News & Insights

iSHARE is a scheme, or set of agreements, that enables safe data sharing across the logistics sector. The scheme includes Functional, Technical, Legal and Operational agreements, co-created by the sector itself. iSHARE’s goal is to significantly lower barriers to new data sharing relationships between all parties adhering to the agreements. By agreeing to use the same technical standards to identify, authenticate and authorise each other, and by agreeing to only use shared data for the purposes specified under iSHARE, adhering parties reduce the time spent to integrate software solutions and to get to know and trust each other.

Throughout 2017, more than 20 logistics parties – public and private, large and small, and active in various modalities – contributed to working groups which co-created the iSHARE scheme. These working groups, and the co-creation process in general, were chaired and facilitated by INNOPAY. The set of agreements was tested and proven through a series of Proof of Concepts, such as the one presented by Ritra Cargo, Yellowstar and Portbase in a webinar earlier this month. iSHARE was officially launched during the annual conference of the Dutch Top Sector Logistics, and 12 selected companies will start to implement the scheme in H1 2018.

INNOPAY and scheme development

INNOPAY has a rich history of being involved in the development of schemes including iDEAL, eHerkenning, Simplerinvoicing and others. The key to success is our inclusive style of development. By inviting parties to co-create schemes for the market and by the market, we ensure that agreements are highly relevant and supported by the sector. INNOPAY’s knowledge and expertise of Functional, Technical, Legal and Operational domains ensures that agreements represent a balanced representation of stakeholder needs.

‘Everything Transaction’

Schemes such as iSHARE fit perfectly with INNOPAY’s vision on data sharing. As data becomes more valuable, we strongly believe that all data sharing is becoming a series of transactions based on the exchange of value. This means that INNOPAY’s digital transaction expertise is now highly relevant across many domains and sectors, including logistics.

INNOPAY believes that access to data, rather than the data itself, should be centralised. If parties agree on standardised ways to provide each other access to data – specifically on how to identify, authenticate and authorise each other – the data can remain at the source with no need to store them in (additional) platforms. This negates the need for additional software solutions, and prevents further fragmentation. The shared way of accessing data allows all parties to continue providing data services through their preferred technology solutions, to create business value as they see fit, to increase service reach and conversion, and to minimise costs. 

iSHARE's ambitions

INNOPAY will continue to facilitate iSHARE’s adoption before transferring the management of the scheme to an independent scheme owner, as we did to the Dutch Payments Association for iDEAL and to Logius for eHerkenning. Meanwhile, INNOPAY also facilitates the international adoption of iSHARE.

If you are a logistics organisation interested in sharing data in a uniform, simple and controlled way, please visit www.ishareworks.org. 

If you found yourself in a fragmented market with high barriers to sharing data, a scheme like iSHARE might be exactly what is needed. Please contact iSHARE project manager Mariane ter Veen for more information on how INNOPAY can help you.