Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – Creation of a common European mobility data space
Date: 2024-10-08
Institutions: Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget, European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: access to information, common transport policy, data processing, data transmission, digital single market, exchange of information, sustainable mobility, systems interconnection








C_202407059EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/7059


4.12.2024






Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – Creation of a common European mobility data space
(C/2024/7059)














Rapporteur



:


Zdeněk HŘIB (CZ/GREENS)
First Deputy Mayor of Prague





Reference document



:


Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Creation of a common European mobility data space
COM(2023) 751 final









POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR),

General remarks









1.


highlights the significance of data emergence, processing and usage in nearly all of people’s everyday activities. While such data have not fully yielded results in services, the EU, Member States, local and regional authorities and relevant stakeholders can provide improved public services, enhanced decision-making and increased transparency to citizens;












2.


insists on the need for privacy and security of all human-related data, as the data can be a valuable asset and are sometimes sensitive, and thus must be treated as a product in the data economy;












3.


understands the need to make sure EU citizens continue to have choice in the technology used to meet all their needs, thus not creating any technology or vendor lock-ins and keeping the market as open as possible;












4.


recognises the data space ecosystem as a technology that introduces the principles of broad social interaction in the management and sharing of data and knowledge and thus has the potential to broadly support the further development of human society;












5.


stresses the constant growth of the need for human mobility and logistics of goods, which in the end might slow down the goals stated in Green Deal, even though or despite the fact that the mobility will be realised locally, primarily by active modes and logistics will become delivery services;












6.


admits that mobility and logistics are not limited to EU geographical limits the same way as data produced and used in the transport system;












7.


points out the need to optimise energy demands not only on the part of vehicles that usually produce data, but in the holistic approach to all relevant components of transport, including IT infrastructure and operation;












8.


recognises the importance of a data ecosystem which includes mobility and logistics to create a network of interconnected participants who agree on a governance framework to manage, share and utilise data to generate value and insights;












9.


calls for all data provided by all segments of human activities to be interoperable, thus promotes research in areas such as data and knowledge integration with a focus on an analytical and multidisciplinary approach to data processing and application;












10.


stresses the need for private sector entities to have access to mobility data to enable them to improve their services and discover new service provision opportunities;












11.


acknowledges that European (mobility) data may be acquired, processed, stored and used outside of Europe and by non-European businesses;












12.


recognises that cooperation on the business level, even in research, is usually driven by win-win concepts, thus will work on supporting creation of ecosystem(s) built on such approaches;












13.


understands the need to approach data with the basic principle of keeping data as open as possible and as closed as necessary, while considering reciprocity and fair cost structures when sharing data with third parties, without hindering academic and non-commercial research;












14.


is informed about parallel ongoing activities in the area of multiple data (sharing) ecosystems, including the International Data Spaces Association, Mobility Data Spaces project, common European mobility data space under the Digital Europe Programme (deployEMDS project) (1) and future European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) on mobility (2);












15.


strengthens the definition of data spaces as decentralised infrastructures, where diverse actors can share and use data in a secure, reliable and trustworthy manner, following common governance, organisational, regulatory and technical mechanisms. They will interconnect various data ecosystems in a demand-driven process, which is key to achieving data exchange across societal actors (3);





Data aspects









16.


welcomes the activities of the International Data Spaces Association in advancing data interoperability and standardisation of new technologies in the realms of data governance and the application of FAIR (4) data principles;












17.


underscores the importance of data applications in transport with a focus on optimising the performance of transport networks and seamless multi-modal applications;












18.


understands the national differences in mobility and societal development, thus the need for various data processing methods and application of knowledge derived from data;












19.


recalls that economic growth is directly linked to having the foundation of an efficient transport infrastructure. Today, this infrastructure can be significantly improved by knowledge built on data, particularly real-time or near real-time data;












20.


confirms its support for the activities to harmonise the approach to common data spaces, while focusing on data applications in regional development and strategic planning;












21.


promotes the need for data interoperability among all areas of human activities with a priority focus on applications in mobility and logistics;












22.


