DB InfraGO AG and Digitale Schiene Deutschland support European cloud initiative

The way has been paved for a central European industrial project: at a national kick-off meeting of the IPCEI Next Generation Cloud Infrastructures and Services (IPCEI-CIS for short) in January, the first building blocks for the future provider-open cloud edge continuum were designed. DB InfraGO AG is one of the partners in the project with Digitale Schiene Deutschland.

With the help of the new ecosystem consisting of around one hundred companies and research institutions, the EU member states are planning to build a high-performance, interoperable cloud edge infrastructure based on European values. "We are delighted that with Cloud4Rail, the rail sector is represented in the IPCEI ecosystem and in the envisaged multi-provider cloud edge continuum. High-performance, secure and certifiable data processing systems will be a mandatory prerequisite for the digital railway operations of the future," says Patrick Marsch, Head of Connectivity, IT and Data Platforms and IT/OT Security at Digitale Schiene Deutschland, DB InfraGO AG.

The Cloud4Rail project of Digitale Schiene Deutschland aims to develop a modular trackside IT platform for safety-critical applications. The standardisation concept of the "Safe Computing Platform" already developed in European cooperation will be applied. Laboratory tests will then demonstrate the functionality of the new IT platform in the DB’s digital test field and test, for example, the automated reactions of the IT platform to hardware failures. The highest standards of functional safety in railway operations will be applied in Cloud4Rail and the expertise gained will also support the development of a European cloud edge architecture for other industries.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as part of the IPCEI-CIS initiative.”