Data Strategy Briefing — November 25, 2020

Executive briefing: On 25 November 2020 the European Commission tabled the Data Governance Act (COM(2020)767), launching the first legislative pillar of the EU data strategy. The proposal establishes governance for data altruism, public-sector data re-use, and certification of data intermediaries that will underpin common European data spaces.

Key data-space checkpoints

Public-sector reuse. Identify high-value datasets and sensitive information covered by the act's re-use conditions and licensing templates.
Data intermediation. Assess opportunities to register as a neutral data intermediary supporting industrial, mobility, or energy data spaces.
Data altruism. Map voluntary data-sharing programmes that may seek EU-wide recognition and transparency obligations.

Operational priorities

Governance design. Establish cross-functional teams to track delegated acts defining technical standards for priority data spaces.
Contract alignment. Update data-sharing agreements to incorporate safeguards, consent mechanisms, and liability terms anticipated by the act.
Stakeholder engagement. Engage industry consortia shaping mobility, health, and energy data spaces to influence implementation guidelines.

Enablement moves

Conduct readiness assessments measuring maturity across data quality, interoperability, and trust frameworks required for EU-recognised intermediaries.
Develop catalogues of public-sector datasets relevant to your sector for early participation in data space pilots.

Sources

Zeph Tech prepares organisations for EU data spaces by aligning governance models, contracts, and interoperability roadmaps with the Data Governance Act.

Follow-up: The Data Governance Act entered into application on 24 September 2023, and the European Data Innovation Board was inaugurated in 2024 to oversee data intermediaries and altruism registrations.