In May 2022 the European Commission published a study undertaken by Tech4i2 and VVA examining data flows in Europe. The innovative study was the first to develop a robust and replicable data collection methodology to map and monitor data flows within the EU, EFTA countries and the UK.

The study paid particular attention to enterprise data flows to cloud and edge data centres. These cloud based data flows were defined as the movement of data from enterprises to the main and edge data centres. Analysis provides data flow estimates from 2016, with forecasts to 2030.

The study will be used in future to monitor data flow trends across and within the European Union to provide evidence in support the European Strategy for Data and other EU policies, trade, and investment decisions.

A data visualisation tool was created by Tech4i2 to present the results of research on the European Commission web site. Details of the study and the data visualisation tool can be found at https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/european-data-flow-monitoring

The final report for the study can be downloaded at https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c27f0202-da43-11ec-a95f-01aa75ed71a1/language-en