DATALOG: Data for planetary wellbeing - progress

Principal investigators: Manuel Portela, Vladimir Estivill Castro.

MdM supported staff: Carolina Ferreyra, Óscar López Tagle.

DATALOG is a Recognized Data Altruism Organization (RDAO) that seeks to validate a platform for the interoperability of spatio-temporal data under the privacy-by-design principle. The funding from the María de Maeztu Innovation program are oriented to the following objectives:

• Increase the readiness level of the technology from 4 to 6 or 7 after test and improve the prototype

• Strengthen the sustainability and exploitation plan of DATALOG towards the creation of a spin-off that exploits the technology in development between 2024 and 2025. 

• Mobilise private funds and investment for starting up the project. 

• Increase the cooperation with more external entities, such companies and other organisations. Currently we have been collaborating with several since alliances are vital for our business model.

During 2024 we advanced on the main goals, working towards a sustainable business model and generating alliances while communicating the project to broad audiences. One of the most difficult and important goals has been delayed, the technological advancement. Despite our efforts, the difficulties in hiring the right personnel and the delays from the European Commission on their plans to support RDAOs forced us to pause the development. Nevertheless, we got additional funding to achieve this goal during 2025 and 2026. The alternative business models developed were also discarded due to publicly funded projects that offer similar services and leave less opportunities for such a small market. Therefore we will continue with the original DATALOG model, focusing on demonstrating through use cases the potential of the RDAO. 

Specific activities:

• Analysis of the business model for Datalog (Based on Ciència al Mercat and Barcelona Activa incubation in 2023)

• Developing interviews with different organizations and data intermediaries such as 1001 lakes, iGrant.io, Prometheus-x. 

• Developed a new interface and web UI to implement.

• Analysis of four use cases: energy communities, reduction of consumption in businesses, last-mile delivery, energy efficiency in building refurbishment.

• Creation of 4 value proposals for a separate company to offer additional services under the name of Weft.

• Preparation of different proposals to support the future sustainability of DATALOG

Communication and dissemination

• Participation in local activities: Digital Days 2024, Cluster Digital (Oracle Barcelona), 48a Geoinquiets,  21 march 2024: "KNIME&GIS" and The Data Tank”.

• DATALOG joined the MyData Association.

• Workshop “Personal data management and altruism: how and when are individuals empowered to make data sharing decisions?” organized by Data.europa Academy 

• Conference Paper: Estivill-Castro, V., Portela, M. P., & Maccani, G. (2024, May). Addressing Challenges and Opportunities in Data Sharing for the Common Good: The Case of Europe’s First Data Altruism Organisation. 2024 IEEE Smart Cities Futures Summit, Marrakech, Morocco.

• Conference abstract: Portela. M, Maccani G, Estivill-Castro V. Challenges and Opportunities for Establishing a Community-led Data Trust under the European Regulations. Data Justice Conference 2023. Cardiff University in Cardiff, UK.

• Conference abstract: Bustamante Duarte A.M., Pajarito Grajales D.F., Portela Charnejovsky M. The territorial imbalances of urban open data. Data Power Conference 2024. Graz, Austria.

• Participation in workshops with the Join Research Centre to provide feedback about the needs of RDAOs, and participation in two JRC reports

  • “Unlocking Green Deal Data: Innovative Approaches for Data Governance and Sharing in Europe” 

  • The landscape of consent management tools – a data altruism perspective 

Future plans

• Develop and implement a third-party consent model

• Develop data ingestion architecture (project GUIDE supported by PGC)

• Participation in the Conference Data For Policy 2025. Leiden University, The Hague, Netherlands.