Value Coaches: hands-on support for data space initiatives
Value Coaches are a new form of hands-on support, working directly with data space initiatives on the challenges most likely to prevent progress: business models, governance and long-term sustainability. This article explains what Value Coaches do, how the process works and how initiatives can request support.
Value Coaches are a new form of hands-on support, working directly with data space initiatives on the challenges most likely to prevent progress: business models, governance and long-term sustainability. This article explains what Value Coaches do, how the process works and how initiatives can request support.The Data Spaces Support Centre (DSSC) has entered its second phase. With foundational guidance now established, the focus shifts from defining how data spaces work to helping them become sustainable and operational at scale.
To deliver hands-on support to individual initiatives, DSSC has introduced three new support types: Sector Orchestration, Value Coaching and Acceleration Projects. This article focuses on Value Coaches, explains what they do and how data space initiatives can work with them.
What Value Coaches do
Value Coaches work directly with data space initiatives, providing tailored guidance on the challenges that most commonly prevent progress. These typically fall into three areas: business models and value propositions for participants, governance, and long-term sustainability of the data space.
The coaching model draws on best practices from consulting. A Value Coach analyses the specific situation and challenge of an initiative, provides structured feedback, and helps identify practical paths forward. Engagements are focused and time-bound, with defined outcomes agreed in advance.
Learnings from coaching sessions are documented and, with confidential details removed, fed back into the DSSC knowledge base for the wider community to benefit from.
What Value Coaches address
Data space sustainability is currently one of the most common challenges across European data space initiatives. Many are approaching the end of their initial funding cycle and need to define revenue models for participants and the data space itself, clarify value propositions for each, and articulate why organisations should join and stay.
Governance is closely related to this issue. Data space governance authorities, the organisations responsible for running the core services of a data space, often face questions about their legitimacy as well as on roles, rules, privileges and trust among participants.
How the process works
Support begins with a maturity assessment, a structured tool that evaluates a data space initiative across six dimensions: governance, business, legal, interoperability, control over data, and trust and value creation. The assessment takes approximately 15 minutes and helps both the initiative and DSSC understand where support can have the most impact.
Once the assessment is complete, DSSC reviews the results and agrees a cadence for coaching sessions with the initiative. Where multiple initiatives face the same challenge, DSSC may address it through a structured accelerator sprint, a time-limited collaborative project that produces a reusable output for the broader community. We will look into this type of support in the next article – watch this space to keep yourself up to date.
Value coaching is available at no cost to eligible data spaces, as the service is provided under the umbrella of the DSSC which is funded by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme. Participation requires a commitment to engage openly with the process and a willingness to allow generalised learnings to be shared.
How to request support
Support requests can be submitted through the DSSC website, where initiatives can complete the maturity assessment and describe their current challenges.