DTDEN

DTDEN, short for Distributed Territorial Data Exchange Network, is a framework designed to enable interoperable data sharing among local governments, regional authorities, and related agencies. It provides a common data model, governance procedures, and technical interfaces to facilitate secure exchange of municipal information such as land use plans, infrastructure inventories, public utilities, disaster alerts, and demographic statistics across jurisdictional boundaries.

The project originated in 2015 from a consortium of city networks and academic partners seeking to improve cross-border planning and emergency management. The inaugural standard release appeared in 2016, followed by revisions that incorporated privacy-preserving sharing, data provenance, and event-driven data streams. DTDEN is maintained by an international stewardship body that coordinates technical work, pilots, and certification.

Technically, DTDEN is a modular platform with a core data exchange layer and domain-specific extensions. It supports RESTful APIs and GraphQL, and leverages JSON and JSON-LD for linked data. Data schemas are expressed with JSON Schema and a shared ontology to enable semantic interoperability. Security features include identity and access management, encryption in transit and at rest, audit trails, and data usage policies aligned with privacy requirements.

Adoption and impact vary by region; more than a dozen municipalities and regional authorities have implemented pilots or full deployments. Use cases include urban planning, climate resilience, infrastructure management, and rapid information sharing during emergencies. Critics note the need for sustainable funding, harmonization of regulatory regimes, and ongoing governance to prevent data fragmentation. See also open data, interoperability standards, and government data exchange initiatives.