These data spaces represent an essential component in the European Union's (EU) strategy to cultivate a culture of innovation based on the values of privacy and data sovereignty.
To achieve this goal, the Eclipse Dataspace Working Group (WG) will offer governance, guidance, and support for open-source solutions that enable the development of and participation in dataspaces. It is important to note that the working group does not favor any particular industry or type of organization; its focus is solely on facilitating the adoption of dataspace technologies to promote the creation and operation of trusted data-sharing ecosystems.
“Data spaces support federated, sovereign, and trusted data sharing. In doing so, they enable new business models where multiple participants can integrate their data for their own benefit, creating a reliable, decentralized, equitable, and secure means of data exchange,” said Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation. “Open source software is emerging as the most logical choice for building this new reality, and the Eclipse Foundation provides the ideal, code-first governance model to bring this future to life.”.
The core mission of the Eclipse Dataspace Working Group is to provide a forum for individuals and organizations to develop and promote open-source software, specifications, and collaboration models essential for building scalable, industry-ready components for dataspaces based on open standards. Founding members include a diverse range of public and private sector organizations, such as Amadeus, Fraunhofer, IDSA, iSHARE, Microsoft, and T-Systems. The Eclipse Dataspace Working Group's primary focus will be on participating in standards development, implementation, and integration of existing open-source projects, while also guiding partner projects in line with the overarching goal of supporting a broad ecosystem of interoperable dataspaces.
To this end, the working group will embark on the task of fostering a component-driven model that supports collections of projects distributed across three distinct groups:
Data Space Core and Protocol (DCP): DCP focuses on the core protocol specifications and their standardization, while simultaneously aligning these specifications with open-source projects that implement essential data space functionalities.
Data Space Data Plans and Components (DDPC): DDPC coordinates projects that implement data plans, fundamental components for data spaces, and also addresses additional optional elements that enable advanced data space scenarios.
Data Space Authority and Management (DAM): DAM focuses on aligning tools and workflows to facilitate the effective implementation of data spaces. Its affiliated projects support data space authorities for their proper management, covering aspects such as policy administration, member management, and essential initial tools for data space authorities.
In general, the three efforts aim to establish a project ecosystem encompassing various dimensions of data space solutions. The implementations are not mutually exclusive, and overlapping projects are possible. Protocols will serve as the unifying element among these projects, facilitating a minimum viable interoperability.
"By fostering implementations and specifications, our goal is to solidify data spaces as a vital component in future data-driven businesses. Together with projects like Eclipse Cross Federation Services Components, the Asset Administration Shell and Tractus-X initiatives, and the reference implementation Catena-X, we have established a unique ecosystem for Digital Sovereignty under the proven Eclipse Foundation governance model," said Michael Plagge, Vice President of Ecosystem Development at the Eclipse Foundation.
The Eclipse Dataspace Working Group will also collaborate with existing organizations involved in data spaces, including the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA), iSHARE Foundation (iSHARE), and Catena-X, among others. Together with the Eclipse Dataspace Working Group, these organizations will support each other on a range of initiatives, such as creating new data space proposals, developing Technical Compatibility Kits, and building consensus around product roadmaps and new capabilities.
