Gaia-X’s Data Exchange Services specifications: a milestone for sovereign data sharing in Europe

Increased visibility of order delivery process

VTT | Wärtsilä | Uwira

CHALLENGE:

The use case revolves around expediting and enhancing transparency between a focal company of a manufacturing ecosystem (OEM) and its supplier in their production order management processes. The existing communication methods have proven inadequate in facilitating efficient and adaptable exchanges between the two entities. By facilitating transparency and fostering a more seamless integration between the IT systems of both companies, the management of product orders can be streamlined, resulting in heightened efficiency and a reduction in errors.

SUCCESS:

The objective is to facilitate a reliable and seamless flow of data between the OEM and its supplier by establishing a dedicated data space. The developed solution will be seamlessly integrated with pre-existing IT infrastructures of both companies and the solution is grounded in the framework of the IDS reference architecture.

The OEM can selectively disclose data from their production environment to the supplier without the fear of data leakages. Respectively, the supplier receives only the data that are essential for them and there is no need to locally extract meaningful insights and valuable information from big data sets.

BENEFITS:

• The established data space solution has the potential to significantly enhance transparency between the OEM and the supplier. This gives rise to several potential benefits, including:
• Effective Communication: Transparent communication helps in conveying accurate information about product specifications, requirements, changes, and timelines.
• Risk Management: Sharing information about potential risks, such as changes in demand or design modifications, allows suppliers to proactively address these issues. Furthermore, in times of disruptions, such as supply shortages or unexpected market shifts, transparent communication helps both parties respond more effectively.
• Cost Efficiency: Transparent communication allows both parties to work together to find cost-effective solutions.

COMPONENTS:

• IDS connectors - serve as the communication interface linking the two companies and their existing IT systems. With IDS connectors, a data provider can define the rules and conditions (usage policies) under which data are shared with a data consumer.
• DAPS - enables connectors to authenticate themselves using X.509 certificates. After successful authentication, the DAPS issues OAuth2 access tokens for connectors, who need these tokens to access the services and data of other connectors. 
• Metadata Broker— stores information about the data end-points offered by the participants. The broker provides a query interface for connectors and can hence be considered as the search engine in this use case.