Data Spaces Support Centre

Outcomes and deliverables

The outcome of this action will be the creation of a Support Centre, which will promote and coordinate all relevant actions on sectorial data spaces and will make available technologies, processes, standard and tools that will support the deployment of common data spaces and will allow reuse of data across sectors.

The objective of this action is to set up and operate a Support Centre, which coordinates all relevant actions on sectorial data spaces and makes available (blueprint) architectures and data infrastructure requirements for the data spaces, including possible technologies, processes, standard and tools that will allow reuse of data across sectors by the public sector and European businesses, notably SMEs.

It will also support the work of the envisaged Data Innovation Board in view of enhancing the interoperability of data as well as data sharing services between different sectors and domains. In particular, it will identify cross-sector standards to be used and developed for data use and cross-sector data sharing, it will carry out cross-sectoral comparisons and identify best practices with regards to sectoral requirements for security, access procedures, while taking into account sector-specific standardisations activities.

The creation of the Support Centre will have three main work strands.

1-The first work strand will support the creation of a network of stakeholders that will have the following main tasks:

• Support the creation of a community of practice in the field of data sharing. The community will have to include and engage in the discussion also the participants to the projects supported under Data for EU (see section 2.2).
• Liaise with the actions under section 2.1 and to promote the competitive and seamless access and use of cloud infrastructures and services.

2- The second work strand in collaboration with the network of stakeholders will have the following main tasks:

• Identify the common requirements for data infrastructure across sectoral data spaces (e.g. technical design, functionality, operation and governance, legal and ethical aspects).
• Define the guiding design principles for the creation of data spaces.
• Identify architecture and technical data governance frameworks establishing enabling schemata both at sector or domain level and for cross-sector data use.
• Identify the common building blocks essential for the creation of the sectoral data spaces and define technical specifications. These will include: identification & authentication of parties, access rights management and access control, mechanisms for recording consent including portability of such consent, standards and interoperability protocols, data analytics technologies including natural language processing technologies, metadata and data models for sharing data across sectors and data exchange mechanisms.
• Identify common standards, including semantic standards and interoperability protocols – both domain-specific and crosscutting.
• Identify the potential for synergies between data spaces and coordinate related cross-cutting exchanges between data spaces.
• Identify and promote data governance models, business models and strategies for running data spaces.
• Identify and address legal issues and other market-relevant barriers.
• Identify common toolboxes that could be used across data spaces.

3-The third strand will aim to create a platform to support the knowledge exchange between all actors in the data economy and provide support for the deployment of the common building blocks necessary for implementation of sectoral common data spaces. The platform will have the following main tasks:

• Offer and promote the use of common architecture and technical data governance especially those identified by the network of stakeholders.
• Identify missing solutions by using the guiding design principles and develop the necessary technical specifications to be procured under topic 2.1.1. All solutions should be open source software, should be possible to use for cross-data space, cross-domain synergies and fertilisation.
• Test and approve the solutions and make them available to the data spaces.
• Publish good practices for standards, technical tools such as APIs, and provide advice on other practical and legal questions.
• Give access to model contract clauses tested in previous data transactions and backed by public authorities.
• Liaise with all relevant activities in the programme including concurrent data space initiatives, to facilitate access to data for AI, with Advanced Digital Skills actions and with European Digital Innovation Hubs, especially, but not exclusively to support the participation of SMEs.
• Liaise with relevant related initiatives at European and international level including those funded under the research programmes Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
• Provide support to the preparation of new data spaces as indicated in the Data Strategy.

Implementation: European Commission