The Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC) has entered a new phase, helping European data space initiatives move beyond early-stage development toward becoming sustainable, financially viable, and impactful. Funded by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme, the project is now in its second phase, continuing the work of its predecessor to help these initiatives grow into mature, self-sustaining ecosystems.

Since work on European data spaces began roughly a decade ago, the DSSC has served as the orchestrator, mediator, and facilitator for a broad community of collaborators working to define what a data space is and which building blocks it requires. That foundational effort produced the DSSC Blueprint, now regarded as one of the most comprehensive bodies of knowledge on data spaces available, alongside supporting technology and standardisation work.

With those foundations now in place, the DSSC's focus shifts from creation to implementation: putting the blueprint, toolbox, and best practices developed to date into active use by the data space initiatives that make up the European Data Union strategy.

New roles to support data space initiatives directly

To deliver hands-on, tailored support, the DSSC has introduced several new roles:

  • Sector orchestrators: a group of 14 experts, now formal members of the consortium, who provide sector-specific guidance, share best practices, and act as the main point of contact between the DSSC and initiatives in their sectors.

  • Value coaches: dedicated consultants offering one-to-one support across business, governance, operational, and technical challenges.

  • Ecosystem accelerators: time-limited, expert-supported sprints created when multiple initiatives face a shared challenge, with outcomes documented and made reusable for the wider community.

Support is entered through a maturity assessment, a tool that evaluates a data space initiative across six dimensions: governance, business, legal, interoperability, control over data, and trust and value creation. The assessment has since become a technical specification maintained by CEN-CENELEC and is available for any data space initiative to use.

Evolving the Blueprint, Toolbox, and Knowledge Base

As formal standards and legislation begin to catch up with concepts the DSSC helped define, its role shifts further toward curating and pointing initiatives to specifications rather than creating them from scratch. Planned developments include updated versions of the DSSC Blueprint, a more accessible “cookbook” for newcomers, an enhanced co-creation method supported by templates and workshops, a new standardised template for machine-readable data space rule books, and a continuously updated toolbox showcasing business tools as well as technical components.

Connecting data spaces to the wider digital ecosystem

Recognising that data spaces do not operate in isolation, the DSSC is placing greater emphasis on how they connect to the broader digital infrastructure stack — from data collection and connectivity to cloud, edge, and high-performance computing, through to AI applications and digital twins. Particular attention is being paid to the relationship between data spaces and European AI factories and data labs, ensuring data spaces can reliably supply the trustworthy, high-quality data needed to train and fine-tune AI systems in line with data sovereignty and trust requirements.

To support this wider engagement, the DSSC will continue and expand activities such as bilateral workshops, a strategic stakeholder forum, thematic exchanges, and a newly introduced open technology suppliers forum, alongside collaboration with external working groups, standardisation bodies, policymakers, and research communities.

Community, recognition, and upcoming milestones

The DSSC will continue to grow its community through a refreshed website and an updated social media presence. Flagship community events also continue: the European Data Space Awards, which attracted more than 60 applications in their first edition, will again recognise outstanding initiatives for end-user engagement, financial sustainability, and innovation, with winners celebrated at the next Data Spaces Symposium, planned for the first quarter of 2027.