Overview#
A data space (German: Datenraum) is shared, federated infrastructure where companies exchange data while keeping sovereignty over their own data. Each owner decides who may access what, and under which terms. There is no central data lake — the data stays at the source and is shared on demand under agreed rules.
For compliance, this matters because data spaces are the emerging way product, material and compliance data — including the Digital Product Passport — will move across supply chains, replacing thousands of point-to-point spreadsheets and supplier portals.
The core idea is data sovereignty: you share data without giving up control of it. The owner keeps deciding who sees what, even after the data leaves their systems.
European building blocks#
Several initiatives fit together to make this work in Europe.
Manufacturing-X is driven in part by German industry associations such as the VDMA (machinery) and ZVEI (electrical industry).
How it relates#
Data spaces need a way to package data and a legal basis to share it. The Asset Administration Shell is the standardized digital-twin container often used to carry data inside these spaces. On the legal side, the EU Data Act creates data-access and portability rights, and the ESPR's Digital Product Passport is expected to be delivered through data spaces.