Partners of the consortium next to Fraunhofer FOKUS are Capgemini Invent as project manager and the company time.lex for the processing of legal aspects. “The selection of Fraunhofer FOKUS reaffirms our many years of expertise regarding the development of innovative data portals. We have already proven this in the course of the development of core components for the European Data Portal (EDP) of the EU Commission. Therefore we are all the happier to have been selected again.” says Matthias Flügge, Head of business unit Digital Public Services at Fraunhofer FOKUS.

The establishment of the SCDS extends the ongoing efforts of the European Commission to provide both the public and private sector with core components to support a European data infrastructure for the exchange of data and services of all kinds. SCDS is intended as an information portal to actors who want to publish their data and services in the European area, such as cities, communities or companies. It is based on four central pillars:

• An overview platform for the data exchange: Preexisting data exchange experiences are collected and published as best practices and technical as well as legal aspects of data sharing are explained.
• A feedback service that allows SCDS users to exchange experiences with data sharing, and a helpdesk to assist users with unanswered questions.
• Communication measures to provide information to the public about the opportunities that arise from the data exchange and its economic and social benefits.
• A website that makes the above mentioned aspects accessible to the public.

Fraunhofer FOKUS is responsible for all technical tasks within the consortium. This includes in particular the complete conception, implementation and administration of the SCDS portal. In addition, Fraunhofer FOKUS will be responsible for the conception and provision of publications in the three central areas of data interfaces, data security and traceability as well as clear identification of data sources.

An important part of this work is the preparation of scientific reports that deal with key technical issues of data exchange and provide practical implementation recommendations. Dr. Yury Glikman, head of the working group Open Service Engineering at Fraunhofer FOKUS, explains: “Within the framework of the project we will provide practical recommendations on the central technical aspects of the project. To do this, we draw on both the knowledge of experts from the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, as well as other external specialists.”