European companies are generating more data than ever, yet much of it remains untapped. According to industry estimates, between 60% and 73% of the data generated by an organisation is never used, only 32% of companies manage to extract real value from their data, and up to 95% do not trust their own data enough to make data-driven decisions.
The impact is tangible: poor data management can result in revenue losses of between 10% and 30%.
The conclusion is clear: collecting data is not enough. Without data quality, effective governance and the ability to share data securely, data cannot deliver its full business value.
At Nealis Tech, we have participated in DATAMITE, a project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, whose goal is to help European companies become active players in the data economy by improving data quality, governance and data monetisation capabilities.
What is DATAMITE?
DATAMITE has developed a modular, open-source technology framework that can be integrated with existing systems, enabling organisations to manage, assess, share and monetise their data without having to start from scratch.
Rather than being a single tool, DATAMITE provides a set of complementary modules that organisations can adapt to their specific needs:
- Data governance module
- Data quality module
- Security and data sovereignty module
- Data sharing module
- Supporting tools
This modular approach makes it possible to address different aspects of the data lifecycle while adapting the framework to each organisation’s specific context.
Two Levels of Action
DATAMITE works across two complementary levels: internal data management and external data sharing and value creation.
Internal Data Management
At an internal level, the project focuses on data quality management and the application of the FAIR principles: making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.
These principles are essential for organisations that want to turn data into a reliable and reusable business asset. Knowing what data an organisation has, where it is stored, how reliable it is and how it can be reused is a key step towards making better data-driven decisions.
External Data Sharing and Value Creation
At an external level, DATAMITE addresses how organisations can control the use of their data, create new revenue opportunities and interact with third parties within European data ecosystems.
This approach supports two complementary forms of data monetisation:
- Internal monetisation, where data is used to improve business decisions, operations and processes.
- External monetisation, where data can be transformed into products or services and made available to third parties.
Validated Through Real-World Use Cases
The DATAMITE framework has been tested through six pilots, covering three main areas:
- Data sharing within organisations, including collaboration between different departments and subsidiaries.
- Sector-specific data spaces, such as energy, where organisations can share data with service providers and combine it with open data.
- Integration with European initiatives, including data marketplaces and platforms such as AI-on-Demand and data.europa.eu.
These pilots have helped demonstrate how data governance, quality and sharing capabilities can be applied to real organisational and sector-specific scenarios.
What Can Companies Gain from DATAMITE?
For companies looking to make better use of their data, DATAMITE provides capabilities that help them:
- Know what data they have, where it is located and how reliable it is.
- Control who can access their data and how it can be used.
- Create value by turning data into products and developing data monetisation strategies.
- Share data securely within European data ecosystems.
From a technical perspective, the framework includes capabilities such as batch and streaming data ingestion, data and metadata cataloguing, KPI-based data quality assessment, sensitive data anonymisation, access policy management and compatibility with data spaces such as Gaia-X.
But the project goes beyond technology.DATAMITE also provides business models for data monetisation, KPIs and strategic profiles, employee training and supporting materials to facilitate the adoption of data-driven practices within organisations.
This is the vision behind DATAMITE: data monetisation depends on data quality, trust and the ability to share data effectively.For Nealis Tech, participating in DATAMITE has been an opportunity to collaborate with organisations across Europe and contribute to the development of practical approaches for helping companies make better use of their data.
Project website: https://datamite-horizon.eu/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/datamite/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DATAMITEHORIZONEU-rj6ke
DATAMITE has received funding from the European Union under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No. 101092989.
