Swiss Data Space Forum: Positive conclusion after the first event

The "Swiss Data Space Forum" took place for the first time on October 30, 2024. It was organized by the Swiss Data Alliance and digitalwitzerland. With around 150 participants from business, civil society, research and administration, the forum was an important impetus for the development of trustworthy digital infrastructures.

A data room is a legal, organizational and technical framework for the shared use and reuse of data by multiple stakeholders. The concept is a central component of the package of measures adopted by the Federal Council on December 8, 2023. It aims to better exploit the potential of data in Switzerland. The "Data Space Forum", the first national conference on this topic, took place on October 30, 2024 on the HSLU campus in Rotkreuz.

Data stewards are central

André Golliez, President of the Swiss Data Alliance, drew a positive conclusion after the event. However, the real work still lies ahead. In order for trustworthy data spaces to emerge in Switzerland, people are needed to moderate the exchange and development of data cooperation across organizational boundaries. "Cooperation between different players with different issues and objectives does not happen by itself, but requires targeted efforts," explained Golliez. The role of data stewards plays a central role in the success of data spaces. "Data stewardship is a task that has hardly been established to date, but will be crucial to the success of data spaces." For this reason, the Swiss Data Alliance intends to hold a one-week "boot camp" for data stewardship in May 2025.

The Swiss Data Space Forum was co-sponsored by the civil society organization Opendata.ch, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences(SATW), the SWICO association and the companies Accenture, Beyond Civic and Zetamind. Slides and recordings of the individual program items are published on the forum website.