Cases

iSHARE is an industry-wide collaboration project initiated by the Top Sector Logistics to further boost the Netherlands’ profile as "the Gateway to Europe". iSHARE's objective is simple – to enable all players in the logistics industry to share data with each other on the basis of mutual trust, irrespective of type, size, modality and jurisdiction.

There are lots of data sharing initiatives in the market already, but progress is continually hampered by a lack of trust, minimal standards, increasing fragmentation and concerns about data privacy. Barriers to integration are often high, and local solutions are continually being re-invented. 

We were asked to oversee the co-creation process with dozens of partners within the Dutch transport and logistics sector to develop a uniform set of agreements or scheme for identification, authentication and authorization.

Project result

In a co-creation process with dozens of public-sector and private-sector partners within the Dutch transport and logistics sector we developed a uniform set of agreements or scheme for identification, authentication and authorization. The iSHARE Data Sharing Scheme results in a network of trust because all actors behave the same way. The scheme provides all the essential functional, technical, legal and operational standards that are needed for organizations within the iSHARE community to share data. Now everyone can share logistics data with everyone else in a simple and controlled way. That includes with new and previously unknown partners who are often further upstream or downstream in the chain.

Project approach

We were asked to oversee the co-creation process in view of its extensive knowledge and experience of developing schemes for the Dutch financial sector. Participating organizations worked collaboratively in Functional, Technical, Operational and Legal working groups towards the first full version of the iSHARE Scheme: a first full set of agreements for improved data exchanging conditions. Participating organizations also realised Proofs of Concept to verify the correct functional and technical working of the iSHARE Scheme.

As of March 2018 all organizations active in the logistics sector can make use of iSHARE. We continue to facilitate iSHARE’s adoption before transferring the management of the scheme to the independent scheme owner “iSHARE Foundation”, as we did to the Dutch Payments Association for iDEAL and to Logius for eHerkenning. Meanwhile, INNOPAY also facilitates the international roll-out of iSHARE.

Unique

We involved partners from a variety of backgrounds in the co-creation process: private and public organizations, organizations of different sizes, (serving) different modalities, both providers and receivers of data, etc. This variety of organizations ensures that the iSHARE Scheme is widely applicable. Because iSHARE places the emphasis on connections which are as flexible, light and agile as possible, organizations are not forced down a specific technology pathway over which they have limited control or which is dependent on third party commercial players. As such, iSHARE is a ‘soft infrastructure’, just like roads, ports and rail tracks. iSHARE is aligned with INNOPAY’s vision of data sharing, in which data is shared at the source and data owners have full control over their data at all times.