A growing concern in global data sharing is that third parties – unrelated to data creators or users – may monopolize the collection and distribution of data. This concern, initially focused on personal data, led to Europe’s creation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and has since evolved into the broader concept of data sovereignty. Data sovereignty refers to the ability to control one’s data, ensuring that data is governed by the local laws of where it is collected or stored, along with respecting the usage restrictions imposed by the data owner.
The importance of data spaces
In Europe, the concept of data spaces has emerged as a critical framework for realizing data sovereignty, enabling data to be shared, circulated, and linked across multiple stakeholders. In Japan, this idea aligns closely with the push for data collaboration infrastructure but places an even greater emphasis on data sovereignty.
Data spaces are defined as both technical and social frameworks that allow various entities to share and circulate data based on agreed-upon governance models to achieve specific business or societal goals. Key principles in data spaces include data sovereignty, trust and reliability between stakeholders, equality, openness, and interoperability. One essential technical element to support these principles is a federated architecture.
Decentralized data sharing
Data sovereignty dictates that data should be controlled by its creators rather than third parties. This is facilitated by a federated architecture, such as the IDS Reference Architecture Model (IDS-RAM), developed by the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) in Europe, or Japan’s CADDE (Connector Architecture for Decentralized Data Exchange).
IDS’s architectural model is based on six key elements that represent the steps in forming an ecosystem between the parties sharing data, ultimately leading to the creation of a market where data is traded.
- Trust
- Security and Data Sovereignty
- Data Ecosystem
- Standardized Interoperability
- Value-Adding Apps
- Data Markets
The IDS blueprint envisions that once trust (1) is established between parties, this forms the basis for secure data exchange and data sovereignty (2), which in turn leads to the creation of a data ecosystem (3). This data ecosystem expands through the establishment of standardized interoperability (4), achieved by harmonizing vocabularies and data models. As value-adding applications (5) are provided for the data, data markets (6) eventually emerge.
The concept of data spaces and the reference architecture model proposed by IDS had a significant impact on European digital infrastructure policy through the activities of the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA).
The Japanese CADDE was developed under the second phase of the Cabinet Office’s Strategic Innovation Creation Program (SIP), focusing on leveraging big data and AI for cyberspace infrastructure.
CADDE’s source code and usage documentation are available on GitHub, offering tools and services that enable data exchange between providers and users across sectors. Its primary goal is to create a framework for discovering and utilizing data across industries.
Data spaces in Japan
In April 2021, Japan launched the Data Society Alliance (DSA), an initiative that brings together industry, government, and academia to create a cross-sectoral data ecosystem. The DSA, under the “DATA-EX” project, provides technologies and standards for building data collaboration infrastructure, offering recommended modules for area-specific data collaboration platforms like Urban OS.
Japan’s efforts to develop data spaces have grown rapidly in recent years. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry is developing the Ouranos Ecosystem, while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism is promoting the National Land Transportation Platform. Additionally, Japan’s Strategic Innovation Creation Program (SIP) is advancing data spaces for the mobility sector, particularly through the Japan Mobility Data Space (JMDS) project.
At the municipal level, platforms like the Tokyo Data Platform (TDPF) are being implemented, particularly in smart city initiatives. The Digital Expansion Promotion Council is driving the shift from the construction phase to active utilization of these platforms, supporting Japan’s transition to a fully integrated data society.
This article is a summary from an article series published by IT Leaders, a Japanese information site focused on accelerating digital business. You can read the full series in Japanese here: データ駆動型社会を支える「データスペース」の実像─ハンズオンで理解するその価値と可能性 | 連載 | IT Leaders
