Cities and organisations across Finland are working together to develop new ways of sharing and using mobility data through common European data space initiatives focused on smarter and more sustainable urban services.

As part of this work, Finnish partners involved in the European DS4SSCC-DEP programme are collaborating on a national reference architecture for mobility data spaces. The goal is to create common approaches and frameworks that allow cities, companies and public authorities to exchange mobility-related data securely, efficiently and interoperably.

DS4SSCC-DEP is a European initiative that supports the deployment of data spaces for smart communities and cities. The programme brings together projects and pilot activities from different countries to develop practical solutions for trusted data sharing and collaboration across sectors.

In Finland, two DS4SSCC-DEP pilot projects are playing a central role in this work. The first is TDFS (Traffic Data for Smart Cities), coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, which focuses on improving the sharing and utilisation of traffic and mobility data in urban environments. The second is DT-aCoGo (Digital Twin as a Common Good), based in Tampere, which explores how digital twin technologies and shared urban data infrastructures can support better city planning, operations and services.

Together, the projects are contributing to the development of a Finnish national reference architecture for mobility data spaces. The objective is not only to address technical interoperability, but also to support governance models, ecosystem cooperation and trusted frameworks for public-private collaboration.

Within this landscape, deployEMDS plays an important connecting role. The project supports the deployment and operationalisation of mobility data spaces by bringing together pilots, stakeholders and technical initiatives across Europe. In Finland, especifically through the Tampere Use Case, deployEMDS provides a framework through which local pilot activities such as TDFS and DT-aCoGo can contribute to shared European objectives while also benefiting from cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange.

By linking local experimentation with European-level coordination, deployEMDS helps ensure that the solutions being developed are not isolated demonstrations, but building blocks for scalable and interoperable mobility ecosystems. This creates opportunities for cities and organisations to learn from one another, align approaches and accelerate the practical adoption of trusted data-sharing models.

The cooperation between the Finnish DS4SSCC-DEP pilots demonstrates how local and regional projects can contribute to wider national and common European objectives for interoperable data ecosystems. Through practical pilot activities and stakeholder collaboration, Finland is helping to shape future models for smart mobility and urban data sharing.

The article by Toni Lusikka and Olli-Pekka Mattila is available on the Finnish Data Space Alliance website:
https://www.dataspacesalliance.fi/suunnistus-sujuvaan-kaupunkiin-data-avaruuksien-hyodyntaminen-julkisen-ja-yksityisen-sektorin-yhteistyossa/

The Eurocities Digital Forum was held on 15-17 April, hosted by Sofia Municipality, focusing on “Key Technologies for Future-Proof Cities: from Data Spaces to Digital Twins”.. During the forum, city officials and experts have gathered to explore how to build a ‘common digital culture’ that empowers all people to understand, question and shape the digital systems around them. This means that everyone can benefit from the digital world, understand how data works, and make informed decisions rather than passively accept what is designed for them.

During the forum’s opening session, Ivan Goychev, Deputy Mayor for Digitalisation at Sofia Municipality, stated: “We need to speak the language of everyone, giving them a say in decisions that affect their communities.”

Prof. Dessislava Petrova-Antonova, lead of the local deployment of deployEMDS, participated in the Session “Best practices from cities’ digital twins for climate resilience”. She explained how data sharing supports the development of the Sofia urban digital twin, addressing challenges related to transport, environmental pollution, climate change, and energy. In this session, showcases from four cities were presented: Sofia, Rotterdam, Leipzig, and Burgas.

GATE Institute hosted a site visit, which began with a welcome from the GATE (Big Data for Smart Society) Director, Prof. Sylvia Ilieva, and a brief introduction to the GATE Institute’s mission and research. 

GATE’s planned programme included presentations and live demonstrations showcasing the Institute’s expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, data spaces, and data-intensive systems, and highlighting how these technologies are applied to real-world city challenges, offering a direct look at how data-driven solutions support smarter cities. The deployEMDS project was presented by Kaloyan Karamitov with a focus on Sofia use cases related to the development of a new mobility-as-a-service application based on shared data from Sofia Urban Mobility Centre and micro-mobility operators, as well as walkability scenarios for user-centric pedestrian routing.

The data space’s technical components and the added value for participants were demonstrated through a local testbed deployed on the GATE infrastructure. The attendees became familiar with the data offering, which showcased datasets on air pollution, public transport, road networks, and pedestrian movement. The respective data products were explained along with metadata, usage, and access policy definition.

As digitalisation accelerates, the challenge extends beyond technological advancement and connectivity to encompass issues of trust, equity, and inclusion. The benefits of digital transformation require careful attention to data sharing, placing additional responsibility on cities to lead and shape the trajectory of digital change.