#data commons

The Data Commons is our vision of data governance that advances commons-based approaches: those that are based not on private control but collective stewardship and public interest.

The Data Commons approach seeks to address power imbalances between data subjects and entities that hold and use the data. It aims at maximizing societal value of data, instead of simply maximizing the volume and intensity of data use.

Our goal is to support the development of policies that support this vision. The creation of the Data Commons will be enabled by policies that support data use in the public interest, so that society-wide and not just private benefits are obtained. This includes the need for governance models where users’ privacy and data protection are safeguarded while data can be used, and generate value.

Our Data Commons work focuses on policies that fall under the current European Strategy for Data. We advocate for public interest provisions in policy files like the Data Governance Act and the Data Act.


 

Posts

To succeed, data commons advocates must address privacy concerns head-on

March 2, 2023 by: Zuzanna Warso
The EP's ITRE Committee has adopted its report on the Data Act. The report shows a backlash against B2G data sharing, combining concerns about personal data protection and the impact on business, competition and innovation, preventing our proposal for a more robust B2G data sharing framework and a public data commons from gaining traction across the political spectrum.

Towards a European commons for electronic health data

November 4, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang
The European Data Health Space proposal should allow the building of a European commons for electronic health data to secure public interest goals.

The rise of European Data

November 1, 2022 by: Open Future
To wrap up his Fellowship at the Datasphere Initiative, Francesco wrote an essay investigating the impact of both the Data Act and the Data Governance Act on the emergence of a global data governance regime while analyzing the EU's geopolitical role in global data regulatory debates.

To properly function a public data commons needs to be European in scope

October 21, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang et al.
The EU B2G data sharing framework needs to be complemented by a strong and democratically accountable European Public Data Commons to allow public sector bodies to fill their mandates in a data-driven world.

The Data Commons are a key enabler of Europe’s digital transformation

October 14, 2022 by: Open Future
The Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) published a policy brief underpinning how a robust framework for B2G data sharing is a precondition for ensuring that public institutions and policymakers can fulfill their mandates.

A first look at the European health data space proposal

June 17, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang
Analysis of the EHDS proposal, which includes B2G data sharing rules for electronic health data. These might lead to legal uncertainty due to the lack of coordination with the B2G provisions included in the Data Act.

A community-based approach for high-value datasets

June 13, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang
The Indian approach to data governance provides a framework that helps maximize the collective benefits stemming from data access and reuse in the public interest. In the EU, it could be applied to data intermediaries and data cooperatives, providing an approach to collective governance of data rights while avoiding the recentralization of market power.

Meet Zuzanna Warso, the new Director of Research

June 9, 2022 by: Open Future
Zuzanna Warso is the Director of Research at Open Future. In this role, she will manage all the research activities, including further developing our research agenda and our fellowship program.

Adam Harvey on CC licensing of AI training datasets

May 31, 2022 by: Open Future
An essay from Adam Harvey on CC licensing of AI training datasets building on the research we have commissioned from him as part of the AI_Commons initiative.

Data Act impact assessment fails to grasp societal value of data

April 28, 2022 by: Alek Tarkowski
Alek finds that the impact of the proposed Data Act was assessed based solely on economic cost-benefit analysis. Important provisions on Business-to-Government (B2G) data sharing were evaluated without any methods for assessing societal value.

Four questions for the European strategy for data

April 12, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang
This note assesses the interconnectedness of the GDPR respectively with the Data Governance Act and Data Act, shedding light on the different inconsistencies between the two acts and the GDPR that risk hindering the overarching objective of the European strategy for data.

Publications

Data Commons Primer

September 20, 2022 by: Alek Tarkowski et al.
This primer translates the conceptualizations of the governance of data as a commons into a design framework that brings these ideas to life, in particular through public policies.

Public data commons

May 24, 2022 by: Alek Tarkowski et al.
This policy brief presents a model for public-interest B2G data sharing, aimed to complement the current proposal of the Data Act. The proposal includes the creation of the European Public Data Commons, a body that acts as a recipient and clearinghouse for the data made available. 

