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RegenAg-X Governance Model

1. General Principles​

RegenAg-X is built on an Organizational Governance model designed to coordinate decision-making, define strategic and operational objectives, and ensure effective collaboration across all stakeholders involved in the data space.

A Data Space Authority is established as the entity responsible for operating and maintaining this governance framework, managing participant onboarding, handling disputes, and ensuring rule compliance.
Zertifier will act as the Data Space Authority throughout the entire demonstrator phase.

As the ecosystem matures, the governance model will progressively evolve toward a shared governance structure, where farmers, cooperatives, technology providers and research organizations participate actively in decision-making. In later phases, options for establishing a neutral and sustainable long-term governance entity will be explored.

2. Data Sharing Governance​

Data Sharing Governance regulates access to datasets, services, algorithms and compute capabilities inside the data space.

As the Data Space Authority, Zertifier will:

  • define the initial participation criteria,
  • set the rules for publishing datasets and services,
  • supervise usage policies and access permissions,
  • ensure compliance with the European regulatory framework (GDPR, DGA) and national regulations.

Initial Participants

The initial participants are:

  • the Tech4RegenAg consortium members, and
  • the farmers and cooperatives involved in the Azores (Portugal) pilot projects.

These participants have already expressed formal support through letters of intent and operational agreements.

New participants will be prioritised based on:

  • complementarity with existing use cases,
  • potential for new high-value data space use cases,
  • ability to exploit data sovereignty mechanisms via Compute-to-Data,
  • and contributions with strong monetization or interoperability potential.

3. Rules for Data and Service Sharing​

All resources published inside the data space must:

  • be aligned with the agrifood domain,
  • comply with the European regulatory framework,
  • include clear and machine-readable policies,
  • support traceability through Web3 and distributed ledger technologies.

Usage policies will define:

  • who can access a resource,
  • under which conditions,
  • with which algorithms,
  • and with what reuse restrictions.

4. Two-Level Governance Structure​

The governance of RegenAg-X operates at two complementary levels:

4.1. Global Governance​

Global Governance is defined by the Ocean Enterprise Collective, which establishes:

  • interoperability rules across connected data spaces,
  • standards for secure computation and Compute-to-Data,
  • verification and auditability through Web3 credentials and ledgers,
  • alignment with the Gaia-X Trust Framework for federated data sharing.

Global governance is shared by the “federators” — the entities operating or participating in interconnected data spaces.

Zertifier also participates in Gaia-X governance forums, ensuring alignment with European specifications and open components for data-space federation.

4.2. RegenAg-X Governance (demonstrator level)​

This level defines how the RegenAg-X demonstrator is operated and managed.

Main Roles

  • Ecosystem Promoter:
    Zertifier, responsible for defining the governance framework, managing onboarding/offboarding, and coordinating operations.
  • Data Space Authority:
    Zertifier, ensuring compliance, dispute resolution and operational continuity.
  • Data Space Operators:
    • Zertifier (Web3, verifiable identities, marketplace, smart-contract governance)
    • Compute-to-Data and Data Room providers meeting DGA-aligned requirements
      (Open to any infrastructure provider fulfilling the technical and regulatory guarantees.)
  • Providers and Consumers:
    Tech4RegenAg consortium members and the Azores pilot farmers, with future expansion based on the demonstrator’s needs.

Indirect Governance Actors

Key open-source communities whose components underpin RegenAg-X:

  • Gaia-X
  • Ocean Enterprise Collective
  • Ocean Protocol
  • Eclipse Dataspace Components (EDC)

These communities provide shared interoperability, security and semantic tooling for federated data spaces.

5. Organizational Model​

RegenAg-X adopts a network-based organizational model, characterised by:

  • consensus-driven collaboration,
  • reciprocity in data and service exchange,
  • collective benefit as a guiding principle.

The governance will evolve through three stages:

  1. Leadership Governance (initial phase)
    Zertifier acts as the central authority and coordinator.
  2. Shared Governance (maturing phase)
    Participants progressively assume decision-making responsibilities.
  3. Neutral Governance Entity (long-term phase)
    Participants may decide to establish a Network Administrative Organization (NAO) or equivalent neutral body.

6. Leadership Governance Model (initial demonstrator phase)​

During the funded demonstrator phase, RegenAg-X will operate under a Leadership Governance Model, with Zertifier coordinating all governance tasks.

6.1. Organisational Interoperability​

  • Open admission to any agrifood actor meeting technical requirements.
  • Priority for participants who strengthen existing use cases or enable new ones.

6.2. Business Models​

  • Business autonomy through smart contract–based agreements.
  • Providers and consumers independently set prices, conditions and permissions.

6.3. Inter-Data-Space Interoperability​

  • Native connection to the Ocean Enterprise Collective federated network.
  • Cross-sector and multi-data-space interoperability aligned with Gaia-X specifications.

6.4. Semantic Interoperability​

  • Service and data descriptions using Gaia-X Trust Framework vocabularies.
  • Use of sector-specific and FAIR-aligned standards.
  • Ontology-based resource definitions.

6.5. Data Sovereignty​

  • Usage policies based on Ocean Enterprise smart-contract templates.
  • Progressive integration with Gaia-X policy languages.
  • Fine-grained control over access and algorithm execution.

6.6. Formats​

  • Use of W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs) for identities, datasets and services.
  • Interoperable metadata models across all components.

6.7. Compliance​

  • Conformance ensured using services compatible with the Gaia-X Digital Clearing House (GXDC) or equivalent verification services.

6.8. Technical Interoperability​

  • Architecture based on digital data federation.
  • Use of open-source components from the Ocean Enterprise and Gaia-X ecosystems.
  • Guaranteed data sovereignty, traceability and end-to-end auditability.