Explore and make the most of your data through the Data Space of the Platform of the Open Innovation Ecosystem (PIA) — a secure environment where different stakeholders in the tourism sector can voluntarily share various types of data.
The PIA Data Space represents a major opportunity for the sector, as data exchange between tourism companies is currently very limited. Why is that? Some companies have valuable data but don’t sell or open it to the market because they believe no one is interested in buying it, or they simply don’t know where to offer it. Meanwhile, other companies need to purchase data but don’t know where to turn. In response, the PIA Data Space enables data discovery and access.
What is Data Space?
It is a secure ecosystem where stakeholders in the tourism sector can share different types of data voluntarily, in a structured and controlled manner. It was created to address a key challenge: low circulation of useful data and the lack of spaces to market or access such data easily.
Key benefits:
- The tourism Data Space combines the characteristics of the tourism sector with those of a data space, addressing both technological and usability challenges.
- Data providers retain control over how their data is used.
- Data consumers can make better decisions because of the data available in the space.
- Additionally, one important yet often overlooked benefit is the potential to commercialize data-based services -- that is, products that enable access to services derived from the use of data available in the space, which would otherwise be difficult to get.
Who can use the Data Space?
The Platform of the Open Innovation Ecosystem (PIA) Data Space is designed for all stakeholders in the tourism ecosystem who wish to access, share, and leverage data in a secure and collaborative way — with the goal of driving innovation, improving decision-making, and developing data-driven solutions. This infrastructure is especially targeted towards:
- Tourism companies: From large operators to SMEs looking to improve their competitiveness through data — as consumers (to optimize processes, better understand customers, etc.) or as providers (sharing operational or demand-related data).
- Technology companies: Firms developing data-driven solutions (analytics, AI, management software, etc.) that need access to or want to publish datasets to build innovative products for the sector.
- Public administrations: Entities that can use shared data to design more effective policies, assess the impact of their actions, and foster a public-private data-driven tourism environment.
- Universities and research centers: Academic and scientific institutions that need reliable data for applied research, policy evaluation, or the development of data intelligence solutions for tourist destinations.
- Sector associations: Clusters, innovation hubs, and business associations encouraging their members to take part in data-sharing initiatives, fostering synergies and collaborative projects with real impact in the tourism field.
- Destinations: Destination management organizations looking to improve decision-making through high-quality data, including tourist flow analysis, sustainability metrics, and infrastructure or service planning.
What benefits does the tourism Data Space offer?
The Platform of the Open Innovation Ecosystem (PIA) Data Space provides a secure digital infrastructure aligned with European standards, enabling tourism ecosystem stakeholders to exchange information efficiently, with full visibility, and under full control. Its design supports a shift towards smarter, data-driven management models.
Main benefits include:
- Public-private collaboration.
Establishes a structured environment for data exchange between governments, businesses, destinations, and knowledge agents, encouraging joint innovation. - Secure and controlled data exchange.
Ensures that data providers retain sovereignty over their data, deciding with whom to share it, under what conditions, and with complete usage traceability. All access is verified, enhancing both security and transparency. - Improved decision-making.
Access to timely, reliable data enables more informed strategies, opportunity identification, and real-time tourism management. - European data standards.
Operates under frameworks like the eIDAS regulation and the European Commission’s guidelines for data spaces, ensuring technical, semantic, and legal interoperability. - New business models.
Facilitates the creation of data-driven tourism services — from internal optimization to direct or indirect data monetization.
How does it work?
The Platform of the Open Innovation Ecosystem (PIA) Data Space is implemented in several phases:
Data discovery phase
- Data producers can publish their data catalogs
- Consumers have a centralized point to discover the data they need — or even data they didn’t know they needed.
Data consumption phase
- The space not only connects providers and consumers but also enables technological mechanisms for accelerated data exchange: connectors.
- This phase respects data sovereignty, usage conditions, and other relevant controls.
Data-driven technological development for the tourism sector
The Platform of the Open Innovation Ecosystem (PIA) Data Space is designed for those who want to foster innovation in tourism by building a broad, reliable repository of tourism-specific data.