The awarded proposal(s) from this action is/are expected to focus on data space applications and use cases that contribute to the Green Deal overall, and specifically to the policy objectives set out in the following focus areas: biodiversity, circular economy, zero pollution, climate change mitigation and adaptation. Any GDDS use case whose principal value lies in at least one of the four focus areas is in scope.

The action will further help supporting and monitoring the implementation of the Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate-neutrality, including the primary objective to ensure an effective, fair and effective green and digital transition.

Applications and use cases impacting simultaneously other relevant areas and clearly demonstrating links with relevant sectoral data spaces (e.g. agriculture, energy, mobility, etc.) are strongly encouraged.

Synergies and joint use cases with the following Digital Europe Programme actions are welcome:

• The operational data ecosystem for the development and operations of ‘Digital Twins’ of the Earth under the ‘Destination Earth’ topic.
• The Digital product passports in the key value chains of electronics (consumer and/or industrial), batteries and at least another two of the priority products identified in the Circular Economy Action Plan.
• The data space for smart communities, validated and refined through cross-sector data pilots, and paving the way for the adoption of Local Digital Twins.

Proposals should describe the use cases in sufficient detail: their scope, how data creates value for the specific focus area and how the private and the public sector benefit from it. Proposals should also illustrate in sufficient detail what is needed to support the operational phase of the use case, be it IT-infrastructure, regulatory interventions, change in culture or behaviours and how to promote them etc.

The proposal(s) should therefore clearly indicate the aimed number of stakeholders that will participate in the data space by the end of the project.

The inclusion in the proposal(s) of concrete use cases that benefit citizens and businesses and especially SMEs will be considered an asset in the evaluation process. Applicants are encouraged to consider the following examples and guiding directions:

• Collecting data for calculating certain forest indicators is essential in order to monitor pressures and hazards encountered by forest eco-systems. The GDDS could enable access to Earth Observation and National Forest Inventories (NFI) data for calibrating geospatial machine learning models that underpin development and delivery of forest indicators. The GDDS should deploy confidentiality preserving technologies to ensure confidentiality for the plot locations of the NFI data. Proposals could also explore how access to Earth Observation and NFI data can be the basis for new downstream services benefitting the broader forest economy.
• In a circular economy for textiles, there is a need to close material and data loops along the value chain. The GDDS could contribute by designing and deploying a Producer Responsibility Organization Information System (PRO-IS) as a complement and interface with the Digital Product Passports (DPPs). Involving actors from the textile, waste and digital sectors for such a use case would be important.
• Sustainability reporting and due diligence along supply chains and operations helps private operators assess and disclose their environmental and sustainability performance while complying with legal obligations10, which can become a competitive advantage in the sustainability race. The GDDS could support private operators in their journey to collect, verify and share “data-points” across their value chains, to calculate scope 3 GHG emissions, deforestation caused by commodities, biodiversity impact, water use etc. Where transparency requirements and the imperative to disclose collide with the need to protect commercially confidential information, applicants should propose digital solutions and protocols resolving such tension (e.g., by using technologies from domains such as cryptography, “secret sharing” and “zero knowledge proofs”).