The EU aims to create a unified data market under the Data Strategy, open to personal and non-personal data while maintaining security. In this context, this study examines the rise of non-personal data markets in Europe, focusing on potential, challenges, solutions, and legislative requirements. To this end it assesses market characteristics in the transport, energy, and manufacturing sectors.
The transport and mobility sector is one of the fastest-growing in the data economy, expected to reach nearly €25 billion by 2025. Data enhances safety, efficiency, and connected transport. Challenges include personal data and varying standards among stakeholders. The dynamic energy sector could benefit from non-personal data use for efficiency, asset management, and renewable energy integration. Data platforms are in early stages, and experts propose data sharing mandates in certain cases. Enhanced data sharing in manufacturing could improve efficiency, create new use cases, and optimise supply chains. Challenges involve SMEs' limited IT knowledge, interoperability issues, data ownership, and data confidentiality.
Recommendations stemming from this study encompass the need for promoting digitisation, particularly in sectors with inadequate digitalisation, creating incentives for organisations to share digitised non-personal data while mitigating potential disincentives and the establishment of a safe harbour to protect organisations genuinely attempting to anonymise personal data. While existing initiatives prepare for sector-specific standardisation, the study indicates that further steps are necessary to ensure widespread agreement on usable standards and their comprehensive implementation.
