TRUSTS · Project

A Secure European Marketplace for Buying and Selling Data Across Borders

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Imagine you have valuable business data — customer trends, market signals, sensor readings — but you can't sell or share it because of privacy rules and trust issues. TRUSTS built a kind of "Amazon for data" where companies can safely list, find, and trade datasets while staying fully GDPR-compliant. They connected two existing national data platforms (one Austrian, one German) into a single European marketplace, complete with smart recommendations that help you find the datasets you actually need. Think of it as a trusted middleman that handles all the legal and security headaches so companies can finally unlock the value sitting in their data vaults.

By the numbers

consortium partners across Europe

countries represented in the consortium

industry use cases tested (financial and telecom)

companies testing the platform including 2 data providers

total project deliverables produced

48%

industry ratio in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Companies across Europe are sitting on valuable data they cannot monetize because there is no trusted, regulation-compliant marketplace to sell or exchange it. Fragmented national platforms, inconsistent privacy standards, and lack of trust between buyers and sellers mean most commercial and personal data stays locked up. This costs the European data economy billions in unrealized value while companies resort to expensive, one-off data-sharing agreements.

The solution

What was built

A fully operational, GDPR-compliant European data marketplace that federates existing national platforms (International Data Spaces and Data Market Austria). The platform includes smart brokerage and recommendation algorithms — demonstrated with production data across two development cycles — that automatically match data buyers with relevant sellers. Across 51 deliverables, the project also produced governance models, legal compliance tools, and viable business models for sustainable data trading.

Audience

Who needs this

Banks and insurance companies needing external data to improve risk assessment and fraud detection modelsTelecom operators wanting to monetize anonymized network and usage data securelyAI and machine learning companies searching for diverse, compliant training datasetsData brokers and analytics firms looking for a trusted cross-border data exchange channelEnterprise CDOs (Chief Data Officers) building data monetization strategies

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Financial Services

enterprise

Target: Banks, insurance companies, and fintech firms needing external data for risk models

If you are a bank or insurance company struggling to enrich your risk models with external datasets — this project developed a GDPR-compliant data marketplace tested specifically in the financial sector as one of its 3 use cases. The platform includes smart brokerage algorithms demonstrated with production data that can match you with relevant data providers. With 6 companies already testing the platform including 2 data providers, the integration path is proven.

Telecommunications

enterprise

Target: Telecom operators looking to monetize or acquire network and usage data

If you are a telecom operator sitting on massive volumes of network and customer usage data but cannot monetize it due to privacy concerns — this project built a secure data exchange platform with one of its 3 use cases targeting the telecom industry specifically. The marketplace federates across existing platforms like International Data Spaces, letting you list anonymized datasets for buyers across 10 European countries. The brokerage system recommends matching buyers and sellers automatically.

Data Analytics & AI

any

Target: AI companies and data brokers needing diverse training datasets

If you are a data analytics or AI company constantly hunting for quality training datasets across fragmented sources — this project created a federated European data marketplace that connects multiple national platforms into one searchable space. The platform includes recommendation and brokerage algorithms tested with production data across 51 deliverables. With 21 consortium partners across 10 countries, the cross-border data discovery problem is addressed at scale.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to access or use this data marketplace platform?

The project explored viable business models for the marketplace but specific pricing is not published in the available data. As an Innovation Action with 21 partners, the platform was built to be sustainable beyond the project's end (December 2022). Contact the coordinator for current licensing or access terms.

Can this handle data trading at industrial scale across multiple countries?

Yes — the platform was designed as a European-scale solution and tested across 10 countries with 21 partners. It federates existing large platforms (International Data Spaces and Data Market Austria) rather than starting from scratch, which means it inherits their existing scale and user base. The 3 use cases involved 6 companies including 2 data providers working with production data.

What is the IP situation — can we license or deploy this technology?

The consortium includes 10 industry partners and 6 SMEs alongside universities and research organizations. As a closed EU Innovation Action, results are typically available for licensing or commercial partnership. The project website at trusts-data.eu may have current information on exploitation plans.

Is this platform compliant with European data regulations?

GDPR compliance was a core design requirement, not an afterthought. The project investigated legal and ethical aspects across the entire data chain from providers to consumers. The platform was built specifically to handle both personal and non-personal data in full regulatory compliance.

How mature is this — is it ready to deploy or still experimental?

The project ran as an Innovation Action (2020-2022) and produced demonstrator systems with production data, not just prototypes. The brokerage and recommendation features were tested in 3 real industry use cases across financial and telecom sectors. Based on available project data, this reached pilot-ready maturity.

Can this integrate with our existing data infrastructure?

The platform was specifically designed as a federator — it connects to existing data marketplaces like International Data Spaces and allows integration of future platforms. This means you don't need to replace your current setup but can plug into the TRUSTS network. Interoperability was a key design goal given the 21-partner consortium spanning 10 countries.

Who built this and can they support commercial deployment?

The consortium of 21 partners across 10 countries is led by Leibniz University Hannover (Germany) and includes 10 industry partners (48% of the consortium). With 6 SMEs involved, there are multiple potential commercial support channels. The consortium deliberately included companies already running national data market projects.

Consortium

Who built it

The TRUSTS consortium is unusually well-balanced for commercialization: 10 out of 21 partners (48%) come from industry, and 6 are SMEs — meaning nearly half the team has direct market incentive to turn results into products. The 10-country spread across Western and Southern Europe (Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Cyprus, Romania) gives the platform genuine cross-border credibility. Led by Leibniz University Hannover, the consortium deliberately recruited companies already running national data marketplace projects (International Data Spaces, Data Market Austria), which means the technology builds on proven commercial infrastructure rather than starting from a lab prototype.

GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ UNIVERSITAET HANNOVERCoordinator · DE
NOVA TELECOMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA SINGLE MEMBER SAparticipant · EL
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET GRAZthirdparty · AT
EMC ISRAEL ADVANCED INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES LTDparticipant · IL
INTERNATIONAL DATA SPACES EVparticipant · DE
IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNASparticipant · EL
EMC ISRAEL DEVELOPMENT CENTER LTDparticipant · IL
SEMANTIC WEB COMPANY GMBHparticipant · AT
RESEARCH STUDIOS AUSTRIA FORSCHUNGSGESELLSCHAFT MBHparticipant · AT
TRAPEZA PEIRAIOS AEparticipant · EL
EBOS TECHNOLOGIES LIMITEDparticipant · CY
RELATIONAL ROMANIA SRLparticipant · RO
EMC INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL UNLIMITED COMPANYthirdparty · IE
UNIVERSITAT KOBLENZthirdparty · DE
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVENparticipant · BE
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFTparticipant · NL
KNOW CENTER RESEARCH GMBHparticipant · AT
LSTECH ESPANA SLparticipant · ES

How to reach the team

Coordinator is at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany — reachable through the project website or university directory

Order a report on this consortium See GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ UNIVERSITAET HANNOVER profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how the TRUSTS data marketplace technology could fit your data strategy? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the right consortium partner for your sector.

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