The PISTIS project is entering an exciting new phase. It is moving beyond theoretical development and into the practical demonstration of its innovative data sharing and monetisation solution. This transition is crucial as the project reveal the significant market value PISTIS brings to data ecosystems, boosted by a powerful collaborative approach through the EUDATA+ cluster. 

At its core, PISTIS aims to provide a reference federated data sharing/trading and monetisation platform. Imagine a secure, trusted environment where proprietary data assets and data-driven intelligence can be exchanged and used in a controlled manner. The PISTIS platform is built on open APIs and standardised components from leading initiatives like IDSA and Gaia-X, that can be used jointly or autonomously, enabling existing data space users to complement their existing services with the new methods arising from PISTIS and not forcing them to be abandoned.  

It has two core parts, which are: 

  • the PISTIS Data Space Factory, which is deployed “locally” over each Data Space, and which holds all the Data,  

and 

  • the PISTIS FAIR Data Trading & Value Exchange Monetisation Platform, which coordinates the interaction between the Data Space Factories and oversees all data trading transactions and contracts. 

Putting PISTIS to the test: demonstrations and evaluation 

As with all EU Horizon projects, rigorous demonstration and evaluation are key. A recent deliverable, “D5.2 Demonstrator’s Activities Evaluation Results – First Report,” builds upon earlier plans (D5.1) and focuses on the scrutiny of the PISTIS alpha version technology. This report wasn’t just about reviewing what we’ve built so far; it also laid the groundwork for enhancing our demonstration activities for the final software version, due at the project’s end. 

These piloting activities are concentrated in three “Demonstration Hubs” and the experimentation cover three critical ecosystems: 

  • Mobility and Urban Planning  
  • Energy  
  • Automotive  

The power of collaboration: welcoming EUDATA+ 

A crucial aspect of the ongoing work is ensuring our demonstrators not only meet technical requirements but also propose improvement actions, interventions and measures for the project’s exploitation path, and pay attention to keenly assessing the cost-efficiency and viability of new business models emerging from PISTIS. This complements them having to fulfil their own requirements in needing to be sure that what is being tested is suitable for their own interests and processes in their day-to-day activities and to satisfy the need to evaluate the overall platform for the wider benefit of the project.    

Early on, PISTIS recognised the immense value in collaborating with its six sister projects, which are tackling the same issues from different perspectives.  

What started as initial liaison steps has blossomed into something far more impactful with the formation of the EUDATA+ cluster. This collective of seven projects sees the mutual benefit of collaboration, allowing them to explore business opportunities and understand how each project can both benefit from and contribute to the others. 

The project reviewers have endorsed this collaborative approach, highlighting the value in “introducing new stakeholders to deploy PISTIS and provide new data sources.” They even suggested considering the integration of new technologies from these stakeholders as our ecosystems grow. 

PISTIS has two significant advantages that smooth the path for new stakeholders: 

  • Stakeholders interested in testing the PISTIS platform will be given access to it to test it themselves via the PISTIS Living Lab Factory, complemented by the PISTIS Open Data Factory. 
  • And crucially, the PISTIS platform. PISTIS provides a ready-to-use dataspace and monetisation solution with a modern, service-based architecture. From the alpha version onward, it includes automated, container-based deployment of PISTIS services, compatible with any cloud infrastructure. This significantly lowers the barrier for organisations to adopt PISTIS. Each member of a PISTIS-enabled dataspace can choose their preferred hosting infrastructure and deploy their share of PISTIS services with minimal effort.   

It’s important to remember that data sharing isn’t always solely about monetisation. There’s a wide array of data purchase and delivery modes to consider in today’s dynamic environment. This latest deliverable has been instrumental in laying a solid foundation, widening the project’s scope, and significantly increasing the likelihood of a successful exploitation phase, all while refining the testing and evaluation of the PISTIS platform and software. We will know the results of this demonstration and evaluation phase soon. Stay tuned!