Extending Actor Models in Data Spaces

In today’s internet almost any party can share sets of data with each other. However, creating frameworks and regulated realms for the sharing of data is very complex when multiple parties are involved and complicated regulation comes into play. As solution data spaces were introduced to enable participating parties to share data among themselves in an organized, regulated and standardized way. However, contract data processors, acting as data space participants, are currently unable to execute data requests on behalf of their contract partners. Here we show that an on-behalf-of actor model can be easily added to existing data spaces. We demonstrate how this extension can be realized using verifiable credentials. We provide a sample use case, a detailed sequence diagram and discuss necessary architectural adaptations and additions to established protocols. Using the extensions explained in this work numerous real life use cases which previously could technically not be realized can now be covered. This enables future data spaces to provide more dynamic and complex real world use cases.