Shanghai data space steers national data exchange

Shanghai Trustworthy Data Space, a pilot project designed to enable secure data transactions, has attracted nearly 300 businesses and features over 300 data offerings since its trial launch this year.

Part of China's broader national data circulation market, the initiative allows Shanghai-based companies to access data products from across China while providing their own services nationally in full compliance with regulations.

The platform addresses common concerns over misuse, leakage, compliance, and quality by implementing granular control strategies.

Data providers can specify usage limitations, such as frequency, duration, and purpose, while compliance, security, and quality are evaluated and recorded on a blockchain.

This ensures trust throughout the data lifecycle, from identity verification and resource management to transaction recording and delivery.

The data space is demonstrating practical applications. City data is being used to enhance flood risk assessment and improve navigation and delivery services.

Firms are developing data products from public data, such as electricity fluctuation indices and logistics performance rates, to aid small businesses. These products have supported more than 100 billion yuan ($13.98 billion) in inclusive finance lending and handled over 400 million data requests.

Shanghai encourages industry leaders to build sector-specific data spaces in areas like financial risk control, medical research, and intelligent manufacturing within the national framework.

The National Data Administration has announced 63 innovative pilot projects, including 13 city-level, 22 industry-level, and 28 company-level trusted data spaces.