FSTI experts aim to strengthen trust in data-driven partnerships
Whether in industry, trade or the service sector, data-driven business models are considered the backbone of digital transformation. They offer enormous potential – provided that the data required for them can be shared securely, in a controlled manner, and efficiently among different actors. In practice, however, it often becomes apparent that without clear rules and shared structures, this potential remains untapped. The research project KS ROAD (“Concept for the Specification of Legal and Organizational Aspects for Different Data Trustee Models”) examined how data collaborations can be designed in a legally compliant yet practical way. The result is a web-based tool that translates economic requirements into legal documents. In this way, data trustee models become tangible and can be designed in a targeted and pragmatic manner – as enablers of collaborative value creation.
Process showing automated conversion of the requirements submitted to the data trust (business input) into legal contracts.
Rather than technical implementation challenges, it is usually a lack of organizational and legal clarity that causes shared data-driven business models to fail. Questions such as “Who owns the data?”, “Who is allowed to use it and for what purposes?” and “Can it be shared with third parties or combined with other data?” often derail initiatives before they have a chance to get off the ground. All too often, management and the legal department struggle to arrive at a joint solution.
“Our research project shows how a growing ecosystem with multiple partners can guard against these challenges through the clear legal and organizational framework provided by a data trust”, explains project leader Dr. Patrick Weber. Developed to create data trust and establish transparent rules for data sharing, the data trust acts as a neutral intermediary between data providers and data users, enabling security, collaboration and sustainable value creation within data ecosystems. It regulates data ownership, usage rights, further processing and governance, with the specific provisions tailored to the respective business model.
Data trusts in practice
But how can enterprises leverage a data trust to realize data-driven innovations that are both collaborative and legally compliant? FSTI experts illustrate this approach using a concrete example. The case study focuses on an industrial logistics ecosystem in which multiple partners collaborated on the digital coordination of material flows. The objective was to use data trust structures to create transparency around the
movements of goods while simultaneously safeguarding sensitive company data. Throughout the process, it became evident that the primary challenges lay in coordinating between the partner organizations and clearly defining legal responsibilities and liabilities. To address these issues, the project partners structured their approach into three stages:
- Step 1: Identify the current project management phase (initiation, pilot, or scaling)
- Step 2: Define and tailor the requirements for the data trust in consultation with the relevant stakeholders including (senior management, project leaders, and IT specialists)
- Step 3: Translate the detailed requirements into the appropriate legal documents and develop project-specific proposals for their content
The project team defined the requirements for the data trust through a series of interviews with relevant experts. These insights were then consolidated to establish specific data trust functions, including defining access rights and roles within the ecosystem, ensuring a fair balance between what the partners’ contribution and benefits are, and maintaining transparency in data collection. The subsequent step involved mapping these functions to the corresponding legal documents.
To support partners in the practical implementation of this process, FSTI developed a web tool as part of the KS ROAD project. The tool is specifically designed for the third step of the process, where the formulated requirements are mapped to the appropriate legal documents. It serves as an interface between operational and legal teams: lawyers can upload existing contract templates directly into the system. Using a Mistral Large Language Model (LLM), the predefined, project-specific requirements are automatically aligned with the legal documents via a pre-specified prompt. This generates a first draft of the relevant contract, providing substantial added value. The tool consolidates legal and organizational aspects consistently, reduces the need for extensive coordination and significantly accelerates the contract- drafting process. In this way, it creates a shared, data-based working document that enables the development of scalable, legally compliant business models.
The end product: a data space that builds trust
FSTI has produced a video illustrating the benefits of this approach. It demonstrates how a previously blocked data flow can be transformed into a legally compliant, collaboratively created solution – comprehensible not only to lawyers and decision-makers but also to developers and project leaders. In other words, the data trust functions as a key enabler of digital transformation.
Video (in german):
The KS-ROAD project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space and co-financed by the European Union (NextGenerationEU).