The new virt8ra infrastructure, run by European open source technology, is the first tangible result of the industrial collaboration sponsored by the €3B IPCEI Cloud.
— Dr. Alberto P. Martí, Chair of the IPCEI-CIS Industry Facilitation Group
“I’m proud to see the EU industry finally taking the lead in developing strategic open source technologies and delivering tangible solutions for creating a sovereign digital infrastructure across Europe”
A group of eight European tech organisations (Arsys, BIT, Gdańsk University of Technology, Infobip, IONOS, Kontron, MONDRAGON Corporation, and Oktawave)—coordinated by the Spanish open source company OpenNebula Systems—has launched virt8ra, the first sovereign multi-provider edge cloud in Europe. The first version of this innovative infrastructure, aimed at providing portability and interoperability across multiple cloud providers, offers computing and storage resources in six EU member states (Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain).
This unique collaboration has taken place in the context of the Important Project of Common European Interest on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS), approved by the European Commission in December 2023 and supported by 12 EU Member States. As part of the virt8ra integration cluster, more than 30 European companies are working together on an open source software stack for virtualization, able to offer a “made in Europe” vendor-neutral solution for managing the emerging cloud-edge continuum. The IPCEI Cloud, funded with more than €3B in public and private investment, represents the largest open source project in the history of the EU.
The virt8ra infrastructure is the first step towards demonstrating a viable management of distributed cloud and edge computing services, ranging from 5G cell towers to cloud providers and data centers, in order to provide a solution for use cases that demand ultra-low-latency, such as smart trains, remote surgery, connected vehicles, smart factories, and wildfire management. The new open source technology behind virt8ra, crucial for strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty in the cloud market, will offer EU companies and governments a way to reduce their current dependence on hyperscalers and Big Tech vendors.
The current version of the virt8ra infrastructure is already able to demonstrate a number of unique features, including interoperability—through a single control plane for managing physical resources, virtual machines, and Kubernetes clusters across multiple cloud providers—and portability—allowing applications to be easily deployed, executed, and migrated across different locations and cloud providers. This infrastructure will incorporate more locations and new advanced features in order to meet the evolving needs of European enterprises and next-generation use cases, including the deployment of distributed AI applications at the edge.
— Ignacio M. Llorente, CEO of OpenNebula Systems and Chair of the Cloud-Edge WG of the EU Cloud Alliance
“The virt8ra testbed represents a turning point in the way in which EU tech champions are coming together to fix the cloud market. We are finally building a sovereign cloud-edge continuum based on vendor neutrality and European open source. Through the ONEnextgen project, we are turning OpenNebula into the most powerful virtualization platform in the market.”
In order to ensure a competitive market in the EU, customers of data processing and AI services should be able to switch seamlessly from one cloud or edge provider to another. This will benefit customers—who could freely choose the services that best meet their needs—as well as infrastructure providers—who would benefit from a larger customer base. However, nowadays customers still face significant barriers imposed by dominant players, including high data egress fees, complex migration procedures, and a lack of interoperability between cloud providers. In line with the EU Data Act, which will become applicable in September 2025, the virt8ra initiative will provide the open source technological stack that enables the smooth switching between data processing services.
Read the full press release here.
Funded by the Spanish Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service through the ONEnextgen Project (UNICO IPCEI-2023-003), and co-funded by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU through the RRF.
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