datavaults 4th plenary meeting

DataVaults 4th Plenary Meeting – 8th – 9th February, 2021

The 4th DataVaults Plenary Meeting was held virtually on February 8th-9th, 2021, and it was an opportunity for the consortium to discuss in depth the open issues and next steps of the project.

As in this Plenary Meeting the focus was mainly on the ongoing technical activities, the second day was dedicated to the components of DataVaults.

A brief overview of the previous months

The consortium has worked intensively during the previous months to outline the DataVaults scope and envisioned platform functionalities. This work included identifying with the help of our Demonstrators the available data sources and how these data can be harmonized under a common data model. As a second step, we envisioned the journey of data inside the DataVaults platform; from the moment they are collected up to creating real value for the Individuals and the Data. Afterwards, based on the findings of our landscape analysis around data marketplaces and compensation schemes, privacy and security preservation  technologies, we had everything we needed to outline the DataVaults Methodology and MVP (Most Valuable Product) and derive the initial set of DataVaults user stories and functional and non-functional requirements.

Where we are now

All technical partners have already started the design and development of their components, based on the outcomes of the previous months. In the second day of the Plenary Meeting, the component owners presented their progress and set any open issues out for discussion. In the light of the upcoming DataVaults Architecture, the specification of interactions between the components were highlighted, in order to ensure that once all components are ready, they will fit together smoothly and provide all the envisioned functionalities to the users seamlessly.

The rest of the meeting covered other ongoing activities. The steps towards the engagement of stakeholders and the implementation of the demonstrators were thoroughly discussed, being a crucial part for the verification and validation of our technical solution. Dissemination, communication and exploitation are the main vehicle towards the visibility, sustainability and future adoption of DataVaults- and had their own slots in the meeting. Regarding dissemination, special emphasis was put to the new Smart Cities Μarketplace Initiative that has been organised by DataVaults and launched earlier this year. The consortium went through the Initiative’s roadmap and vision, and discussed the role of DataVaults and the benefits from the active participation in this new Citizen Focus Group.