The European Big Data Value Forum (EBDVF), organised by the Big Data Value Association in Copenhagen, gathered experts, projects, and organisations working at the forefront of Europe’s data-driven transformation. This year’s discussions once again underscored the importance of interoperability across data spaces as a prerequisite for building a resilient, innovative European Data Economy.
Cross-data space interoperability: Insights from the panel
deployEMDS’ coordinator, Christopher Newman, joined one of the key sessions focused on a central challenge for the data space community: ensuring seamless data exchange across domains, sectors, and geographies. “The workshop “Cross-data space interoperability – the essential key to unlocking the potential of the European Data Economy” presented findings from a report coordinated by the Data Spaces Support Centre with inputs from several data space initiatives.
The session highlighted that:
- Innovation and economic growth rely on the seamless flow of data across different data spaces.
- Interoperability remains a complex challenge, requiring technical, organisational, and governance alignment.
- Cross-data space interoperability (enabling participants to securely access or exchange data across multiple data spaces) is essential yet still difficult to achieve in practice.
- The community is actively working on frameworks, methodologies, and shared approaches to address these gaps.
A panel discussion involving contributors to the study provided deeper perspectives on the report’s findings and explored potential pathways toward a more connected European Data Economy.
Within this broader conversation, the mobility sector emerged as a concrete example illustrating why interoperability matters so much. Modern mobility systems rely on data from a wide and varied ecosystem, including tourism, energy, logistics, and smart communities, as well as from national and regional mobility data spaces such as Eona-X and the German Mobility Data Space.
Value creation in data ecosystems
Jim Ahtes from i2CAT led another key contribution during the session “Value Creation in Data Ecosystems”. The discussion focused on how data spaces unlock real value when they enable an ecosystem of service providers to build replicable, scalable value-added services on top of shared, interoperable data.
The session showcased:
- Concrete products and services already emerging from data-space initiatives.
- Use cases demonstrating measurable, transferable impact across contexts.
- Practical lessons on how to design data spaces so that service providers can build reusable solutions.
These examples made clear that the potential of data spaces goes far beyond data exchange alone: their real strength lies in creating a trusted, interoperable foundation on which service providers can innovate, commercialise and scale solutions across cities, sectors and regions. Interoperability becomes an enabler for a thriving marketplace of value-adding services – not a goal in itself.
Reflections from EBDVF 2025
EBDVF 2025 provided a strong platform for exchange, enabling meaningful dialogue on the challenges and opportunities ahead for European data spaces. Discussions across the event reaffirmed that:
- Interoperability remains central to Europe’s data infrastructure ambitions
- Cross-sector collaboration is essential to achieve operational data sharing
- Value creation depends on practical, domain-relevant use cases supported by trusted data flows
For projects like deployEMDS, these insights reinforce the importance of ongoing cooperation with adjacent sectors and data space initiatives to build an interoperable and trusted European mobility data ecosystem.