Abstract: Against the backdrop of the deepening development of the digital economy and the accelerated market-oriented reform of data elements, proactive governments and ambitious enterprises jointly constitute the dual core drivers of high-quality development in the data industry. This study aims to examine the independent driving effects of proactive governments and ambitious enterprises, as well as their synergistic impact mechanisms, on the high-quality development of the data industry. Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2017–2024, this study employs two-way fixed effects and moderating effect models to empirically test the independent effects of the driving entities, their synergistic enhancement effects, and the moderating role of an effective market. The results show that both proactive governments and ambitious enterprises significantly promote the high-quality development of the data industry, confirming the independent driving effect of each entity. Moreover, the positive synergy between proactive governments and ambitious enterprises generates a significant system-level enhancement effect, with a driving intensity markedly stronger than that of single-factor effects. An effective market further amplifies the driving roles of both government and enterprises, exerting a positive moderating effect. Heterogeneity analysis reveals pronounced regional differences in the driving mechanism, indicating that the effects of proactive governments, ambitious enterprises, and their synergistic effects vary significantly across different strategic regions and market environments. This study provides robust empirical evidence for promoting the high-quality development of the data industry through proactive governments and ambitious enterprises, and offers important insights for advancing the development of strategic emerging industries.