The VET4DATACOOPERATION project is built on a consortium of six organisations from Germany, Austria, Slovakia and North Macedonia. Each partner brings a distinct and complementary type of expertise from data space architecture and eLearning technology to SME development and industry networking. Together, they form a partnership designed to address a single challenge: making trusted data cooperation accessible and actionable for European manufacturing companies and VET institutions.
The project spans five work packages, each led by a different partner, ensuring that tasks are distributed according to where the relevant expertise sits. What follows is an introduction to the organisations behind the work.
Meet the consortium - Part 2
deltaDAO AG — Technical Expert (Germany)
deltaDAO AG specialises in building decentralised data and AI data space ecosystems, with a specific focus on technical data sovereignty and compliance within the European digital landscape. The company orchestrates Pontus-X, the largest publicly available Gaia-X ecosystem, and has supported seven functional and interoperable Gaia-X lighthouse projects across sectors including agriculture, aerospace, mobility and manufacturing.
Within VET4DATACOOPERATION, deltaDAO leads the development of the technical architecture training module, translating complex, decentralised data space concepts into practical and accessible learning content. Apart from the module development, deltaDAO acts as technical advisor across all project work packages, including reviewing training materials, good practice outputs and dissemination content to ensure technical accuracy and alignment with modern sovereign data infrastructures.
Thomas Komenda, Business Developer and Product Owner at deltaDAO AG, explains what the partnership makes possible: "Data spaces are a highly complex topic, which often makes it challenging to communicate their specific value to target groups within the manufacturing sector. What excites me most about VET4DATACOOPERATION is collaborating with such a strong consortium. By combining our diverse expertise, we will be able to translate this complexity, make the ROI on data spaces highly tangible, and reach the right audience with a clear, easy-to-understand message."
Industry Innovation Cluster — Knowledge Sharing Lead (Slovakia)
Industry Innovation Cluster (IIC) is an organisation focused on fostering innovation, collaboration and knowledge transfer across industry, research and public sectors, with a strong emphasis on the Danube region. Through international projects and partnerships, IIC works to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs and promote skills development in data-driven ecosystems.
In VET4DATACOOPERATION, IIC leads Work Package 3, coordinating the collection of 30 good practice examples, the creation of the Good Practice Guidebook and the development of the project's Data Cooperation Insight Magazine. IIC also leads the stakeholder interview activity, engaging experts and practitioners from the field to generate industry-grounded content. Additionally, IIC contributes to training development and dissemination activities.
Martina Le Gall Maláková, President of IIC, reflects on what the project makes possible: "What I find particularly exciting is the opportunity to bring together diverse stakeholders - from SMEs to training providers - and co-create practical solutions that reflect real company needs. By improving data literacy and fostering collaboration across sectors, we are helping to build a more resilient, competitive and future-ready manufacturing ecosystem in the Danube region and beyond."
A partnership built to deliver
Each of the six partners holds a defined leadership role, while contributing across multiple work packages. INI-Novation coordinates, EIT Manufacturing East communicates, deltaDAO provides technical grounding, Scheer IMC ensures learning quality and scalability, IIC generates knowledge resources and MEDF connects the project to the SME community it is ultimately designed to serve.
The full training programme of five interactive modules available in English, German, Slovak and Macedonian will be openly accessible to manufacturing professionals and VET providers across Europe.
More updates will follow as the project reaches its next milestones. To stay informed, follow the official LinkedIn page.
