Eclipse Dataspace Protocol

Semantic & Data Protocol

A formal specification defining the schemas, state machines, and interaction patterns required for sovereign, interoperable data sharing between autonomous organizations within a federation of technical systems called a dataspace. Defines three core interaction flows: (1) Catalog — how data assets are published and discovered as DCAT Catalogs with ODRL usage policies; (2) Contract Negotiation — how data usage agreements are syntactically expressed and electronically negotiated between provider and consumer; (3) Data Transfer — how access to data assets is initiated and governed once a contract is agreed. Built on HTTPS as transport and RDF/JSON-LD/Turtle for data semantics. Originally developed by the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA); now standardized through the Eclipse Foundation with ISO/IEC JTC1 SC38 involvement.

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Details

License Apache-2.0 (specification and schema files); https://github.com/eclipse-edc/eclipse-dataspace-protocol-base — specification document in English complemented by JSON and Turtle schema files
Dev Status 🟢 Active
Dev Status Detail Released / Standardization track (specification document published; Technology Compliance Kit (TCK) in development; Eclipse Specification Project active; ISO/IEC JTC1 SC38 involvement; EDC reference implementation compliant as of Q1 2024)
Owner Eclipse Foundation (specification stewardship); originally International Data Spaces Association (IDSA); contributors include Fraunhofer ISST, Microsoft, Bosch, SAP, TNO, Tecnalia, iSHARE, Catena-X, Data Spaces Support Centre
Governing Body Eclipse Foundation (specification stewardship as an Eclipse Specification Project; originally International Data Spaces Association) | ISO/IEC JTC1 (standardization track)
Governing Body - List
  • International Data Spaces Association
Country Germany / Europe / Global (IDSA headquartered in Dortmund, Germany; Eclipse Foundation global; primary adoption in European industrial data spaces)
Start Year 2021
Stack N/A (specification document; implementations use Java/Kotlin via EDC reference implementation; schema files in JSON and Turtle)
Funding European Commission / Industry consortium (Gaia-X initiative; IDSA member organizations including Fraunhofer, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Microsoft, Google, AWS; European data space programs)
Last Investigated Jul 1, 2026

Topology view

This tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.

Topology view: Eclipse Dataspace ProtocolThis tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.EclipseDataspace P…Eclipse Dataspace Components (EDC) (Basis for, Protocol spoken by)EclipseDataspace Co…JSON-LD (Conforms to, Speaks protocol)JSON-LDRDF (Conforms to)RDFSPARQL (Conforms to)SPARQLInternational Data Spaces Association (Stewarded by)InternationalData Spaces…

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Use Case Domains

Co-Creation & Knowledge

Affordances

Interoperable formats Data portability

Semantic & Data Protocol Attributes

Origins Industrial data sovereignty / Gaia-X (motivated by European need for sovereign inter-organizational data sharing infrastructure; emerged from IDSA Reference Architecture Model and Rulebook; shaped by Catena-X automotive data space and broader European data economy initiatives including Gaia-X)
Database N/A (protocol specification; implementations typically use relational databases for contract state; no database prescribed by spec)
Query Language SPARQL (via DCAT Catalog federation); ODRL (policy expression); no general query language mandated
Data Formats DCAT (Data Catalog Vocabulary — for publishing data asset catalogs); ODRL (Open Digital Rights Language — for expressing usage policies and contract terms); JSON-LD (primary message encoding); Turtle (RDF schema files); HTTPS (transport binding)
Collaborative Live Editing N/A (protocol specification)
Rich Text Editing N/A
Mobile Support N/A
Web Support N/A
Native Apps N/A
Terms Open / Royalty-free (Eclipse Foundation specification; Apache-2.0 for schemas and TCK; IPR-free per Eclipse governance framework)
Funds Undisclosed (funded through IDSA member contributions and European Commission data space programs; no single public grant amount)
Based On HTTPS (transport); RDF / Linked Data (data model); DCAT (catalog vocabulary); ODRL (policy language); IDS Reference Architecture Model (conceptual predecessor); Gaia-X Trust Framework (trust layer)
Governing Body - List
  • International Data Spaces Association
Semantic Web Compatibility Full RDF compliance (DCAT and ODRL are W3C standards; JSON-LD encoding; Turtle schema files; SPARQL-compatible catalog queries; designed for semantic interoperability across heterogeneous systems)
Protocol Maturity / Standardization Eclipse Specification / De Facto Standard (Eclipse Specification Project under Eclipse Foundation governance; ISO/IEC JTC1 SC38 involvement for international standardization; W3C standards (DCAT, ODRL) as foundations; widely adopted in European industrial data spaces including Catena-X, Gaia-X; EDC reference implementation compliant Q1 2024)
Vocabulary / Ontology Type Inter-organizational data exchange / Data sovereignty (domain-specific ontology for data asset publication, usage policy expression, contract negotiation, and data transfer governance; not a general-purpose vocabulary)
Usage Pattern Embedded in applications (protocol is consumed by connector implementations — primarily EDC — and data space operators; not used standalone; designed as the interoperability layer beneath data space applications)

Relationships

How this tool connects to other tools and organizations, from relationships reviewed by the OpenHaven data steward. They describe how projects connect, not how good they are.

Conforms to
Speaks protocol
Stewarded by
  • International Data Spaces Association
Basis for
Protocol spoken by