Standards Development

Scope

This document defines a framework for assessing the quality of data governance and data management practices for participants in data spaces. It specifies the core principles, processes, and assessment elements that enable organizations to manage, monitor, and improve their data governance and data management practices.

The framework comprises two components:

• Process Reference Model: Defines key processes for data governance and data product management of data space participants, including its fundamental principles, structure, detailed process definitions, links to broader data governance, and required implementation measures.

• Process Assessment Framework: Outlines a model to evaluate process capability by establishing six distinct quality levels expressed in terms of capability levels, describing the corresponding profiles and guiding the systematic assessment.

This standard is aimed at supporting data governance and data management professionals, IT managers, quality assurance officers, and regulatory bodies. This standard is applicable to organizations of all types and sizes.

Purpose

Data spaces are increasingly recognized as essential enablers of economic growth and digital transformation within the European Union. By facilitating secure and seamless data sharing across sectors, data spaces promote greater collaboration, stimulate innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and open avenues for new business models. However, to fully harness these benefits, participants of data spaces must adopt robust data management and governance practices to ensure the quality, integrity, and usability of shared data assets with a strong focus on the data space specific aspects.

The European Data Act represents a significant legislative step toward establishing a cohesive framework for data accessibility, usability, and security. Its objectives include reducing barriers to data exchange, safeguarding the rights of all stakeholders, and enabling equitable access to data. This aligns with the broader goal of fostering a competitive and innovative digital economy across the EU.

In this context, the implementation of a comprehensive framework for data management and data governance is both timely and strategic. Such a framework will support consistent and reliable data practices, ensure compliance with international standards, and empower organizations to derive greater value from data through structured governance.

This framework describes data space-specific aspects - with a special focus on metadata management- on the data management and data governance of the data products.