Organisational Form & Governance Authority
Establishing how your data space is structured, governed, and held accountable is one of the first and most critical design decisions. In alignment with the DSSC Blueprint 2.0, this building block focuses on three main aspects:
The organisational/legal form your data space will take (e.g. foundation, consortium, association),
The creation of a governance framework that outlines shared rules and internal policies,
The establishment of a governance authority responsible for managing, enforcing, and evolving this framework.
A governance authority should represent the interests of participants and take on key responsibilities, such as:
Setting rules and policies for how the data space operates,
Ensuring alignment with both internal agreements and external regulations,
Supporting conflict resolution, continuous improvement, and long-term accountability.
Importantly, these decisions should be made early in the lifecycle of the data space, ideally before operations begin, while still leaving room for evolution as the space grows or federates.
Governance Approach
From an iSHARE perspective, this building block is where the Trust Framework’s value becomes tangible. iSHARE provides a ready-to-use model for data space governance that aligns with DSSC principles while introducing a federated and role-based structure. This model ensures that responsibilities are clearly distributed, collaboration remains inclusive, and governance processes are transparent and scalable.
To maintain coherence and alignment across various domains and operational levels, iSHARE distinguishes four complementary governance layers. Together, these layers form a federated governance model that supports interoperability, trust, and accountability across the entire data space ecosystem.
1. Cross-Data Space Governance Layer
This layer addresses the governance of the broader community of practice and related digital infrastructures surrounding the ecosystem. Its focus is to foster collaboration, align on shared goals, and develop a common understanding of terms, principles, and technical concepts, thereby ensuring interoperability across interconnected data spaces and sectors.
2. Data Space Governance Layer
This layer defines how a specific data space is structured, managed, and operated. It sets the foundation for enabling trusted data transactions and innovation, and includes entities such as the Governance Authority (or the Data Space Governance Body*), the Operating Entity, and one or more Legal Data Intermediaries. Together, they ensure compliance with governance rules, operational efficiency, and continuous evolution. Consequently, this is where the Data Space Rulebook/Data Space Template** is established.
*Within this layered model, the Governance Authority plays a key role in ensuring coherence and accountability. Under the iSHARE Trust Framework, this role is embodied by the Data Space Governance Body (formerly known as the iSHARE Satellite).
The Data Space Governance Body serves as the main representative of a data space and is responsible for defining, evolving, maintaining, and governing participant lifecycle processes. This function closely corresponds to the Governance Authority as described in the DSSC Blueprint.
The Governance Body can be a legal entity or a non-legal consortium operating under agreed governance principles. In some cases, a single legal entity may perform both the Participant Registry and Data Space Governance Body roles, while in others, these may be separated through contractual arrangements.
**Data Space Template/ Rulebook is also referred to as the Governance Framework.
The iSHARE Data Space Template (this document) supports data spaces in defining their own governance frameworks and internal policies while maintaining alignment with the overarching iSHARE Trust Framework. It allows flexibility in design choices, enabling each data space to determine its optimal balance between autonomy and interoperability.
This federated approach allows data spaces to evolve organically while ensuring shared accountability, transparent decision-making, and a consistent foundation for trust across the wider ecosystem.
3. Use Case Governance Layer
Each use case within a data space operates under the overarching governance of its data space, but can adopt additional, use case–specific rules or restrictions. This enables innovation while maintaining alignment with the data space’s shared governance framework.
4. Participant Governance Layer
This layer governs how individual participants, such as data providers, consumers, intermediaries, etc., are onboarded, verified, and monitored. It manages participant lifecycle processes, compliance checks, and policy enforcement, ensuring accountability and transparency at the operational level.
The guiding questions can help in the co-creation process and in defining this building block, so please see the next section.
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