EONA-X, the first data-sharing space for Mobility, Transport and Tourism, will be live by 2023 after building strong foundation in 2022
Paris, November 18, 2022.
A European data space dedicated to mobility, transport and tourism, EONA-X was founded by Aéroport Marseille Provence, Amadeus, Air France-KLM, Groupe ADP, groupe SNCF, Renault Group and notably includes amongst its members Apidae Tourisme, the biggest French aggregator of tourism data, and Inria, one of the world’s leading IT research institutes.
EONA-X, built on the momentum created by Gaia-X, and a Gaia-X lighthouse project, is:
- federating mobility, transport and tourism stakeholders through a transparent and reliable data space where all partners share their data in a sovereign and standardized way
- aiming to improve mobility, transport and tourism, while creating new opportunities for members of this ecosystem.
Jean-François Cases, President of EONA-X and Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Intangibles, Data Value, R&D at Amadeus: “Our data space aims to improve mobility, transport and tourism through a sovereign data exchange. We seek to do this by enhancing safety, planning, efficiency, environmental sustainability, comfort, resilience, physical and economic accessibility, and by making everything more enjoyable and fun. EONA-X has enormous potential, which will be unlocked by its ‘data catalog’, an organized inventory of shareable data assets. ‘Sovereign’ means that each member of the data space retains control of its data by choosing what data to share, to whom and under what conditions.”
What is EONA-X?
Firstly, a data space is a secure and sovereign data-sharing ecosystem. The data space does not include centralized data storage, as data remains with the ecosystem members and is therefore only shared when desired. The data space EONA-X is registered as a non-profit organization and is dedicated to supporting the interests of its members and partners, like Aéroport Marseille Provence; Amadeus, a global travel technology provider; Air France-KLM; Groupe ADP; groupe SNCF; Renault Group; Apidae Tourisme, a tourism data platform grouping most of the local and regional tourist offices in France; and research institute Inria. These players operate around the world and share a common expertise in these fast-moving business sectors, which are essential to the development of European economies.
What has been done in 2022?
2022 has been the year to build the foundation. The legal entity and structure have been created, first financing has been secured, and a prototype has been developed. By sharing their technologies and data, EONA-X member companies have created a demo showing a multi-modal use case to facilitate trip planning across multiple modes of transportation. This proves that sharing data to establish an end-to-end journey is feasible, and that real-time data-sharing technology works, with the utmost respect for the principles of data sovereignty control. EONA-X has developed a data catalog, shown at the Gaia-X summit.
What are the next steps for EONA-X?
In 2023, EONA-X wants to switch to an operational mode. This will improve the mobility, transport and tourism industry’s processes, for example by facilitating new services like providing real-time information to travelers. This could include real-time information tailored to the context of each traveler (such as disruptions, suggestions of unusual local points of interest, or accessibility for people with reduced mobility) that will allow them to choose the best alternative solutions. For example, these improvements could benefit travelers attending major events such as the 2024 Olympic Games.
At the same time, the data space will welcome new members and implement more use cases, working to ensure a potential future connection with other data spaces.
Press contact: info@eona-x.fr