The 'Sectoral Data Spaces' funding program receives 164 applications to promote data space projects
06 de junho de 2024
DESCRIPCIÓN
- This initiative is part of the European Commission's effort to build a European data economy, estimated to be worth €659M by 2025 and €851M by 2030.
- A large majority of applicants for grants to build data sharing ecosystems are private companies, especially in the health, mobility, agri-food and industry sectors.
- Projects under this national programme will be completed by 31 December 2025.
The Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service ratifies its commitment to the development of data spaces in strategic sectors of the economy through the national programme 'Sectoral Data Spaces', aligned with the 'Digital Spain Agenda 2026' and European schemes such as the 'Data Act' or the 'Data Governance Act'.
One of the most important initiatives of this programme is precisely its call for grants, which through subsidies aims to promote the creation of demonstration centres and the implementation and exploitation of use cases of data spaces. These grants are aimed at companies, associations and organisations dedicated to research and the dissemination of knowledge, with the aim of contributing to the construction of data exchange ecosystems and creating the necessary infrastructures so that operators can manage them securely and efficiently.
The call for applications received a total of 164 applications from companies in different sectors, including mainly the Health sector (37 applications), Sustainable Mobility (35) and Agri-Food (30). In addition, more than two thirds of the applicants are private companies or associations, which shows the interest that exists in certain strategic sectors to create data exchange mechanisms and develop new businesses around the data economy. Sectors such as Industry (21 applications), Social Economy (12), Commerce (10) or Environment (7) also have a notable presence in this call.
Through this initiative, experimental development projects of two different typologies are funded. 135 of these applications, more than 80% of the total, are aimed at the implementation of use cases, i.e. real applications of data processing and sharing technologies with a business purpose. These use cases include, in addition to the creation of a data space, the development of a business model, the pursuit of a commercial objective and the implementation of a mechanism for financial sustainability after support. On the other hand, the remaining 29 applications pursue the creation of demonstrator centres, which are articulated in data space technology platforms where companies, public administrations or associations can carry out proofs of concept and pilots related to data exchange.
In terms of budget, the call has EUR 110 million for use cases and EUR 40 million for demonstrator sites. This total amount of €150 million is very close to the €161 million requested, ensuring the viability of many of these projects. 5 million, which can cover up to 60% of the eligible budget in the case of small companies.
BAIDATA welcomes the creation of initiatives such as the 'Sectoral Data Spaces' programme, which highlight the importance of public-private collaboration to achieve objectives beneficial to the general interest. This call for grants demonstrates that there is a willingness on the part of private companies and research organisations to further develop data spaces as a tool to transform the country's economy. BAIDATA, as a leading initiative in the promotion of the data economy in the Iberian Peninsula, will continue to work along the same lines to train the experts of the future, establish standards and protocols that allow the interoperability of data spaces and, in short, contribute to more companies joining this type of innovative projects.
If you wish to consult the results of this call for proposals in detail, you can do so by clicking on this link.