Data Act: Business to Government Data Sharing

February 23, 2022 by: Francesco Vogelezang et al.
Policy brief on the provisions dealing with Business to Government Data Sharing in the European Commissions proposal for a Data Act that was published on 23 February 2022.

Data Act: Interoperability and Data Sharing Services

February 23, 2022 by: Alek Tarkowski et al.
Policy brief on the provisions dealing with Interoperability and Data Sharing services in the European Commissions proposal for a Data Act that was published on 23 February 2022.

Data act: Access to Data

February 23, 2022 by: Paul Keller et al.
Policy brief on the provisions dealing with Access to Data and Data Portability in the European Commissions proposal for a Data Act that was published on 23 February 2022.

The argument against property rights in data

December 10, 2021 by: Alek Tarkowski et al.
In this policy brief we review the EU policy debate on access and use of data in view of the upcoming Data Act. We provide arguments against the introduction of new property rights–including the sui generis database right–in favor of strengthening data access rights.

Proposal to leverage Article 17 to build a public repository of Public Domain and openly licensed works.

September 21, 2021 by: Paul Keller
White-paper on how to to leverage Article 17 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market directive to build a public repository of Public Domain and openly licensed works.

The Data Governance Act: Five opportunities for the Data Commons

June 23, 2021 by: Francesco Vogelezang et al.
In this policy brief, we present five issues related to the proposal for the Data Governance Act (DGA) that are crucial to achieve the policy goal of building Data Commons in the European Union.

Events

October 15, 2022

Discussing Democratic Data Governance with RadicalxChange in Poland

October 12, 2022
RadicalxChange organized gatherings on 15-16 October in Lodz and on 18 October in Warsaw to explore pioneering digital democracy practices. Alek joined both of them, focusing on democratic data governance.
June 24, 2022

AI Infrastructures for Civil Society and the Arts

June 20, 2022
On Friday 24 June we participated in a Workshop on AI Infrastructures for Civil Society and the Arts organized by the Hardware Medienkunst Verein. Paul's intervention was centered on the possibility of Common Data Spaces that can nurture artistic practices and civil society activism. 
June 21, 2022

Data Act: in-between policy and practice

June 14, 2022
On 21 June, we organized a panel discussion titled “Data Act: in-between policy and practice”, at the 2022 MyData Summit in Helsinki. The session provided a forum for an exchange of perspectives on the Data Act from public, private and civil society representatives.
June 23, 2022

Open Future Salon #1: Introducing the Public Data Commons. B2G data sharing in the public interest

June 10, 2022
On 23 June, we organized our first Salon to present our proposal for a data governance framework that ensures broader B2G data sharing in the public interest, and discuss its implementation.
May 25, 2022

Is a EU data strategy balancing economic efficiency and fundamental rights possible?

May 18, 2022
On 25 May at the CPDP Annual conference, we co-organized a panel to discuss what are the potential points of conflict between economic growth from data and fundamental rights values within the European data governance framework.
March 7, 2022

Mozilla Festival 2022: Exploring Design solutions for AI_Commons

March 4, 2022
On Monday 7 March at 19:00 CET, Francesco and Aniek Kempeneers co-hosted a session dedicated to AI_Commons at Mozilla Festival 2022.
September 21, 2021

Protecting Open Licenses in the EU Copyright Reform at CC Global Summit 2021

December 1, 2021
Presentation of the White Paper: "Proposal to Leverage Art.17 of CDSM Directive to build a public repository of Public Domain and openly licensed works"
September 22, 2021

AI_Commons at CC Global Summit 2021

December 1, 2021
Discussing with the broad Open Movement how to reconcile Open licensing and AI training
November 18, 2021

MyData in the Netherlands

August 30, 2021
At MyData in the Netherlands, we co-hosted with Waag the workshop: "A closer look at data governance and the European data strategy: the Data Governance Act & the Data Act", during which we analyzed the EC's Inception Impact Assessment Document.
September 20, 2021

Rethink Design

August 24, 2021
DCODE Summer School 2021: Introducing DCODE challenges, outlining new design ideals for our digital future, and setting the ground for a shared vocabulary.