Spotlight on data spaces: projects contributing to an interconnected and competitive European data economy

The collection, storage and sharing of data has an increasingly central role in several aspects of our lives, from our health to industrial production and private consumption. To unlock the value of data for the benefit of Europe’s economy and society, the European strategy for data, adopted in February 2020, paved the way for the creation of Common European Data Spaces in a number of strategic sectors, including health, manufacturing, energy and mobility. Together, the Data Act and the Data Governance Act enable European data spaces by providing clear rules for fair data access and sharing, and by ensuring trusted mechanisms and structures for its reuse across sectors and borders in the EU.  

Stakeholders within each distinct sector contribute to shaping these spaces, resulting in unique characteristics. Yet, what underpins all European data spaces is common data infrastructures and governance frameworks, which facilitates data pooling, access and sharing.  

In addition, the Common European Data Spaces all have some key features: 

• openness to the participation of all organisations and individuals; 
• secure and privacy-preserving infrastructure to pool, access, share, process and use data; 
• fair, transparent, proportionate and non-discriminatory access rules, due to well-defined and trustworthy data governance mechanisms; 
• respect for EU rules and values, especially personal data and consumer protection, and competition law; 
• possibility for data holders to grant access to or to share certain personal or non-personal data; 
• option for data holders to make their data available for reuse for free or against compensation. 

Discover a selection of projects, managed by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), that are contributing to an interconnected and competitive European data economy. 

European Health Data Space 

The European Health Data Space (EHDS) aims to create a common EU framework for safely accessing, sharing and reusing electronic health data within the EU. 

The EHDS will: 

• empower patients and healthcare providers to access, control and share electronic health data, including across borders (primary use of data);
• enable the secure and trustworthy reuse of health data for research, innovation, policy-making and regulatory activities (secondary use of data); 
• foster a single market for electronic health record (EHR) systems, supporting both primary and secondary use. 

Under EU4Health, HaDEA supports the EHDS implementation through: 

• 68 projects, with €105.2 million in EU funding, including: 
  • three key initiatives: Xt-EHR, TEHDAS2 and the EHDS2 Pilot, supporting interoperable EHRs, secure secondary use of health data and cross-border data sharing; 
  • 65 direct grants helping countries develop MyHealth@EU services, national data infrastructures and semantic interoperability.
• Initiatives such as the Support Centre for the European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF Support Centre), a dedicated hub supporting healthcare stakeholders across Europe in the adoption of the EEHRxF and preparing for the implementation of the EHDS, as well as other procurement actions focused on capacity building, technical support and communication.
• Learn more: EU-funded projects contributing to the implementation of the European Health Data Space - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 

Data quality and utility standard for the European Health Data Space 

The absence of standardised procedures for health-related data has constituted a challenge for researchers, innovators and policymakers within the HealthData@EU framework, where datasets are used for secondary purposes.  

To tackle this issue, Horizon Europe Cluster 1: Health project QUANTUM has developed the data quality and utility standard for HealthData@EU and the supporting material for its implementation, including: 

• the technical specification comprising data quality and utility dimensions as well as data holders’ maturity dimensions; 
• an open source and free tool for data holders to self-assess the quality and utility, and their own maturity, where the specification is embedded; 
• guidelines to help data holders to issue better reports when using the tool; 
• training and educational materials to help data holders to interpret the label; 
• a Research Description Framework (RDF) template for the implementation of the quality and utility label in the HealthData@EU catalogue. 

After its implementation, these standards will be visible on the platform in the form of a common European label system, enabling professionals to identify high-quality data for research and decision-making. 

Complementarily to the quality and utility label, QUANTUM has developed recommendations for the development of a fitness-for-purpose specification, which would allow data users to provide a factual assessment of the technical quality of a dataset once accessed and used, in a specific research or innovation query. 

Industrial data spaces for resilient supply chains 

Today’s complex and interconnected supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions from unpredictable events, highlighting the need for manufacturers to rethink their supply chains as well as the adaptability of their production facilities to maintain efficiency, quality and competitiveness. 

The Flex4Res project, funded under Horizon Europe Cluster 4: Industry, advanced resilient manufacturing by setting up an industrial data space, allowing companies to connect systems, share trusted data and quickly adapt production processes to changing market conditions and disruptions. 

The project has: 

• developed an open platform enabling secure and trusted data sharing across manufacturing value chains built on cutting-edge technologies like Gaia-X and International Data Spaces; 
• implemented a standardised digital twin, enabling: 
  • virtual modelling, testing and optimisation of manufacturing network changes before real-world implementation and allowing for a clear and uniform understanding of data across different systems with linked, standardised information models; 
  • real-time monitoring and automatic asset discovery, including production capabilities and detection of production inefficiencies such as unplanned stops and tool changes. 
• developed an AI-driven production planning tool using real-time data, enabling faster replanning and more resilient manufacturing operations; 
• created two toolboxes for resilience assessment and reconfiguration planning; 
• tested and validated all integrated solution in four industrial use cases spanning different production types. 

Data interoperability for smarter energy and transport systems 

As Europe’s energy and transport systems become increasingly interconnected, there is a growing need to improve efficiency, sustainability and flexibility. The BEGONIA project, funded under Connecting Europe Facility: Digital, developed the concept of cross-border Operational Digital Platforms (ODPs) to improve how energy and transport systems exchange data and coordinate their operations. Building on existing and emerging European data, cloud, edge computing and connectivity infrastructures, BEGONIA explored new approaches to interoperability and standardisation across sectors and EU countries. 

The project’s ‘Digitalisation of data centres’ use case demonstrated how data centres can evolve from mainly being passive energy consumers into more flexible and integrated elements of the energy system. By enabling secure data exchange between data centre operators, grid operators, renewable energy providers and district heating networks, the ODP approach supports better monitoring, optimisation and coordination of energy use. The use case also explored how workload management, energy storage and waste heat reuse can contribute to more efficient and sustainable data centre operations, helping digital infrastructure play an active role in the energy transition. 

Discover more HaDEA-managed projects building synergies to achieve the EU’s strategic objectives:

• Spotlight on EU Preparedness: projects reinforcing Europe’s resilience in a changing world - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Spotlight on EU cybersecurity: projects shielding the EU from cyber threats - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Spotlight on digital skills: projects strengthening Europe’s workforce for the digital decade - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Spotlight on Artificial Intelligence: projects enhancing EU tech sovereignty through excellence in AI - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)  
• Spotlight on cancer: projects advancing the fight against one of Europe’s biggest public health challenges - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Spotlight on digital twins: projects using virtual replicas to advance Europe's green and digital transition - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Spotlight on photonics: projects using photons in manufacturing, environmental monitoring and space exploration - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 

Learn more about HaDEA-managed EU funding programmes:     

• Connecting Europe Facility - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Digital Europe Programme - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• Horizon Europe- European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) 
• EU4Health - European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA)