Only a month before the Ahr-valley catastrophe, the German federal government had launched the “PAIRS” project, a collaboration with industry aimed at leveraging data to improve the management of large-scale crises. With the disaster, this project took on a whole new urgency.
Among the many good things emerging from the PAIRS (Privacy-Aware, Intelligent and Resilient CrisiS Management) project is the Green Deal Data Space, designed and managed by IDSA member company Advaneo. “We are offering ways to use data that will greatly enhance resilience and sustainability, at a time when the likelihood and frequency of crises have greatly increased due to climate change,” says Advaneo CEO Jürgen Bretfeld.
Bottom-up approach
Bretfeld sees the Green Deal Data Space as a tool to anticipate and simulate crises and to use AI to prepare courses of action. To achieve these goals, a non-profit alliance has been formed to bundle and share data. Ultimately, this data will be aggregated and shared in a data space dedicated to building resilience and sustainability throughout the European economy.
“The partners are coming together in a bottom-up approach,” says Bretfeld. The Green Deal Data Space arose out of a shared desire and a shared need. “We are all looking for resilient and sustainable business models and strategies, and we understand that this can only happen collaboratively.”
For Bretfeld, resiliency and sustainability are inextricably coupled. “They really are two sides of the same coin.” Making use of data to improve crisis management makes companies and institutions more robust, while becoming more energy efficient and sustainable “puts money into the bank of resilience as well.” Resiliency helps manage crises, while sustainability helps prevent them.
Carbon Footprint Data Sharing Service
To illustrate the point, the Green Deal Data Space has launched two complementary “lighthouse” projects. One is the “supply chain radar,” which enables rapid responses to supply chain disruptions through unforeseen events. The other is the “Carbon Footprint Data Sharing Service.”
The Carbon Footprint Data Sharing Service is a proposed tool that aims to assist the European Union in meeting its emissions reduction targets and transforming its economy towards a sustainable future. The service will enable participants to accurately identify carbon emissions throughout their supply chains and work together to reduce them in order to comply with legislative standards.
The sharing of data will allow for a more detailed understanding of the carbon emissions associated with a given product or service. For instance, if a company manufactures a product that is sold in several countries, the Carbon Footprint Data Sharing Service will enable the company to track the carbon emissions associated with the entire supply chain, from the production of raw materials to the manufacturing process, transportation, and distribution.
Interoperability across domains and various data spaces
By identifying emissions along the supply chain, participants can work together to find ways to reduce them, such as using renewable energy, improved transportation methods, or more sustainable sourcing of raw materials.
As with all other data spaces, the success of the Green Deal Data Space depends on maximum participation. To that end Advaneo and the partners of the newly founded alliance are working hard to make this space as open and inclusive as possible. Key to that effort is interoperability across domains and various data spaces. “We need to be available not only to stakeholders that use the IDSA standards, but to everyone,” says Jürgen Bretfeld. For that reason, Advaneo is doing its best to offer services and even build components for anyone interested in participating in the Green Deal Data Space and becoming a part of the new sustainable European economy.
