Foundation History

Discover the iSHARE Story: Turning Challenges into Solutions

The iSHARE initiative began within the Dutch Logistics realm, where a pressing question intrigued our curious minds: 

Why are companies reluctant to share their data? 

This fascination propelled iSHARE into a quest for discovering a solution, realising that companies needed meticulous control over their data, extending beyond conventional roles and focusing on specific details. 

This revelation prompted alliances with partners from diverse backgrounds, ranging from large to small industries, spanning public and private sectors, and more. These collaborative efforts played a pivotal role in shaping up the iSHARE Trust Framework into the robust structure it is today, making it useful for the stakeholders. 

The year 2018 witnessed the soft launch of the iSHARE Trust Framework, with focus on preserving the integrity and sustainability of the Framework. This involved the establishment or designation of an organisation primarily tasked with preserving the integrity of the iSHARE Trust Framework. Simultaneously, iSHARE opened its doors to all parties interested in adhering to the agreements set out by participating organisations, giving rise to the establishment of the iSHARE Foundation. As the iSHARE Trust Framework gained widespread recognition, it experienced increased traction across various market segments. 

In late 2020, through collaboration with FIWARE and FundingBox in the i4Trust program, iSHARE secured funding from the European Commission under HORIZON. This funding facilitated 32 consortia with over 150 organisations in the creation of new data spaces within two open calls. Simultaneously, iSHARE garnered significant attention in sectors such as energy, building, horticulture, smart cities, and mobility. 

The year 2021 marked a pivotal evolution in the concept of dataspaces, allowing the Foundation to move to a federated structure. This new structure made it possible to operate dataspaces independently from the Foundation and still keep the Trust Framework as the basic Trust and Governance layer. The introduction of the Distributed Ledger and Satellite Nodes empowered data space initiators to take a central role in onboarding participants and fostering the growth of the iSHARE network. Additionally, they gained the ability to seamlessly collaborate across distinct data spaces.