Telefónica creates a platform to build multi-sector Data Spaces

• Telefónica is developing a technology platform and a demonstration centre that provides organisations with a reliable environment for sharing information and extracting the full value from data without compromising its responsible use.

• The platform stands out for its data sovereignty, multi-sector adaptability and comprehensive security and governance, as control of the information remains with the owner and access to it is transparent, traceable and follows advanced protection mechanisms.

Telefónica, through its digital business unit Telefónica Tech, is advancing its commitment to offering more and better services to customers with the launch of a technology platform and a demonstration centre aimed at creating multi-sectoral Data Spaces. The project, named ‘Telefónica DataSphere: Boosting Competitiveness and Data Sovereignty in Multisectoral Ecosystems’, is being presented at Advanced Factories, a leading event in the industrial sector currently taking place in Barcelona.

Telefónica offers a platform designed for the exchange of structured data (both static and real-time) between organisations and for integrating associated services: from the visualisation and analysis of information via dashboards and reports to trained artificial intelligence and machine learning models to improve predictive capabilities and decision-making.

The company will also launch a demonstration centre where various data spaces can be built, under common governance and technology, to test pilots and use cases. Its aim is to create an environment in which the data owner retains sovereignty (i.e. the platform enables access to the information at source, rather than holding it locally) and can manage access and usage contracts to ensure security, whilst benefiting from interoperability and shared standards.

Darío Cesena, Head of IoT at Telefónica Tech, says: “At Telefónica, we continue to innovate to offer more and better services with the aim of becoming the best gateway for citizens, businesses and public administrations to digital technologies. Our platform and our demonstration centre allow different stakeholders to share data securely, traceably and in compliance with regulations, without losing control over their assets, respecting sovereignty and facilitating agile, scalable and governed collaboration. In short, we provide organisations with a reliable environment to extract value from data without compromising its integrity or responsible use.”

Telefónica’s platform complies with data sovereignty by being based on a federated architecture that enables the exchange of information without the need to centralise it, ensuring at all times that each participant retains control over their own data.

Its design fosters trust among the various stakeholders and enables scalability across multiple businesses by adapting to the standards, requirements and specificities of each sector. It also guarantees data security and governance through advanced tools for access control, digital contract management and the definition of usage policies to ensure a traceable and secure exchange.

To this end, the platform features mechanisms for semantic validation, traceability, versioning and certification of origin to ensure the accuracy of shared data and strengthen trust, whilst access granted to members registered as participants is governed by verifiable credentials and digitally signed usage and access agreements.