Data is king: Opportunities in unlocking the federated data
Data is not a recent development - it has played a crucial role throughout history. Historical data, including measurements, has been essential for constructing bridges, houses, and other buildings.
In early science, data was an essential resource for research and findings that fostered economic growth, competitiveness, innovation, creating new jobs, and societal progress in general. Today, data is essentially everywhere, and its quantity is growing at an unprecedented pace.
European Data Strategy and European Data Act
Recognizing the importance and value of data, the European Commission developed a European Data Strategy (EDS), which was published in 2020. This was followed by the introduction of the European Data Act in January 2024.
The European Data Strategy aims to highlight the significant value of data in our social, societal, and business lives. Prevalent cases of misusing others’ data underscore the importance of ethical considerations and responsibility in handling data.
The involvement of the European Commission shows that the European Union is focused on a data-driven economy, federated data initiatives, and data spaces and that it is ready to play a vital role in the future of data management and innovation. The Data Act, and the European approach in general, emphasize privacy, data sovereignty, and collaboration, promoting a more inclusive, ethical, and sustainable data ecosystem.
This contrasts with the approach of major technology companies, which often opt for centralized data aggregation and closed platforms.
Common European Data Spaces
European policies are designed to create Common European Data Spaces that will help unleash the enormous potential of data-driven innovation while facilitation data protection.
These Data Spaces are designed to facilitate data sharing and enhance the development of new data-driven products and services in the EU, forming the core tissue of an interconnected and competitive European data economy.
European strategy and the Data Governance Act will allow trustworthy and secure data from across the European Union to be made available and exchanged. Data holders will benefit from a safe and reliable framework to share their data for innovation purposes and public interest. At the same time, EU-based businesses, the public sector, and individuals will have more control over the data they generate.
Managing and unlocking data
There are several ways to facilitate and improve data sharing. For example, standardization of data by developing and implementing uniform standards for data formats, data quality, and data exchange simplifies the process of sharing data between different systems and organizations. APIs provide controlled and secure access to data, allowing other systems or applications to request or use data without physically moving it.
According to the European Data Strategy, data management is maintained at the source, with the entity generating the data having control over who has access to it and how it is used. The goal is data sovereignty - to make data available for as broad a use as possible while keeping it at the source. This is supported by a federated data system that includes functions, agreements, and standards focusing on security and privacy.
While this system enhances data findability and usability, technical and design challenges, such as historically established data models and the costs of data transfer, still pose obstacles. Additionally, data security often remains limited to a closed perspective, complicating the sharing of sensitive data.
Benefits of federated data sharing
Federated data sharing represents a significant shift in creating value from data. By leveraging distributed data ecosystems and promoting collaboration, organizations benefit from the flexibility, scalability, and agility needed to fully harness their data and drive innovation in the rapidly evolving digital age.
Among the many advantages of this approach, these four are especially significant:
1. Security and control
Sensitive data remains on local servers and is made accessible to third parties in a controlled manner, which is essential for privacy and the protection of sensitive competitive information.
2. Data sovereignty and compliance
Organizations retain control over their data, determine access and conditions, and comply with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA.
3. Cost savings and efficiency
Avoiding the physical movement of data results in cost savings on storage and infrastructure, and processing close to the data source improves efficiency.
4. Collaborative innovation
Data sharing and data federation foster collaboration between organizations, leading to new partnerships and joint developments.
Data governance in data spaces
Data spaces described in the European Data Strategy provide flexible data sharing and vast analysis capabilities. A common framework focuses on data distribution and processing locations to help organize information.
The model introduces the concepts of replication and aggregation to differentiate how data is distributed and where the processing takes place.
- Replication enhances access by copying data to multiple locations.
- Aggregation centralizes data from different sources for combined processing.
Data spaces are also posed to enable artificial intelligence (AI) through Distributed Machine Learning (DML) and Federated Machine Learning (FML):
- Distributed Machine Learning distributes AI training across multiple machines for scalability but may compromise data privacy.
- Federated Machine Learning trains AI models locally to protect data privacy, which is ideal for sensitive data like healthcare or financial information.
Maxima Consulting’s data solution
Maxima Consulting’s Cloud Orbit is a powerful platform designed to automate and optimize data pipelines across distributed and federated environments. It ensures seamless data integration, storage, and processing in leading databases, including Snowflake, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.
By utilizing Cloud Orbit, organizations can maximize the value of their data, effectively manage data access, gain actionable insights, and foster innovation while ensuring compliance and security in line with the EDS strategy.
