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RFC043: Introduce role of "Certification Body"

Background and rationale

The iSHARE Trust Framework is designed around roles. These roles include three certified roles: Identity Provider, Identity Broker and Authorisation Registry. Currently the Scheme Owner (iSHARE Foundation) is the only party that is allowed to certify participants for these roles.

As iSHARE continues to evolve as a framework for federated data exchange, the need to increase assurance and formalize onboarding processes has become critical—particularly for high-assurance sectors such as mobility, energy, and manufacturing. While iSHARE currently supports self-assessments and validations, the emergence of cross-sectoral and cross-border data spaces demands independent and auditable trust mechanisms. At the same time, in light of the increasing number of iSHARE participants, a more scalable certification process would support data spaces in expanding more rapidly.

iSHARE therefore proposes the introduction of a new role in the iSHARE Framework: the Certification Body. This role enables formal trust assessments during the onboarding process by third parties and supports scalable and secure growth of the ecosystem.

Proposed change

Purpose

The Certification Body (Certifying Authority) performs independent validation or certification of organizations applying for membership in a data space. This enhances trust, ensures legal and operational conformance, and supports federated onboarding. The introduction of a role "Certification Body" would allow for a more decentralized and scalable model.

Description and principles

Principles:

  • Role: Independent third-party authorized to perform trust assessments and validate the fulfillment of iSHARE and sector-specific criteria.

  • Accreditation: Must be certified by the Scheme Owner.

  • Schemes: Executes certification based on predefined schemes governed by the iSHARE Foundation and/or sector-specific Data Space Administrators.

  • Ecosystem Fit: Plays a core role in the onboarding process of members in Ecosystems. Works in tandem with the Data Space Administrator and Participant Registry.

  • Transparency: Must maintain clear documentation on certification scope, outcomes, and duration.

  • Output: Issues certificates, reports, or attestations stored in registries accessible to ecosystem participants.

Certification in the Glossary is currently defined as:

Certification (iSHARE): Roles for which certification is required facilitate certain functions for the iSHARE Scheme that every party within iSHARE must able to rely upon. An iSHARE Certified Party MUST apply to the Scheme Owner (role) for certification and, after providing sufficient proof, MUST sign a certification agreement with the Scheme Owner (role).

This description in the gloassary must be changed. Furthermore the role must be added tot he overview of the Framework and roles and the Admission process must be altered.

Furthermore the certification process and evidence must be described based on the principes above.

Current solution

The current solution is that Participant Registries can certify parties on behalf of the Scheme Owner. This is a semi-scalable solution and requires a lot of in depth knowledge from Participant Registries, so that in practice the Scheme Owner is currently involved in all certifications.

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Impact on the ecosystem

The following table lists the impact of this RFC on the formal iSHARE roles (excluding the Scheme Owner role).

Formal role Technical impact Business / legal / functional / operational impact
Service Consumer No
Service Provider No
Entitled party No
Authorization Registry No
Identity Provider No
Identity Broker No
Data Space Administrator No
Participant Registry No Yes, must be able to accept certification from a Certification Body
Data Space Governance Body No No

Impact iSHARE Foundation (Scheme Owner)

Implementation

Release schedule

This RFC will either be released as part of iSHARE 3.0, or as part of iSHARE 2.2.

Communication

No specific requirements.

Edited by athishare