Digi.me is delighted to be in the first wave of companies accredited with MyData Operator 2020 status as part of bold thinking to shape the new normal of data.
With the CEOs of US data giants under scrutiny by the country’s senate, an alternative to data-hoarding by the few and the powerful is emerging.
In an unprecedented collaboration from all corners of the world, 16 organisations from 12 countries have been awarded MyData Operator 2020 status for their experience and expertise in paving the way for responsible personal data ecosystems which are specifically designed to empower individuals.
Created by the internationally recognised non-profit MyData Global, the award acknowledges organisations that place the individual at the centre of their personal data, providing tools to help them manage and benefit from it.
Teemu Ropponen, General Manager of MyData Global, said: “We believe open ecosystems which provide people real choices between good alternatives are the new normal for personal data and digital services that rely on it.
“The current situation, investigated by the US senate, is unsustainable both from a human and a market perspective.”
A MyData operator, as described in the white paper Understanding MyData Operators, is a provider of infrastructure for personal data management and a key element in creating sustainable ecosystems for fair and ethical use of personal data.
MyData Operators provide interoperability at the technical, informational and governance levels to support the flow of personal data across services. They are examples of a human-centric approach to what the recent EU data strategy calls “novel data intermediaries” and which are set to play a critical role in the provision of the strategy’s vision of data spaces.
MyData was described in this strategy as a promising initiative for empowering citizens through exercising their digital rights.
Organisations applying for MyData Operator 2020 status were required to demonstrate how they create agency for human-centric data control, and how data and value flow in their ecosystems. To be considered for the award, these organisations had to show how their services have the potential to interoperate within the ecosystem, and each other.
There will be future opportunities for organisations to apply for MyData Operator 2020 status in September and November of this year. Moving forward into 2021, the award criteria will develop to strengthen the requirements to build data flows between services and further enhance transparency on the journey of interoperability and the open ecosystems it enables.
To find out more about MyData, or join the organisation, click here.