Heleen Janssen - Enabling the sharing of company data for local community and citizen benefit

exploring the opportunities and pitfalls with the “data intermediary” concept

This research addresses fundamental questions to B2G data sharing and explores whether the concept of the “data intermediary” – an entity that would manage and control the data governance aspects that come with B2G data sharing. The intermediary's primary task would be to gain confidence of the relevant stakeholders involved in that data sharing: the companies, the municipality, and the citizens. That
data governance would make the data sharing with the municipality compliant, trustworthy, transparent and sustainable – all in the interest of the municipality’s better-informed policy-making, and with this, in the interest of the citizens.

Against this backdrop, this research project explores to what extent a “data intermediary” might help develop compliant, trustworthy and transparent data sharing, and what a data intermediary would need to operationalise their governance aims. This research aims to unpack and evaluate the underlying tensions in B2G data sharing contexts and examines whether a data intermediary can encourage businesses’
involvement, while fostering and protecting rights and interests of citizens.