The digitalisation of interorganisational processes and data sharing is on the fast track of change. In the past, organisations have tried to extend company-level integration tools like ESBs and API gateways to interorganisational communication. However, they are not optimal for sovereign organisations due to the governance approach and trust framework.
In the case of communication between sovereign organisations, technology, organisational contracts, and legal compliance play a crucial role in building trust. Technology is responsible for the authenticity of stakeholders, enforcing common security and communication standards, and creating evidence of communication. Governance of the communication network ensures compliance with laws, regulations, and contracts to maintain smooth and trusted interoperability.
Those needs have fuelled the evolution of decentralised interoperability platforms. X-Road and later UXP have solved those needs for twenty years and more than thirty countries worldwide have adopted the platforms. The newer concept of dataspaces has gained popularity relatively recently.
Dataspaces have emerged from cross-organisational data exchange needs in the private sector in the EU. They rely on decentralised data exchange, organisational sovereignty, and distributed trust. The deployment of data spaces has a huge potential to reshape the data economy in the EU.
Cybernetica’s strategy for data spaces and participation in the OneNet project
Cybernetica empowers governments and other players in diverse sectors with tailored interoperability solutions, leveraging proven and cutting-edge technologies to drive seamless and secure data exchange. The technology selection for a customer project depends on the specifics of the interoperability use case. As such, Cybernetica, the inventor of X-Road and UXP, contributes to the advancement of data spaces in various EU projects.
Cybernetica is part of one of the two SIMPL consortia developing Common European Data Spaces that should serve as the basis for various applications within EU dataspaces. The SIMPL consists of three tracks: the software stack, a playground, and a demonstration environment that enables experimentation with SIMPL software and its actual sectoral deployment in specific sectors.
As a member of the OneNet project consortium, Cybernetica plays a key role in applying the dataspaces concept to the energy sector, particularly through its contribution in OneNet as a visionary of technical solutions. The project's core challenge was to build the Energy Flexibility Register and the Coordination Platform for electricity transmission operators. The need for this system stems from the energy transition and the increasing number of distributed assets, which must be integrated into the power system without compromising its secure operation.
The OneNet project not only delivers a new service platform but also integrates platforms across domains. The International Data Spaces (IDS) reference architecture model is used that distributes decision rights among the various roles within the data space ecosystem and considers the data sovereignty of participating organisations. Data provenance and lineage are provided through transparency and clearing functionality, achieved by IDS connectors and Clearing House components that track data provenance.
The use of IDS Connector and FIWARE Context Broker was identified as the optimal approach for ensuring a high level of standardisation, interoperability, scalability, and reuse within the OneNet solution.
Data spaces on the way from the private sector to the public sector
Data spaces has grown out from the private sector and requires some amendments to support interoperability in the public sector of democratic countries. Citizen privacy and interoperability governance are two major areas where further developments are needed. Interoperability governance requires the adaptation of data space software to align with each country's legislation, institutions and organisational procedures. Citizen privacy features help to build a trusted digital society. These features include tracking the usage of the citizen's personal data and managing consent for its usage.
To date, no country is using the dataspaces technology to fuel its governmental interoperability platform. However, the dataspaces technology is promising for various public sector interoperability applications, especially with the amended governance and citizen privacy features.
Conclusion
In conclusion, interoperability platforms like UXP or X-Road, and dataspaces ensure secure communication between sovereign organisations. As the technology matures, we expect to see more widespread adoption of these platforms to facilitate cross-entity services where authenticity, integrity and accountability of data is a priority. Cybernetica with its dedicated team working on interoperability topics intends to remain at the forefront of interoperability technologies, driving innovation across multiple sectors and shaping the future of secure data exchange.
Ready to explore the future of secure data exchange and dataspaces? Contact Cybernetica today to learn how our interoperability solutions can empower your organisation.