Schwarz Digits and Deutsche Bahn announce the founding of DataHub Europe with strong media and AI partners

Frankfurt am Main, October 21, 2024 – Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group, and Deutsche Bahn AG announced the founding of the DataHub Europe platform at the German government's Digital Summit 2024 in Frankfurt am Main.

With DataHub Europe, the companies involved have created a platform that brings together, processes and curates data from industry and the media landscape. This high-quality data is made available to partners to train AI models in a secure infrastructure. The aim is to introduce company-specific AI solutions quickly, securely and beneficially as "real tools" in a wide range of business applications.

Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group, and Deutsche Bahn AG announced the establishment of the DataHub Europe platform at the German government's Digital Summit 2024. With DataHub Europe, the companies involved have created a platform that brings together, processes and curates data from industry and media. This high-quality data is made available to industry partners to train AI models in a secure infrastructure. The aim is to introduce company-specific AI solutions quickly, securely and beneficially as "real tools" in a wide range of business applications.

Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport: "The DataHub Europe closes a crucial gap in the EU by providing high-quality data for AI training. German companies and stakeholders have once again proven that we can combine innovation and implementation power. This is creating an exciting ecosystem and a much-needed data platform that will take the training of AI models for our industry to the next level. I hope that this cooperation will bear fruit and that many more partners will follow this example and join in to actively shape Europe's digital future."

Numerous partners from industry, technology, science and the media work together in the DataHub Europe: Data partners from industry and media companies, including Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and DvH Medien (Wirtschaftswoche and Handelsblatt), make their data available. Clearly defined rules and mechanisms ensure that this sensitive data is only used for specific purposes. "AI made in Europe" therefore not only means technological excellence, but also that the data partners retain sovereignty over their data and have the certainty that their data will be handled securely and trustworthily. The platform and AI partners Aleph Alpha, STACKIT, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Technical University of Darmstadt / hessian.AI, enable the training of the models and that AI applications are developed and implemented on the sovereign platform. Companies, the public sector and scientific institutions can exploit the value creation potential of this transparent data platform without having to accept restrictions on data protection or sovereignty over their data. Legal requirements such as the GDPR, the EU AI Act and copyright law are complied with. DataHub Europe thus promotes the right of self-determination of rights holders and makes an important contribution to strengthening digital sovereignty in Germany and Europe.

Dr. Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, Chief Digital and Technology Officer Deutsche Bahn: "As a critical infrastructure and state-owned company, we have a special social responsibility and see it as our task to help shape and promote the digital sovereignty of Germany and Europe. The DataHub Europe enables us to process data in a protected European infrastructure. This allows us to integrate AI applications into our day-to-day work as useful and legally compliant tools. At the same time, we benefit from the data and expertise of the partners in the ecosystem and can jointly develop even more powerful AI solutions. AI makes us more efficient both in administration and in rail operations and thus makes an important contribution to our restructuring program, S3'."

Example: AuditGPT enables partial automation of auditing work

The companies involved presented one of the first applications to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the German government's digital summit: AuditGPT. This will enable audit staff to carry out their auditing work more efficiently, systematically and quickly in future. An audit involves checking and monitoring whether all processes, regulations and guidelines in a company are being adhered to. The results are summarized in a confidential report. AuditGPT makes auditing work easier and standardizes the creation of audit reports across different departments. This frees up employees to focus on other activities and increases efficiency in a secure, data protection-compliant environment. AuditGPT is being piloted at Deutsche Bahn AG and Schwarz Group.

Christian Müller, Co-CEO Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group: "At Schwarz Digits, we are already using AI in many areas of the company. For example, we use AI to optimize supply chains, for automated product descriptions and to relieve our administrative colleagues. It is essential that we store, manage and process our data securely and in compliance with data protection regulations. That is why we have developed our own STACKIT cloud, which we also offer to other companies and public sector organizations. The data centers are located in Germany and the data does not leave the European legal area for a moment. With DataHub Europe, we are using this maximum level of data sovereignty to build a European data platform for AI value creation together with Deutsche Bahn. The DataHub Europe connects rights holders, technology companies and customers to drive the development of sovereign AI solutions in line with the European AI strategy."

DataHub Europe is thus positioning itself as a key player in European AI and coordinating the collaboration of its own platform, AI and data partners with customers from business, science and the public sector. The DataHub Europe is thus intended to serve as a catalyst for the development of sovereign, powerful and trustworthy AI applications in the European language area. The initiators and partners of DataHub Europe are thus making a significant contribution to strengthening Europe's competitiveness and productivity.

Robert Habeck, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economics: "Data is the new gold. The high-quality data in our publishing houses and companies is of particular importance for sovereignty in the age of AI. Secure and efficient utilization, which is the foundation of AI training, evaluation and security, is crucial. It is important that AI is not only researched in Germany, but that a significant part of AI value creation also takes place here."

Jonas Andrulis, Founder & CEO Aleph Alpha: "The DataHub is a key to the treasure trove of untapped data potential in Europe, helping us to train AI models with high-quality and legally compliant data. Rights and data owners, who previously lacked a sovereign platform for the exploitation of their content, can thus participate in the value creation through AI. For users and owners of this data, this creates a platform for collaboration that guarantees long-term stability and security."

Jörg Bienert, CEO of the German AI Association: "A secure, sovereign and generally available data platform is a core element for the development of powerful AI models. As the German AI Association, we welcome the initiative of this powerful consortium and see it as a significant contribution to promoting innovation in AI in Germany."