Trusting data and the role of data trusts

A few years ago I wrote a blog with Vincent Straub - setting out in some detail how data governance could evolve, with a proliferation of data trusts of different kinds to handle everything from health to financial data, research to consumer data.

It proposed an alternative to data either being dominated by a handful of big companies, mainly from the US, or by the state. I assumed that something like what it proposed would happen as so many people were dissatisfied with the status quo.

But in mid-2025 we are still a long way from the vision set out here,which I think is as essential as ever. Europe has tied itself in knots with laws and regulations. Some of the academic writing on data trusts went astray - mainly because it wanted purely voluntary arrangements with no involvement from the state.

And of course, as a result, the US and Chinese approaches remain dominant. I find myself often referring to the analysis set out here and its visualisations of the current landscape and potential alternatives. I wish it had dated more! The full blog can be read here or as a pdf here.