Insights Into Governance Mechanisms in Data Space-Enabled Ecosystems

Organizations increasingly engage in data space-enabled ecosystems (DSEs) for sovereign data sharing. Unlike proprietary ecosystems, DSEs rely on decentralized technical infrastructures and participatory governance structures. However, due to their heightened requirements for trust and security, DSEs render traditional governance mechanisms from other ecosystem types insufficient. Based on 20 expert interviews, we explore the different governance mechanisms in DSEs through a static and dynamic view. The static view reveals that governance mechanisms in DSEs are not only implemented in social and technical dimensions but also in a legal dimension. The dynamic view highlights the reciprocal interactions between these dimensions, emphasizing the role of legal mechanisms in this context. Our findings add a set of DSE-specific governance mechanisms to the literature and demonstrate the influence of legal mechanisms on the social and technical implementation dimensions currently prevalent in digital ecosystem research.