Data Sharing Festival 2026

Name: Data Sharing Festival 2026
Start: 2026-03-18T00:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-03-19T23:59:59+01:00

Sovereignty: from principle to practice

The Data Sharing Festival (DSF) returns in 2026! The dates have been confirmed on 18 and 19 March. Join us in Rotterdam for two inspiring days dedicated to data sharing and cloud technologies.

Sovereignty is the key concept. But how do we turn ideas to adoption and scale, from Dutch and European perspective? Explore how we can jointly move from principle to practice. The flagship event for everyone involved in data sharing and cloud, from providers to policymakers and users, in any sector.

Programme

Wednesday 18 March

Inspiring keynotes, real-world use cases and sector driven breakout sessions (Health, Government, Mobility and Logistics, and more)
Launch of the Impact Challenges, offering a hackathon-like approach to tackle real business, governance, semantics and technological challenges to enable adoption and scaling
Dynamic Networking Dinner, the perfect opportunity to renew existing contacts or make new ones

Thursday 19 March

Full focus tracks on data sharing, Digital Product Passports (DPP) and Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET) in a parallel programme
Continuation of the Impact Challenges
Plenary closing session covering the findings from the Impact Challenges and deciding on next steps

Would you like to suggest topics or your own use case for the Impact Challenges? Please contact us via [email protected].

Follow-on cloud event
Participants interested in cloud technologies may also attend the cloud event hosted by 8ra on Friday 20 March in Rotterdam. Information and registration available on their website soon.

Early bird discount
More about the DSF programme will be revealed shortly. Keep an eye on this website or follow us on LinkedIn. Want to secure your spot now? Register via the registration button. An interesting early bird discount is available.

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Are you curious to see what the Data Sharing Festival looked like last year? Watch the aftermovie of the 2025 edition below:

Presentations

You can find the available DSF 2025 presentations below.

Ulrich Ahle (Gaia-X) – Gaia-X and its role in data sharing and federated cloud
Nicolas Auricchio (European Commission) – Data Sharing Middleware by the EC: Simpl – How can your data sharing initiative benefit from this?
Maaike Berger-Laarakker & Victor den Bak (SureSync) – Unlocking the Future of Secure Data Sharing: Challenges, Insights, and Solutions
Maria Deetman (RVO) & Christiaan Meinsma (RVO) – European Funding Programmes – What’s in it for you?
Frits Grotenhuis (Topsector ICT) – Data Sharing & Cloud Policy and Innovation in The Netherlands
Mark Hanbart (Company Passport), Gerard van der Hoeven (iShare) & Pieter Verhagen (CoE-DSC, INNOPAY) – The value of the EUDI Legal Identity Wallet for Data Spaces
Gijs van Houwelingen (CoE-DSC, TNO) & Yekaterina Travkina (CoE-DSC, INNOPAY) – Cross-sector and cross-border interoperability: lessons from building the Data Space Interoperability Compass
Lars Nagel (IDSA) – How IDSA is contributing towards scaling up data space initiatives
Steven Schouten (BDI) – The Multi-Layered Approach to Adopting the BDI: Insights for SME’s and Large Corporates
Claire Stolwijk (DSSC, TNO) & Matthijs Punter (DSSC, TNO) – Insights from the DSSC: the European blueprint for building data spaces

The importance of standardisation for successful, interoperable Digital Product Passports

The importance of standardisation of data sharing for successful Digital Product Passports

More and more organisations are preparing for Digital Product Passports (DPPs). But how do we ensure that standards are put in place for data exchange so that interoperability can ultimately be achieved? We spoke with Jan Merckx (Sustainability Lead at GS1 Netherlands) and Sjoerd Rongen (Digital Product Passports Lead at TNO), both working for the Centre of Excellence for Digital Product Passports. GS1 Netherlands and the power of standardisation GS1 Netherlands is the national branch of GS1, a neutral, non-profit

Samenwerking GS1 en TNO in het Centre of Excellence for Digital Product Passports

Collaboration between GS1 and TNO in the Centre of Excellence for Digital Product Passports

GS1 and TNO are entering into a new partnership in the Centre of Excellence for Digital Product Passports (CoE-DPP). This is an important step for the development and implementation of Digital Product Passports in the Netherlands and beyond. According to the European Green Deal and the European Commission’s circular economy action plans, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) must be introduced from 2027 onwards to improve the traceability, sustainability, and recyclability of products. This regulation supports the EU’s broader objectives of becoming

Provide feedback on topics related to Digital Product Passports

The CoE-DPP is working closely with Jan Merckx, DPP project leader at GS1 Netherlands and chairman of the NEN working group, to achieve a interoperable Digital Product Passport (DPP) standard. A draft standard is currently available for public consultation and the NEN is collecting feedback. You can give your input until 18 August. Various topics related to Digital Product Passports that require feedback, are listed below. Click on the blue coloured topic to provide feedback on that topic: Unique identifiers:

An update on the status of Digital Product Passports (DPPs)

Last year, we spoke with Sjoerd Rongen, Digital Product Passports Lead at TNO and associated with the CoE-DSC, about the status of Digital Product Passports (DPPs). Since then, various new developments have taken place, which is why we spoke with Sjoerd again to get an update on its status. What are DPPs and what is already there? Let’s start with a short recap: digital product passports (DPPs) provide organisations with detailed information about the entire lifecycle of a single product,