The International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) is on a mission to create the future of the global, digital economy. Its 160+ member companies and institutions have created the International Data Spaces (IDS) standard: a secure system of sovereign and trusted data sharing in which all participants can realize the full value of their data. IDS enables new smart services and innovative business processes to work across companies and industries, while ensuring that the control of data remains in the hands of data providers. We call this data sovereignty.

The International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) has defined a reference architecture and a formal standard to be used for creating and operating virtual data spaces. The IDS Architecture is based on commonly accepted data governance models facilitating secure exchange and easy linkage of data within business ecosystems. Data is the raw material for innovation. This is particularly true for three major areas that are of paramount importance in today’s digitalized world: artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), and big data. For data to unfold its full potential, it must be made available in cross-company, cross-industry business ecosystems. Data value chains range from capturing data by means of sensors to preprocessing, storing, and transferring data to eventually data analysis, data processing, and data usage. The existence of data value chains is a necessary precondition for achieving innovation within business ecosystems.
The IDS Architecture ensures digital sovereignty for data owners making data available for being exchanged or shared. It thereby constitutes the basis for developing and offering smart services and for establishing innovative business processes. The IDS initiative aims at creating secure and trusted data spaces, in which companies of any size and from any industry can manage their data assets in a sovereign fashion.