STAKEHOLDERS OF THE DATA VALUE CHAIN
For common European data spaces, relevant stakeholders of the data value chain should be engaged in their creation, maintenance and governance. These stakeholders may include actors from the private sector, public sector, academia and civil society, as well as individuals. They may play different roles in the ecosystem, such as data producers, data users or consumers, data service providers and data intermediaries, as well as technology partners and standardisation bodies.
By bringing together different stakeholders, common European data spaces will ensure that more data becomes available for use in the economy and society, while data control is retained by those businesses, organisations and individuals who have a role in generating the data. In any data space, and common European data spaces are not an exception, the various actors are brought together by a soft infrastructure consisting of rules and agreements of a legal, functional, technical and operational nature.
EU DATA SPACE ACTORS
New entities specifically dedicated to the common European data spaces include:
European Data Innovation Board (EDIB): defined in the Data Governance Act and to be set up by September 2023, will include representatives of common European data spaces and will support the Commission in issuing guidelines on how to facilitate the development of common European data spaces as well as identifying the relevant standards and interoperability requirements for cross-sector data sharing.
Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC): is an operative-level entity funded by the DIGITAL programme and defined in its Coordination and Support Actions, with the aim to coordinate all relevant actions on sectoral data spaces and make available (blueprint) architectures, best practices and common data infrastructure requirements, including relevant technologies, processes, standards and toolboxes. Launched in October 2022, the DSSC includes a consortium of leading associations and knowledge centres in the domain of data spaces, with a broad membership of associated and collaboration partners. A first output of the DSSC activities is a Starter Kit, which provides a checklist for the creation of data spaces structured into the business, legal, operational, functional and technical dimensions.
REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL INITIATIVES
The common European data spaces also have logical links to other regional, national and transnational initiatives for data infrastructures. For example, large Europe-wide research and business networks such as the Big Data Value Association (BDVA), the Data Spaces Business Alliance (DSBA) and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) have been actively engaged in recent years in the development of data sharing initiatives in support of use cases, policies and digital innovation. The European Alliance for industrial data, edge and cloud (comprising both public and private actors) will also be connected with the common European data spaces to foster innovative data sharing environments based on open, interoperable, secure and resource-efficient cloud and edge solutions.
Other initiatives such as the industry-driven GAIA-X, or the Digital Transport and Logistics Forum (DTLF), which aim to create a federated data infrastructure based on European values regarding data and cloud sovereignty, are also relevant for the development of specific aspects of the data spaces. Furthermore, the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) will also work closely with the data spaces, together with European AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) and will promote the use of these infrastructures to SMEs.
SUMMARY TABLE OF EUROPEAN DATA SPACE ACTORS
Below is a dynamic list of some of the key actors which are helping to shape the growth and direction of European data spaces.
| Data Spaces Support Centre | The Data Spaces Support Centre will explore the needs of data space initiatives, define common requirements and establish best practices to accelerate the formation of sovereign data spaces as a crucial element of digital transformation in all areas. | https://dssc.eu/ |
| Smart and Sustainable Cities and Communities data space | Data Space for Smart and Sustainable Cities and Communities (DS4SSCC) is an EU-funded initiative, which is a preparatory action for the creation of a data space for smart communities as an enabler of the EU Green Deal goals and Sustainable Development Goals. | https://www.ds4sscc.eu |
| PrepDSpace4Mobility | PrepDSpace4Mobility lays the foundation for a secured and controlled way of pooling and sharing mobility data across Europe. The 12-month Coordination and Support Action (CSA) contributes to the development of the common European mobility data space by mapping existing data ecosystems, identifying gaps and overlaps within, and proposing common building blocks and governance frameworks found in existing data space architectures. | https://mobilitydataspace-csa.eu/ |
| GREAT | The GREAT project will develop an empirically based and theoretically sound model of the role of responsible research and innovation governance. The project will explore the dynamics of participation in research and innovation, and investigate the characteristics of responsible practices. It will investigate the nature of new partnerships among various stakeholders, researchers and policymakers that are developing within innovation networks and the influence that these developments have on knowledge production and policy | https://www.great-project.eu/ |
| AGRIDATASPACE | AgriDataSpace project aims to pave the way for a European data space for agriculture that facilitates data sharing, processing, and analysis in a secured, trusted, transparent and responsible manner to create new opportunities for monitoring and optimising natural resource use stimulating data-driven innovations. | https://agridataspace-csa.eu/ |
Suggested Section: Policy
Learn which Policy and Legislation creates the foundation of data spaces