Qi Chenxi, et al.： What enlightenment does the common data space of the European Union have on the construction of a unified data market in China？

　　BEIJING, August 4 (Xinhua) Question: What does the common data space of the European Union inspire the construction of a unified data market in China?

　　Author Qi Chenxi, deputy chief engineer and senior analyst, Institute of Strategic Development, China Institute of Telecommunications.

　　Chen Fei, second-level analyst of China Telecom Research Institute.

　　Zhu Yingying, Deputy Director and Analyst of China Telecom Research Institute

　　In February 2020, the European Commission issued the European Data Strategy, aiming at creating a single market to share and exchange data effectively and safely across industries and fields within the EU. In order to achieve its goal of "promoting the European data economy in a way that conforms to European values of autonomy, privacy, transparency, security and fair competition", the sharing, access and use of data for the whole society must be fair and clear, and practical tools are needed to implement it. Therefore, "common data space" has become the core concept of European data strategy, and the EU's single data market is built on the common data space.

　　What is data space?

　　Driven by the needs of specific industries, the European Commission identified nine data spaces of strategic industries and fields in the data strategy, and formulated the main promotion measures from 2021 to 2023, and then added a data space of scientific research field: European Open Science Cloud as a development reference.

　　From a technical point of view, data space can be defined as a federated data ecosystem based on shared policies and rules in a specific application domain. Users of these data spaces can access data in a safe, transparent, credible, simple and unified way.

　　At present, IDSA, Gaia-X, Open DEI, FIWARE, My Data and other related researches have been carried out in Europe to promote the organization of data space. Over time, all the data space applications developed by relevant organizations will constitute the de facto European data infrastructure. This intangible infrastructure will promote data sovereignty and platform interoperability across multiple fields, and users can participate in multiple data spaces and seamlessly switch from one data space to another. In the end, the data spaces of the top ten industries and fields constitute the common data space of Europe.

　　Core issues and characteristics of common data space

　　First, the core issue of common data space is not a technical challenge, but a collaborative challenge. To create a common data space and realize interoperability between data spaces in different industries, it is necessary to reach an agreement on standards and design principles accepted by all participants. The real challenge is to regard data interoperability as a new specification that promotes large-scale adoption and scalability. Therefore, the soft infrastructure of common data space is a combination of technology, function, operation and legal procedures, which is developed and established by public and private stakeholders in a collaborative way, instead of being established and operated by an independent key company as some large-scale platforms at present.

　　Second, the interconnection between the data spaces of the top ten industries and fields is very important for building a common data space. Because individuals and organizations usually live in multiple ecosystems at the same time, they are not limited to sharing data in a single data silo or a single data domain, and data spaces may overlap or even nest. In order to prevent the fragmentation of the data economy, data spaces need to be interconnected, so it is necessary to establish an open data ecosystem characterized by mutual trust among participants, that is, to establish a "soft infrastructure" that runs through all European levels, and clearly stipulate the minimum set of the same functions, laws, technologies, operating protocols and standards that all participants should achieve, so that they can interact in the same way no matter what data space they operate in. For data sharing and exchange, physical (or hard) infrastructure is available (cables, data centers, etc.), but the interaction mode between relevant participants is not standardized. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the agreement on how to participate in the soft infrastructure of data space, and further formulate the data interconnection protocols, norms and standards for the future "soft infrastructure" on the basis of existing data sharing initiatives.

　　Third, implement the data rights of every individual and organization through tools to promote the drive of data to social and economic development. European data space provides tools to implement the data rights of individuals, companies/organizations and maintain control over their data. Driven by specific industry needs, data space will promote the development of tools to share, exchange and access all types of data, including data stored in smart objects and things. These tools will empower those who have access to data, so that they can always demand the transparency of the data storage location and the access rights applicable to these data. They can use these tools to give or revoke their consent, change access rights, and specify new conditions for how to access and use their data. In addition, they can choose to outsource data rights management to a third party (such as a data intermediary). Data space will also produce a large number of new data sharing and exchange functions, which will be adopted by users.

　　Fourth, create a fair environment for data sharing and exchange, and promote competition and innovation in the data economy. The goal of EU's data strategy is to make the EU a model and leader of a data-driven society, so that public departments and enterprises can use data to make better decisions and benefit the whole society, including improving production efficiency and building a free competitive market. Therefore, it is necessary to change the imbalance between large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises in holding data resources and data capabilities, create a fair environment, and promote competition and innovation in the data economy. Common data space makes data portable between providers, and large quasi-monopoly companies will no longer have the opportunity to position themselves as exclusive "data owners". Users can switch between different providers while retaining their own data. This will lower the threshold for new enterprises to enter the market, promote fair competition, and also promote enterprises to use their own and other enterprises' industrial data to create new services and business models and improve their innovation ability. In addition, the data space will also encourage users to regard their data as an asset.

　　What does the common data space of the European Union inspire the construction of a unified data market in China?

　　First, benefit the whole society. The goal of China data unification market is to use data to benefit the whole society, so data value should be defined as the economic concept of social welfare. Using data, enterprises create employment opportunities or improve productivity, the government provides more effective public services, our environment is cleaner and orderly, people live a more efficient and healthy life, and data is generating value. Data value should not only be defined as data transaction costs, or monetary value such as numbers on the balance sheet. Suggestions should not be limited to data trading market, enterprise data platform, etc., but should be oriented to all organizations and individuals in the whole society, and build an efficient and low-cost unified data market that everyone is willing to share data, can be easily used and can afford.

　　Second, interconnection. National infrastructure can provide a fair environment for data interconnection. It consists of technology-neutral agreements and standards that have nothing to do with the industry. These agreements and standards stipulate how organizations and individuals can participate in the data economy and how to act according to commonly agreed rules and instructions. It is suggested that strategic industries should be selected and determined. Based on the data sharing and capacity requirements of digital transformation of various industries, data spaces of corresponding industries and fields should be constructed, methods, theories and experiences of data interconnection within and between industries should be explored together, norms, protocols and standard systems should be formed and established, and Chinese-style national data infrastructure should be constructed.

　　Third, build and share. After years of active exploration and development of big data and data element market, China has initially established a diversified and multi-level data element market with different local and industry characteristics. It is suggested that under the unified deployment of the National Data Bureau, we should sum up the previous practical experience, establish a three-tier governance system including data innovation strategy, data exchange strategy and data space operation, jointly build and share a unified data market in China, jointly formulate policies, plan project implementation and provide services, and lay a solid foundation for the digital China. (Zhongxin Jingwei APP)

　　This article was selected and edited by Zhongxin Jingwei Research Institute. The works produced by the selection are copyrighted by Zhongxin Jingwei, and no unit or individual may reprint, extract or use them in other ways without written authorization. The views involved in the selection only represent the original author, not the views of Sino-Singapore Jingwei.

　　Editor in charge: Sun Qingyang Intern Li Wen

　　[Editor: Chen Junming]