The Rulebook for a Fair Data Economy is in demand in Europe

The Rulebook for a Fair Data Economy, published as part of Sitra’s IHAN project, is a tool that aids the development of diverse digital services by providing guidelines for networks that share data.
The standards the rulebook promotes allow data to move between data network members smoothly, transparently and safely. Jointly agreed rules strengthen trust.

The rulebook provides the framework, agreement templates and tools for building a data network. It defines the legal, business, technical and administrative rules as well as the ethical guidelines to be followed by organisations when sharing data between the members of a data network.

“Versions in Finnish and English have previously been available, but we have noticed that SMEs in particular need tools in their own language,” says Jyrki Suokas, Senior Lead at Sitra. “Our Portuguese partner, the Ministry of Health of Portugal (Serviços Partilhados do Ministério da Saúde, SPMS), came to the same conclusion, and the rulebook was thus translated into Portuguese.”

”It is great to see how the tools and concepts developed in our project have spread internationally. One of the finest examples comes from Portugal, where the rulebook has made its way into the national health data strategy,” says Jaana Sinipuro, Project Director at Sitra. “Data has been given the value it deserves, and the data strategy is managed using a joint governance model. Our partners in Portugal have already identified several benefits provided by the governance model: organisational learning and engagement, and increasing the awareness of national stakeholder and user-friendly tools, such as checklists, templates and glossaries. Used correctly, the rulebook strengthens the trust of society in the non-profit use of data.”

The new translation offers specific tools for adopting the principles of a fair data economy on the other side of Europe as well. The rulebook will develop further, and the aim is to provide a user-friendly tool for companies of all sizes, as the current version 1.2 is best suited to use by professionals in business law.

The rulebook was devised as part of Sitra’s IHAN project, which creates a foundation for a fair data economy in which successful future digital services are based on trust and generate value for everyone.