In the past, I, along with many others, have argued that a general information infrastructure forms the core infrastructure for sectoral information frameworks such as a national health information infrastructure, environment information infrastructure, and transportation information infrastructure (see Van Loenen, 2006). Despite ups and downs, significant efforts have been made to realize our vision of establishing an information infrastructure capable of serving the interests and needs of multiple sectors. While INSPIRE was among the most promising yet also most disappointing endeavors toward this ideal, in some countries and regions, we succeeded, at least to some extent, in implementing the principle of “collect it once, use it many times.” This principle has led to efficiency and impact within government and, following the implementation of open data policies, extended well beyond. 

The current movement toward establishing common European data spaces without a common underlying information infrastructure will lead to the development of siloed sectoral systems, each with its own unique definitions, attributes, and specifications. In the years to come, as each data space seeks to exchange data with others, it will become evident that there is a lack of interoperability, no “collect-once-use-multiple-times” capability, and no solution to pressing societal questions and challenges. By that time, we will have only know one thing for sure: data spaces were merely old wine in new bottles.