FIWARE and IUDX Announce the Formation of the International Data Exchange Alliance

FIWARE Foundation, the non-profit organization that drives the definition and encourages the adoption of open standards - based on Open Source technologies, reference architectures and over 700 Smart Data Models - to ease the development of smart digital solutions across multiple domains - and India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX), the transformative initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India to provide a data exchange platform to Indian cities, today announce the formation of the International Data Exchange Alliance (IDEA).

Aimed at facilitating the participation of industry in the development and exploitation of data exchange technologies, IDEA will promote the adoption of global standards such as ETSI’s NGSI-LD and Smart Data Models. IDEA will encourage standard-based development of smart solutions, the use of these standards to exchange data among multiple organizations in different application domains, as well as the creation of use cases and applications that can be leveraged globally.

The IUDX initiative was initiated by the Smart Cities Mission within the Indian Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and is being developed and implemented by the Indian Institute of Science. The platform has been already deployed in 12 cities in India, enabling a wide variety of use cases that facilitate better mobility, sanitation, safety, and environmental management across Indian cities.

Collaboration at the forefront of innovation

FIWARE and IUDX have been working closely during the last two years to foster the adoption of open standards and to create a standard architecture for data exchange open source software. IUDX is one of the active contributors to the data models (Smart Data Models) which are providing the basis for interoperable digital platforms and smart solutions on top of it. With this, replicable solutions are created and synergies between cities and regions are made possible. A standard for data exchange interfaces modeled after IUDX and based on ETSI’s NGSI-LD was adopted in June 2021 by the Bureau of Indian Standards as a standard API for Indian cities.

In addition to contributing to common standards, members of IDEA will be able to participate in the creation of data marketplaces and joint marketing activities aimed at boosting the development of a sustainable ecosystem around the development of smart solutions and trusted data exchange. Members of IDEA will also have access to the ecosystems of both FIWARE and IUDX and will be able to avail of a discount in membership fees as compared to independent memberships.

“The partnership with IUDX in the creation of the International Data Exchange Alliance further strengthens FIWARE’s recognized role as a driver of relevant standards and open source models. FIWARE is pleased to work with a partner that is central to India’s ambitious Smart City vision. Together with existing partners from both ecosystems, we have created the basis for further development nationwide as well as international roll-out. It requires the growth of the existing ecosystems where IDEA will be a great fit and enabler”, said Ulrich Ahle, CEO, FIWARE Foundation.

Commenting on the further collaboration between both organizations, Dr. Inder Gopal, CEO of the IUDX Program, said: “We are very pleased to work with FIWARE to create this new initiative that will make it easy for industry partners to get engaged in the global Data Exchange ecosystem. The International Data Exchange Alliance will enable a wide variety of new collaboration opportunities and facilitate the creation of solutions and services that can improve the lives of people around the world.”