From June 11th to 13th, the ETSI ISG CIM Plenary brought together experts in Berlin to shape the future of data sharing technologies across Europe. The meeting marks a pivotal transition for the Industry Specification Group (ISG) on Context Information Management (CIM), as it is set to evolve into a full Technical Committee (TC Data), a key step toward defining formal European norms.
Among the technical advancements discussed was the restructuring of the NGSI-LD specification, aimed at improving clarity and accessibility. NGSI-LD is the foundation for interoperable data exchange and a cornerstone of COP-PILOT’s architecture, particularly within the project’s Context Broker implementations. These improvements are expected to lower adoption barriers and allow a wider array of stakeholders to participate in data-driven ecosystems using COP-PILOT technologies.
On the final day of the plenary, NetFoundry had been invited by our partner FIWARE Foundation to remotely present the COP-PILOT Horizon consortium and contributed to the discussion by presenting the project’s innovative approach to secure integration.
He introduced the Secure Integration Fabric (SIF), a layer developed under COP-PILOT to facilitate secure, flexible data integration across NGSI-LD-compatible brokers. The SIF concept aligns closely with the context broker paradigm, enabling the creation of private, trust-based data spaces. This mechanism allows organisations to select the most appropriate NGSI-LD broker (whether lightweight or enterprise-grade) without sacrificing interoperability or security.
NGSI-LD, as an open standard, supports diverse implementations such as ScorpioBroker, Orion-LD, and Lepus, each addressing needs across domains from smart cities to manufacturing. These brokers have been validated for interoperability through initiatives like the ETSI NGSI-LD Plugtests™, held in February 2025. Notably, the Lepus NGSI-v2 to NGSI-LD bridge was evaluated during Plugtests, highlighting its potential as a valuable tool for integrating legacy context data into modern NGSI-LD-compliant ecosystems. Valencia, the European Green Capital 2024 and home to COP-PILOT’s Cluster 2, exemplifies this transition, leveraging Lepus to bridge its existing NGSI-v2-based smart city infrastructure into secure, federated NGSI-LD data spaces that enable East-West data sharing across urban, port, industrial, and academic environments.
This collaborative presence at the ETSI ISG CIM Plenary underlines COP-PILOT’s commitment to leveraging and contributing to open standards, a necessary foundation for building trusted, intelligent, and interoperable digital ecosystems across sectors.
Stay tuned for further updates on COP-PILOT’s standardisation efforts.
