Special Track 2
Bridging the Gap: The Role of Data Intermediaries in the Creation of Urban Digital Twins
Special Track Chairs:
- Manuel Portela, Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona
- Marisa Ponti, University of Gothenburg
- Giovanni Maccani, Ideas For Change
Description
The use of data for policy is increasing; however, access and use of data have proven challenging due to its privacy and confidentiality, among other technical and non-technical reasons. In Europe, more and more regulations are put in place to facilitate the re-use of data. For example, the Open Data Directive promotes governmental data sharing. The Data Act Regulation (Regulation 2023/2854) makes it mandatory to share non-personal data on various topics that can be used for the common good. The General Data Protection Regulation promotes the use of data for research and policy in certain cases.
In the context of urban settings, digital twins – virtual representations of real cities that users can interact with – and citiverses, a type of cross-sectoral adaptation of metaverses for immersive urban experiences – are artifacts built using data, data analytics, and machine learning. These are leveraged to develop simulation models that can be adjusted in real-time. Various actors including institutional (e.g., government agencies) and non-institutional (e.g., businesses and urban residents) generate data through several sources (e.g., geospatial data, sensor data, social and economic data, administrative and open data).
The emerging Green Deal DataSpace (GDDS) is being established to foster also the deployment of urban digital twins. It does so by connecting various data sources related to the environment, climate, and sustainability to enable effective use. This includes data held by public authorities, research institutions, businesses, and citizens. By breaking down data silos, it enables urban digital twins and citiverses to access a wider range of information, leading to more comprehensive and accurate models.
However, establishing this data ecosystem poses several challenges, including the need for adequate infrastructure and secure data access. Nonetheless, there is a need to increase the number of datasets to cover the spectrum of all possible solutions to achieve the promises of informed policies through integral analytics.
The Data Governance Act (Regulation 2022/868) offers a solution by providing a framework for neutral data sharing and introducing new data intermediates, like Data Intermediary Service Providers (DISPs) and Data Altruism Organizations (RDAOs). Their formal recognition demonstrates the increasing diversity and complexity of the emerging European data ecosystem. However, managing such an ecosystem fairly remains an open issue, especially given the diverse interpretations of the regulations by the member states. DISPs can offer a trusted and secure data-sharing environment between companies and the public sector. At the same time, RDAOs can unlock the potential of citizen-generated data by acting as clearinghouses where citizens contribute valuable data for urban policy.
These new actors are crucial for expanding data access and facilitating data reuse, ultimately contributing to more effective and representative digital twins and citiverses. Furthermore, these virtual environments can become spaces for experimenting with regulatory learning, with good data governance as its foundation. This aspect is particularly important because emerging technologies like immersive technologies and AI systems, used in digital twins and citiverses, generate a wealth of data that must be handled in compliance with data sharing and storage laws (ITU, 2024). Data Intermediaries (DISPs and RDAOs) can provide a trusted and secure environment where organizations, companies, or individuals can share data. RDAOs and DISPs could help enable actors who are not technologically prepared (from NGOs to SMEs, and individuals) to participate in the data ecosystems. Additionally, civil society inclusion may contribute to the participatory digitalization of the urban environment, facilitating citizen engagement and decision-making.
Similarly, data intermediaries may facilitate the development of and participation of other actors in the data spaces. Through these decentralized architectures, data exchange can be turned into an economic activity between actors. Data spaces therefore become drivers of data economies in particular industries, including those that are key to urban development, while promoting fair and just values and principles. Data intermediaries should be ready to use data space connectors and standards to seamlessly participate in these ecosystem services.
Additionally, the collection and sharing of data could contribute to informing the impact of new urban development, including those contemplated in the recently promoted regulatory sandboxes* for urban innovation. Innovative tools and technologies are expected to foster more transparency and appropriate governance dynamics in the implementation of these wider urban systems.
In this special track, we seek to present challenges and opportunities to contribute to this debate, including theoretical and technical aspects that need to be addressed to achieve the goals of the DGA and the data intermediation itself, both for DISPs and RDAOs.