GoDataSpace

Abstract

GoDataSpace was a 5-month-long exploratory research project about the governance of Urban Data Space by a team of researchers from three partner institutions, TU Wien, FH Technikum Wien and IHS (Institute for Advanced Studies). The project aimed to assess the emerging technology of Urban Data Space (U/DS) and to build the basis for future research projects and technology development in the field. U/DS is imagined to be an innovative form of data sharing at scale to enable new services and products that require interoperability, standardization and seamless flow of data. Especially in the field of urban mobility, digitalization and the use of “Big Data” promise to advance the sustainability transformation. U/DS is supposed to facilitate the access, pooling and sharing of mobility data. The technology is still in an early phase of development and until now, research of it has focused on technical aspects of its implementation and not considered possible impacts in a social context. We are interested in the risks and opportunities that U/DS may pose to human values, cities, their inhabitants and mobility.

Outcome Summary

We have carried out a series of three workshops engaging stakeholders from research, policy, civil society and industry in order to find a shared understanding of what U/DS is and what the guideline principles of its governance should be. We connected with different people on a national and international level and created a network of people that are concerned about the future of U/DS governance. During the workshops, we co-developed the “DARE” principles (Decision-making over access/use, Authority over public good, Redistribution of value, Engagement of stakeholders) for governance of U/DS. The principles are inspired by and seen as supplementary to the existing principles for open science and indigenous data governance (FAIR/CARE principles). Our results provide an exploratory assessment of U/DS and its governance to guide future research, inform policy and further discussion on the subject.

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