Virt8ra: A Milestone in European Digital Sovereignty and Innovation
20, January, 2025
Madrid, Spain, January 20, 2025 — The first European sovereign edge cloud infrastructure, virt8ra, was introduced by OpenNebula Systems, one of our partners in the CISERO project, and a group of eight tech companies from Europe. The €3 billion Important Project of Common European Interest on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS) directly led to this innovative project, demonstrating Europe's dedication to adopting open-source technologies and promoting digital sovereignty.
The launch of virt8ra represents a major step towards developing a vendor-neutral, interoperable cloud-edge continuum, with the backing of the European Commission and 12 EU member states. This enables smooth application deployment and migration across various cloud environments by integrating compute and storage capabilities across six EU nations: Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Spain.
Virt8ra’s Strategic Role in the EU Cloud Landscape
By addressing Europe's increasing demand for autonomous and effective cloud solutions, Virt8ra lessens dependency on Big Tech companies. Also, to preserve a competitive digital economy, it aligns with the EU Data Act, which seeks to guarantee data portability and ease of switching between service providers.
Through the integration of OpenNebula's virtualisation platform, virt8ra makes ultra-low-latency applications possible, including connected cars, smart trains, and remote surgery. New locations and functionalities will soon be added to the infrastructure, increasing its ability to serve distributed AI applications and next-generation digital solutions.
According to Dr. Alberto P. Martí, Chair of the IPCEI-CIS Industry Facilitation Group and member of the CISERO’s consortium:
"I’m proud to see the EU industry finally taking the lead in developing strategic open source technologies and delivering tangible solutions for creating sovereign digital infrastructure across Europe."
About OpenNebula Systems
Supported by its ONEnextgen initiative and co-funded by the European Union's NextGenerationEU, OpenNebula, which operates globally in Spain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and the US, keeps pushing the boundaries of cloud and edge computing innovation.
Overall, the virt8ra programme shows how open-source technology may transform Europe's digital landscape for a more independent and connected future.