Architecture Design Options for Federated Data Spaces

Abstract

The massive growth of data and the increasing potential of data analytics in industrial production fuel the emergence of data spaces and corresponding platforms that realize data ecosystems and enable data-driven sustainability applications. To leverage their benefits of demand-driven and scalable data integration, the stakeholders of emerging data space initiatives must make informed decisions about their data space support platforms (DSSPs). This study proposes a conceptual framework based on federated architectures and by considering existing endeavors of data infrastructures. Based on existing literature about data ecosystem resources and an explorative single case study of an industrial data space with sustainability-focused applications, we elaborate on the key design options of data, services, and computing infrastructures. The resulting conceptual framework guides design decisions for DSSPs. The framework captures not only the resources involved but also the operational concepts of federated services and shared services to introduce governance mechanisms and sustainability policies.