European Big Data Value Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda

Big Data Value SRIA

The Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) defines the overall goals, main technical and non-technical priorities, and a research and innovation roadmap for the European Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Big Data Value. The SRIA has been developed by the Big Data Value Association (BDVA), an industry-led organisation representing large businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and research organisations in Europe.

The SRIA explains the strategic importance of Big Data, describes the data value chain and the central role of ecosystems, details a vision for Big Data Value in Europe in 2020, and sets out the objectives and goals to be accomplished by the PPP within the European research and innovation landscape of Horizon 2020 (H2020) and at both national and regional levels.

The multiple dimensions of Big Data Value are described and the overarching strategic objectives for the PPP are set out. These embrace data, skills, legal and policy issues, technology leadership through research and innovation, transforming applications into new business opportunities, the acceleration of business ecosystems and business models, with a particular focus on SMEs, and successful solutions for the major societal challenges Europe is facing in areas such as health, energy, transport and the environment. The objectives of the SRIA are broken down into specific areas, such as competitiveness, innovation and technology, and societal and operational objectives.

The implementation strategy for addressing the goals of the SRIA involves four mechanisms: i-Spaces; Lighthouse projects; technical projects; and cooperation and coordination projects. I-Spaces are cross-organisation, cross-sector, interdisciplinary Innovation Spaces intended to anchor targeted research and innovation projects. They offer secure accelerator-style environments for running experiments in both private data and open data, bringing technology and application development together. I-Spaces will act as incubators for new businesses in the development of skills, competences and best practices. Lighthouse projects are large-scale, data-driven innovation and demonstration projects that will create superior visibility, awareness and impact. The four mechanisms together will foster the development of the European data ecosystem in three distinct phases by establishing an innovation ecosystem, pioneering disruptive Big Data value solutions, and setting long-term ecosystem enablers. Moreover, the PPP will drive the development of the European Data Value Ecosystem to promote synergies and cooperation among members and with other PPPs such as ETP4HPC, 5G, ECSO, AIOTI, and others.

The strategic and specific goals, which together will ensure Europe’s leading role in the data-driven world, are supported by key specific technical and non-technical priorities. Five technical priority areas have been identified for research and innovation: data analytics to improve the understanding of data; optimised architectures for analytics of data-at-rest and data-in-motion; mechanisms ensuring data protection and anonymisation, to enable the vast amounts of data which are not (and never can be) open data to be incorporated into the data value chain; advanced visualisation and user experience; and, underpinning these, data management engineering accompanied by aspects of big data standardisation. The complementary non-technical priorities are: skills development, business models and ecosystems; regulation and policy; and social perceptions and societal implications.

Finally, the expected impact of the objectives is summarised, together with KPIs to frame and assess that impact. The activities set out in this SRIA will deliver solutions, architectures, technologies and standards for the data value chain over the next decade, leading to a comprehensive ecosystem for achieving and sustaining Europe’s role, delivering economic and societal benefits, and enabling a future in which Europe is the world leader in the creation of Big Data Value.

Excerpt from: European Big Data Value Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda (S. Zillner, E. Curry, A. Metzger, & S. Auer, eds.). Retrieved from www.bdva.eu