Prisma PlatformEurope is building "data spaces" — but who controls the infrastructure beneath them? Most implementations recreate the same centralisation problem with a European flag on top.
A commons-based alternative exists. Here's how we built it.
The core problem: data spaces require identity, policy enforcement, cataloguing, and audit trails. Most solutions lock you into a vendor to get all four.
W3C already has open standards for each:
→ Identity — W3C DID
→ Policy — ODRL 2.2
→ Catalogue — DCAT2
→ Audit — PROV-O
No membership fee. No proprietary lock-in.
Prisma implements all four — fully self-hosted, on EU infrastructure (Scaleway FR), Apache-2.0 licenced.
Two organisations query each other's SPARQL endpoints directly. No data copy. No central authority. The data stays where it belongs: with the organisation that created it.
Why does this matter for democracy? Because federated identity without open infrastructure is still surveillance capitalism with a European flag on it.
Data sovereignty means the citizen controls the policy — not the platform. Open standards ensure no single vendor owns the commons.
4/5
Prisma is applying for @NLnet NGI funding. Three independently deployable components:
→ Prisma/ANP — open inter-agent protocol
→ Prisma/Federation — federated data nodes
→ Prisma/TALER — privacy-preserving payments
https://www.prisma-platform.eu
🏗️ Built in the open. For the commons.