Definition
Key characteristics of a data space are:
– A secure and privacy preserving IT infrastructure to pool, access, process, use and share data.
– A data governance mechanism, comprising a set of rules of legislative, administrative and contractual nature that determine the rights to access, process, use and share data in a trustful and transparent manner.
– Data holders are in control of who can have access to their data, for which purpose and under which conditions it can be used.
– Presence of vast amounts of data that can be reused under certain conditions against remuneration or for free, depending on the data holder’s decision.
– Participation by an open number of organisations / individuals.
European context
Common European Data Spaces will interconnect currently fragmented and dispersed data from various ecosystems, both for / from the private and public sectors, to support the objectives of the priorities for the EU over the 2019-2024 period, both from the Council and the Commission (see details here). It will offer an interoperable, trusted IT environment for data processing, and a set of rules of legislative, administrative and contractual nature that determine the rights of access to and use of the data.
‘Today we are defining a truly European approach to data-sharing. Europe needs an open but sovereign single market for data. Our regulation, coupled with the right investments and key infrastructure, will help Europe lead the world in data. ‘
Thierry Breton – EU Commission Internal Market

‘ The Data Act is a new major step in building a fair and human-centered approach to digitalization. It will clarify the rights and obligations of parties in data transactions and ensure fairness in the allocation of data value among the actors of the data economy. ‘
Margrethe Vestager – VP EU Commission

Decentralization
Centralized today
Data is controlled by very few gatekeepers
deciding by themselves on data-sharing rules

Decentralized tomorrow
Data is shared P2P among digital services, with individuals’ consent and fair value redistribution

- Few entry point
- No visibility for small players
- Monopolistic value capture
- Fragmented user experience
- Limited profile based contextualization
- Privacy issues
- Multiple (re-)entry points
- Enhanced visibility for all
- Fair value redistribution
- End-to-end seamless experience
- Extended contextualization
- Full data-privacy control