Telefónica Tech Launches DataSphere for Data Sovereignty

As enterprises race to turn operational data into commercial advantage, Telefónica Tech is betting that the next battleground for telco providers will be secure, sovereign data sharing.

The company is unveiling its newest platform designed for sovereign data exchange, Telefónica DataSphere, at the industrial event Advanced Factories in Barcelona.

DataSphere is built to help organisations share and monetise information securely across sectors.

It combines a federated data-sharing platform with a demonstration centre intended to accelerate pilot projects and multi-sector collaboration.

As telco providers expand their enterprise and IoT offerings, the ability to manage data sovereignty and governance is becoming more important across industries including manufacturing, logistics and smart infrastructure.

Darío Cesena, Head of IoT at Telefónica Tech, says: “At Telefónica, we continue to innovate to offer more and better services with the aim of becoming the best gateway for citizens, businesses and public administrations to digital technologies.

“Our platform and our demonstration centre allow different stakeholders to share data securely, traceably and in compliance with regulations, without losing control over their assets, respecting sovereignty and facilitating agile, scalable and governed collaboration.

“In short, we provide organisations with a reliable environment to extract value from data without compromising its integrity or responsible use.”

The platform has been developed to support the exchange of both static and real-time structured data between organisations.

Telefónica says it also integrates analytics tools, dashboards and AI and machine learning models designed to improve predictive capabilities and operational decision-making.

Data sovereignty at the centre

A key part of Telefónica DataSphere’s proposition is its federated architecture, which allows data to remain at source rather than being stored centrally.

The design is intended to help organisations comply with data sovereignty requirements while maintaining control over how information is accessed and used.

The model is likely to resonate with enterprises navigating stricter governance expectations around industrial data and cross-border information sharing.

Telco operators increasingly see these capabilities as an extension of their role in enterprise digital transformation, as connected devices and edge computing environments generate larger volumes of operational data.

Telefónica says the platform incorporates tools for access control, digital contract management and usage policy definition, with traceability and certification mechanisms intended to ensure the integrity of shared information.

The company has also integrated semantic validation and versioning features to strengthen trust between participants in a data-sharing ecosystem.

Access to shared environments is governed through verifiable credentials and digitally signed agreements.

Demonstration centre for pilots and testing

Alongside the platform itself, Telefónica Tech is launching a demonstration centre where organisations can test data-sharing models and pilot use cases under a common governance and technology framework.

The facility is intended to support the development of sector-specific and multisector ecosystems where businesses can trial interoperability between systems and services before scaling deployments.

Telefónica Tech has already expanded its enterprise portfolio significantly in recent years through investments in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and IoT services.

DataSphere adds another layer to that strategy by targeting organisations that want to collaborate around data while maintaining ownership and regulatory compliance.

The launch also arrives as European policymakers and industry groups push for greater control over industrial and public-sector data. Initiatives around data spaces and sovereign digital infrastructure are becoming more prominent across the EU, particularly in sectors handling sensitive operational information.

By building a platform centred on governed data exchange, Telefónica is aiming to position itself within that evolving market while creating opportunities for new enterprise services tied to AI, analytics and connected infrastructure.

Rather than functioning solely as a repository, the company says the platform is designed to enable controlled collaboration between participants while maintaining transparency around how information is accessed, processed and shared.