data space-as-a-service

Why Cities Struggle With Data Today

Cities already generate huge amounts of data — from open datasets, sensors, utilities, and public services. But:

• Data is usually published in raw CSVs or Excel files without machine-readable semantics.
• External developers must spend too much time cleaning and transforming data before they can build apps.
• Each new project requires intensive back-and-forth communication between city IT teams and vendors.
• Data silos exist: traffic, energy, water, environment, GIS — all managed separately, not shared across departments.
• There is no unified security, identity, or access control, making it hard to open some datasets while protecting sensitive ones.

Result: innovation slows down, and many smart city projects never move past the pilot stage.

Components of a Data space (FIWARE-based)

Based on FIWARE and our FIWAREBox solutions, a working data space includes:

• Context Broker (NGSI-LD) – the “brain” of the  data space, handling real-time and historical data.
• Smart Data Models – standard formats for urban, mobility, energy, water, and environment data.
• Metadata Catalog (DCAT-AP, CKAN) – making datasets discoverable and harvestable by EU/national portals.
• Identity & Access Management – authentication (OAuth2/OIDC), authorization per dataset/service, reverse proxy for API security.
• Connectors & Harvesters – periodic imports (CSV, Excel, APIs) and real-time streams (sensors, IoT).
• Time-series Database – storage for historical data queries and analytics.
• Visualization & Dashboards (Grafana, DataGrid) – easy-to-use UI for filtering, sorting, and visual exploration.
• Evidence Logs –​ who accessed what dataset and when.
• Support & Governance – email support, SLA options, and compliance with EU Data Act and Gaia-X.