The EU-Japan Digital Week 2025 brought together digital policy makers, researchers, and industry leaders from both regions to deepen cooperation on critical technologies and frameworks shaping our digital future. With a focus on 6G, Smart Connectivity, Trustworthy AI, and, importantly, Data Spaces, the event served as a powerful forum to exchange knowledge and align strategies across continents. Among the key contributors was NEC Laboratories Europe, a core partner in the Horizon Europe O-CEI project, which aims to develop an open, collaborative, and interoperable Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum built on trusted data sharing and digital sovereignty principles.
O-CEI adopts Data Space technology as a foundation for its Cloud-Edge-IoT Continuum, referencing initiatives like Gaia-X, IDSA, and implementations such as SIMPL and EDC.
On April 4th, NEC’s Martin Bauer took the stage during the workshop titled “Towards
Interoperable Data Spaces – Practical Considerations” to present a pioneering case study on implementing an EU-Japan cross-border data space. The motivation behind this work stems from a pressing real-world need: information access and traceability do not stop at national borders. One timely example is carbon accounting, where data must be collected across international supply chains to calculate a product’s total carbon footprint. Addressing this, NEC explored whether it’s feasible to connect distinct European and Japanese data space technologies to support such use cases, and what technical and legal challenges might arise in the process.
The study adopted an IDS connector, part of the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) framework, on the European side, and a CADDE connector from Japan’s DATA-EX platform. These were integrated into a common Data Space Interworking Unit equipped with an exchange adapter to bridge the two environments. NEC’s technical team then evaluated the full data-sharing lifecycle: onboarding, trust establishment, discovery, agreement and setup of data exchange, and the data exchange itself.
The findings were both promising and revealing. While technical translation (protocol and data model translation) allowed for the successful implementation of discovery, setup, and actual data exchange, a critical challenge emerged in the realm of trust establishment. Current trust models in Europe and Japan differ significantly, and end-to-end trust (a prerequisite for legal and secure data transactions) could not be fully guaranteed. This gap highlights the urgent need for collaborative work on harmonizing trust architectures.
As a future vision, NEC sees data spaces and AI agents playing a growing role in this
trusted data ecosystem – automatically discovering, negotiating, and exchanging data on behalf of users. Whether for carbon accounting, smart mobility, or digital commerce, such automated systems could greatly enhance data utility and decision-making across borders.
In short, NEC’s contribution during EU-Japan Digital Week advanced technical knowledge and also catalysed crucial dialogue about the path forward for interoperable, trusted digital infrastructures between Europe and Japan. Such collaborative efforts are vital to building a connected, innovative, and sustainable digital future.
