Exchanging data securely and anonymously, these are the requirements of an overall standard. In order to realize this, 18 companies from industry, service and trade joined forces at the beginning of the year. They want to establish the Industrial Data Space as an international standard for data exchange.
Industry and service providers still complain about missing standards in the exchange of data. Particularly in the communication between the shipper, forwarding agent and freight carrier, there is often no automatic data exchange. Many of the players have a telematics solution, forwarding or ERP programs. The Problem: these can only not talk to each other. The common basis is missing.
In order to achieve a smooth data exchange so far, complicated interfaces have to be created, since sometimes even a given letter is defined differently. That costs money and a lot of time.
This is about to change soon. Companies and universities have founded the Association Industrial Data Space. The declared aim of the association is to create a virtual data space that supports the secure exchange of data and the simple linking of data in business ecosystems based on standards and by means of shared governance models.
First it needs to be clarified to whom the data belong. At the BVL Congress in Berlin, Dr. Alexander Duisberg suggested that the Industrial Data Space should also create a legal framework for this. The rules of the game should also be defined and questions such as “Who will receive the data?” and “What conditions of use apply? should be answered.
The association has already made a start. Thus, data should only be exchanged, if requested by certified partners. Companies should continue to be in control of their data and to determine who can use them.
On the operational level, the Fraunhofer Society is developing a reference architecture model. The research project is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. Perhaps this is finally a way to exchange data easier, safer and more stable. Many business processes in the supply chain can then be made more efficient.
