ProjectThat

ProjectThat is a cross-sector research and development initiative aimed at building interoperable data platforms for public services and collaborative governance. It brings together universities, government agencies, and industry partners to develop open standards, shared tooling, and governance frameworks that enable data to be used across organizations and sectors.

The project began in 2017 as a pilot in three municipalities to test data sharing across domains such as transportation, health, and emergency services. It expanded into Europe in 2019, adding partners from several member states and aligning participation with broader open-data and privacy principles. The scope covers software libraries, data standards, and policy guidelines intended to facilitate secure, accountable data collaboration.

Governance is organized around a steering council that sets strategy and approves major directions, with multiple working groups focused on data governance, interoperability, privacy and security, and ethics. Membership is open to academic institutions, public-sector bodies, and private firms that agree to an open-standards approach and responsible data use.

Projects and outputs include open-source software libraries, a data interoperability standard called DIS-1, and a privacy-preserving analytics framework. Pilot deployments have run in municipal services, regional health networks, and transportation planning, demonstrating cross-domain data sharing while maintaining controls on access and accountability.

Funding comes from a mix of national research grants, regional and European funding, and in-kind contributions from partner organizations. Milestones have included a 2018 draft of DIS-1, a production-ready 2020 release, and 2022’s large-scale pilots, with ongoing expansions through 2023–2024 and into 2025.

Reception has been mixed but generally positive, with praise for transparency, interoperability, and open tooling. Some concerns have centered on governance complexity and potential vendor lock-in, which the project seeks to mitigate through ongoing community governance and open standards.