recognises that fostering data interoperability is essential in mobility and logistics ecosystems that ensure different participants can seamlessly share and exchange data; stresses that to achieve this it is the participants who have to collaboratively define rules and governance frameworks within data spaces - including on reciprocity in data sharing. From a technical point of view, this necessitates the adoption of standardised protocols and semantic models that enable smooth integration and exchange of data, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective transportation systems that benefit citizens and communities;












23.


emphasises the need to find business models that help minimise unnecessary parallel storage and processing for the same types of data;












24.


understands the competing priorities between data openness and privacy. Implementing data spaces must therefore promote transparency and innovation while rigorously safeguarding personal information;












25.


supports the creation of data space ecosystems that support strategic decision-making on regional and local levels;












26.


identifies mobility and logistics data as crucially important in terms of EU-wide security and resilience, thus such data, rather than traditional hardware infrastructure, fulfil the role of critical infrastructure, at least in specific applications;












27.


points to the need to ensure that no technological system will discourage any EU citizens and non-EU visitors from providing their data, or from using the applications built on such data technology;





A central role for interoperable data spaces









28.


requests interoperable multi-disciplinary data spaces following FAIR guidelines principles and quality measures for all stakeholders and possible users;












29.


proposes interoperability on an EU-wide level with connectors to data acquired, processed and stored outside the EU that are relevant to multi-disciplinary data spaces, especially with data related to mobility and logistics;












30.


emphasises the need for achieving relevant data security and privacy, which must not be misused, altered or made inaccessible;












31.


supports the development and implementation of a unified interoperable framework that facilitates cross-sector and cross-border interoperability, while building on initial activities that have already been initiated in the energy sector (5);





Future-proof data









32.


calls for a comprehensive approach to the expected future development in transport and data engineering, with a view to continuously expandable data spaces;












33.


underlines the need for future data interconnectivity between all modes of transport;












34.


expects future interconnectivity between all (relevant) data;





Governance and best practice exchange









35.


underscores the need for an effective multilevel governance approach based on active subsidiarity typical for regions;












36.


encourages participants to collect and share data when creating and implementing European mobility data space, particularly covering areas such as commuting to cities from metropolitan areas, city logistics, parking rules, and different settings of urban vehicle access regulations, as well as mobility in rural areas to enable the provision of tailor-made mobility services in low-demand rural and remote areas;












37.


calls for a best practice exchange with a focus on an adequate data space infrastructure that provides the highest level of FAIR data principles and ensures the greatest data privacy and security;












38.


calls for a best practice exchange to ensure an approach that leads to further and continuous improvements, especially with regard to making EU society more resilient;












39.


calls for the EU institutions to lead by example and actively support the development of FAIR data spaces for the purposes of their strategic planning;





Significant challenges









40.


sees the most notable challenges in the following areas:






(a)


coordination of already ongoing and future activities and projects on an EU level, not limited only to mobility data spaces, to achieve as effective data interoperability as possible and clarification of the role of National Access Points;










(b)


designation of a common entity for coordination of all data spaces on the national and EU levels and creating standards that would be acceptable for all;










(c)


coordination of EMDS goals within the general EU approach to data as specified i.e. in the Data Act and Data Governance Act with a particular focus on data ownership, privacy and security;










(d)


development of relevant business models and technical solutions to encourage the private sector to share data and local and regional authorities to use the data as a trusted source for effective decision-making;










(e)


encouraging non-EU entities to share data related to EU regions within EMDS, resp. any EU data space;
















41.


highlights the need for support actions to achieve interoperability across ecosystems, emphasising the importance of coordination in defining and developing pilots at cross-sectoral and cross-border levels. This entails collaborative efforts to ensure effective implementation of standards, protocols and governance frameworks across diverse ecosystems and geographical borders, including the differences between urban and rural areas which both strive for optimal management of mobility and logistics.






Brussels, 8 October 2024.


The President


of the European Committee of the Regions

Vasco ALVES CORDEIRO
               





(1)  
            www.deployemds.eu.

(2)  
            https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/edic.

(3)  JRC Data Spaces Knowledge Base, chapter 1.3 Definitions (https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/ display/jrcdataspaceswiki/1.3++Definitions).

(4)  Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles).

(5)  See Interoperability Framework in Energy Data Spaces (2023) (https://internationaldataspaces.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/IDSA-Position-paper-Energy-interoperability-framework-v0.9-1.pdf).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/7059/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)