access it and who it is shared with, without depending on decisions by providers or governments outside Europe.
What is a data space?
An environment where several organisations share data under common rules of trust, security and interoperability, each keeping control over its own data. The European Gaia-X and IDSA initiatives define these rules.
What is Sooma's role in ED-X?
Sooma is the consortium leader: it coordinates the project with the co-promoters and with the National Innovation Agency (ANI), and provides one of the Test Bed's five infrastructures.
Can my company take part?
ED-X is aimed mainly at SMEs and startups developing data-based products or services. To find out which initiatives are open, contact the ED-X team at geral@ed-x.pt.
Your company's data, in Europe. Under European law.
Start with email: 60 days to try it, assisted migration included.