Data Spaces 101 and Their Relevance to Repositories (Session Two)

11 May 2026

The World Data System hosted an engaging introduction to data spaces, a rapidly evolving approach transforming how institutions share, access, and leverage sensitive and non-sensitive sovereign data across organizational and national boundaries. We unpacked the concept of data spaces and explored the DataSpace Protocol (DSP) alongside a suite of emerging ISO standards (e.g., DCP) advancing via the International Data Spaces Association. Discover a variety of data space efforts relevant to basic and applied research, and join peers in the scientific repository community to explore how to advance data spaces in federation with other efforts.

Attendees learned about real-world applications through concise recordings provided by four leading dataspace initiatives: the Australian Shared Environmental Analytics Facility, the OA Book Usage Data Trust, the Computer Network Information Center, and the Canadian National Data Spaces Pilot. These efforts are shaping interoperable, trusted environments for research.

This session offered an excellent opportunity to connect with peers in the repository community, discuss strategies for federating dataspaces, and gain practical insights on developing or integrating dataspaces within your own context. A live Q&A session with the use case speakers followed their presentations, providing direct access to experts and fostering an open dialogue about current challenges and future directions.

We invite all data repository professionals to join us in advancing collaborative, standards-based approaches to data stewardship through data spaces. Want to learn more about data spaces? Check out webinar speaker and co-planner Christina Drummond’s Scholarly Kitchen guest post “Exploring Data Spaces in Scholarly Communications.”

View presentation slides here.