TRUSTS – Trusted Secure Data Sharing Space identifies and overcomes legal, ethical and technical challenges of cross-border data markets and initiates a pan-European total solution for data requests of the future based on trust, security and federated systems.
Data exchange is shaping the economic and social future of Europe and holds enormous economic and social potential, but it also involves risks and concerns. Since January 2020, the research studio Data Science has been working on the international project “Horizon 2020 TRUSTS” together with 17 partners from 9 countries.
In order for Europe to keep up with big tech and global supply chains in the age of artificial intelligence, a functioning European data economy is essential. The competitive advantage of operating across borders within the European Union is crucial for the project. Alexandra Garatzogianni, Project Coordinator of TRUSTS and Head of Knowledge and Technology Transfer (TIB) at Leibniz Universität Hannover explains:
“Our goal is therefore to ensure that companies rely on secure data markets in the long term. To this end, we are facilitating a fully functional and DSGVO-compliant European data marketplace for personal and industrial data in the financial and telecommunications sectors, while at the same time promoting the integration and adoption of future platforms”.
Based on a sound reference architecture, such as that of International Data Spaces (IDS), the project will integrate several future technologies. A major outcome of the project will also be an analysis of the conformity requirements of the developed technological solutions and recommendations for policy makers and stakeholders in this area.
Charlotte Ducuing, PhD student and research assistant at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), who is responsible for legal and ethical issues at TRUSTS, explains
“The commodification of data turns the existing legal framework on its head. Therefore, we need to think together about how the law should interact with the emerging data markets – in other words, on the one hand to support them in their growth, and on the other hand to steer them in an orderly fashion so that they serve the public good”.
At a time when technologies are developing rapidly, the appropriate framework conditions must first be created. The primary task is to identify the current challenges and to test them in realistic scenarios. Together with international experts and technology providers, the aim of TRUSTS is to create a European data market based on secure and trustworthy data exchange.