Simpl-Live, the Simpl initiative driving adoption of Simpl-Open across Common European data spaces, has reached a major milestone in supporting the journey of the green deal data space (GDDS). Through a Feasibility Study, Simpl-Live is working closely with the European Commission’s DG Environment and the Sustainable Green Europe Data Space (SAGE) to define how Simpl-Open’s modular software can be effectively integrated into the GDDS technical and governance framework.
The GDDS Feasibility Study, launched in May 2025, builds on the foundations laid by the GDDS preparatory action, including the GDDS Foundation and its Community of Practice (GREAT). These initiatives established the vision and core requirements for a Green Deal Data Space aimed at enhancing the accessibility, integration and use of environmental data across the EU, supporting environmental monitoring, sustainable production and circular economy objectives.
Simpl-Live’s role is now to support GDDS in translating that vision into technical and operational reality. By ensuring a comprehensive understanding of GDDS’s governance, semantic, and technical capabilities, the Study contributes to enhancing Simpl-Open so that it effectively meets GDDS’s needs and the integration can be successfully achieved.
A series of collaborative workshops
To achieve this, the Simpl-Live team and GDDS stakeholders held a series of assessment workshops between September and October 2025. During these sessions, participants from the GDDS initiative and the Simpl-Live team came together to examine how Simpl-Open can address the specific needs of the GDDS by identifying synergies and potential areas for exploration between Simpl-Open and GDDS.
1️⃣Legal & Organisational Workshop – 25 September 2025
This first workshop validated the GDDS legal landscape analysis and refined the vision for the data space’s governance model. Additionally, GDDS representatives developed a detailed understanding of how to define the data space business processes following the Simpl-Open operating model.
2️⃣Semantic & Technical Workshop – 2 October 2025
The second workshop compared the GDDS high-level architecture with Simpl-Open’s modular framework. With the GDDS deployment action recently initiated and only a high-level architecture defined so far, the session aimed to: deepen the understanding of GDDS’s functional and technical architecture vision, and identify preliminary fits and gaps relative to Simpl-Open’s components. The workshop served as a dynamic forum for insightful discussions and active exchanges among participants, driving meaningful updates to the evolving GDDS architecture.
3️⃣Follow-up Workshop – 16 October 2025
The third and most recent workshop brought together representatives from GDDS and Simpl-Live to validate functional requirements and align on integration priorities. This interactive session focused on validating the assessment and comparison of functional requirements between Simpl-Open and GDDS. It also provided an interactive forum to dive deeper into GDDS requirements, drawing valuable insights from Simpl-Open to help shape elements that are still being defined in the GDDS.
How are these workshops supporting the integration of Simpl-Open in the GDDS?
These workshops represent a crucial step in shaping the roadmap for Simpl-Open’s integration into the GDDS, helping to build a secure, scalable, and future-proof infrastructure for the European green deal and data ecosystem.
The GDDS vision is fully aligned with the Simpl-Open operating model and its upcoming developments. In particular, the Simpl-Open integration strategy currently in development for the GDDS will consider how to support the following GDDS strategic needs:
- Legal requirements imposed by the Green Deal–specific regulatory landscape with direct implications for system specifications. This includes legal obligations mandated within the sustainable products and production within the framework of the circular economy legislation (e.g., Ecodesign Directive, Digital Product Passport Initiative, Corporate Sustainability Reporting) and environmental monitoring legislation (e.g., Forest Monitoring Law, soil-specific regulations);
- The consideration of diverse data sources and data spaces of different complexities because of the multi-dimensional nature of environmental issues, such as air pollution;
- The involvement of data intermediaries in the data space, who play a critical role in the GDDS by providing services such as format conversion and data adaptation.
🤝Get involved!
The Simpl-Live team invites stakeholders and interested professionals to contribute to the shaping of Simpl-Open, both providing feedback about existing features or supporting the definition and development of new ones.
Visit our “How to Participate” section to learn more and get involved.
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