Unlocking Green Deal Data

To tackle these issues, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has brought together a group of academic and policy experts to explore different perspectives for data governance and sharing in the European Green Deal Data Space. Their work, captured in the report “Unlocking Green Deal Data: Innovative Approaches for Data Governance and Sharing in Europe”, analyses a variety of topics related to the implementation of new regulatory instruments (i.e. the Data Governance Act and the Data Act) as well as the roles of various actors in the data ecosystem, including data intermediaries, data altruism organisations, private sector actors, and citizens. The main conclusions build upon the concept of ‘Systemic Data Justice’, which emphasises equity, accountability, and fair representation to foster stronger connections between the supply and demand of data for a more effective and sustainable data economy.

About the speakers

Anna Colom is a political and social scientist working at the intersections of democratic processes, data and AI, climate, and public health. She is currently the Senior Policy Lead at The Data Tank, and a visiting scholar at The Open University. Before joining The Data Tank, she was the Public Participation and Research Lead at the Ada Lovelace Institute. Her role focused on ensuring public perspectives and experiences are embedded in both decision-making processes, policy and research in rigorous, inclusive and meaningful ways.

Sara Thabit Gonzalez is a Scientific Policy Officer at the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). Her research focuses on socially inclusive data sharing and governance approaches, supporting EU policy design and implementation. Her academic background spans the fields of urban planning, GIS, smart city governance, and public innovation. Her experience includes over seven years working with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and research-related activities with various European Universities, including Tallinn University of Technology and Edinburgh Napier University.

Siddharth Peter de Souza is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies in the University of Warwick (UK). His work explores how data is governed globally in contested, and plural settings. He has recently published a monograph titled Designing Indicators for a Plural Legal World, which discusses how rule of law indicators need to be reimagined in contexts and countries in the Global Majority. Siddharth is also the founder of Justice Adda, a law and design social venture which seeks to build legal literacy and awareness in India.

Marisa Ponti is an Associate Professor in Informatics at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research and teaching include topics related to emerging technologies and citizen participation in science and innovation; data ecosystems, data justice and Artificial Intelligence; and governance of emerging technologies. She is interested in doing work about the actions that influential decision-makers might take to prepare for a world with advanced technologies. Having the opportunity to contribute to policy development and advising is extremely valuable to her. She was a Member of the European Commission Expert Group called the Innovation Friendly Regulations Advisory Group – IFRAG.

Paola Pierri is Professor of Social Design at the University of the Arts in Bern. She specialises in anthropology of design and digital technologies, with a particular interest on the everyday use of these technologies and their impact on societies. As a Research Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute she joined the Research Group on ‘Digital inequalities and Digital Sovereignty’, working on issues of data justice in mental health.

Angela Daly is a socio-legal scholar of the regulation and governance of data and digital technologies. She is full Professor of Law & Technology at the University of Dundee (Scotland/UK) with a joint appointment between Dundee Law School and the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science. She advises governments, companies and civil society organisations on matters relevant to her research and most recently led an independent review of the UK Economic and Social Research Council’s research data policy, Doing ESRC Data Better (2024).

Anna Berti Suman is Research Fellow in Sustainable Innovation Law at Luiss School of Law, Rome. Earlier, she was Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship grantee and formerly Dutch Research Council fellow at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy. She founded and still curates the ‘Sensing for Justice’ project aimed at exploring the potential of civic monitoring to promote environmental law enforcement. She is also Qualified Barrister, admitted to the Bar of Rome, following climate and environmental law cases at ‘Systasis – Centre for the Prevention and Management of Environmental Conflicts’, Milan.

Stefania Milan (moderator) is Professor of Critical Data Studies at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Media Studies and a Research Associate with the Chair in AI & Democracy at the Florence School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute.