GRIPSS-X

Problem definition

As digitalization progresses, the future of value creation also lies in networking between companies and the cross-company use of data. This opens up potential savings, synergies and added value that can lead to the expansion of existing applications or the realization of new applications or business models. Data is becoming an economic asset. Application-related data ecosystems of developers, providers and users of product-service and production-service systems can expand the current competitive advantage. The networked data economy poses key questions regarding data security, integrity and sovereignty, which represent a high barrier to entry into digitalized value creation networks, particularly for SMEs. The European data infrastructure GAIA-X has created the basis for enabling trustworthy and secure data-based information and business models in areas such as production and services. Standard-based, but also customizable or decentralized modules offer a "Made in Europe" counterpart to proprietary, monopoly-like solutions from non-European providers. GAIA-X-compliant data ecosystems for Industry 4.0 with the support of adaptable AI methods are an important tool for securing modern production with intelligent service offerings of the future.

Objective

The technological advances of recent decades have created a wide range of opportunities for companies to open up new markets and utilize value creation networks. In business practice, however, new hurdles have emerged. In particular, the integration of modern technologies into existing product (service) systems, such as AI or blockchain, as well as the organizational structure of cross-company value creation, pose major challenges for the industry. The potential benefits of cross-company data and information flows are offset by concerns about data integrity, data sovereignty and the associated concerns about the leakage of particularly sensitive company data and (IP-relevant) knowledge.

The aim of the GRIPSS-X research project (an acronym for GAIA-X-Ready Industrial Product-Service Systems: Smart Tools for Service-Centered Applications in Value Creation Networks) is to develop and test an infrastructure that enables the cross-company exchange of data in a secure and sovereign context. The barriers to co-creation in value networks will be removed in order to stimulate cross-company innovation. Specifically, a marketplace-like platform for industrial services will be created which, in conformity with the principles of GAIA-X and based on GAIA-X Federated Services, will support the cross-company development, initiation and processing of high-tech industrial product-service systems. In this way, the GAIA-X vision is being transformed into an industry-specific application in the field of mechanical and plant engineering.

Approach

As part of this joint project, a marketplace-like platform for the co-creation of industrial services is being designed and implemented on the basis of GAIA-X Federated Services. The consortium partners of the research project represent the entire value chain for industrial maintenance-related services - from the customer to the highly specialized (IT) service provider. This enables the development of prototype (product) services, from purely object-related to data-driven (AI) services, as well as analyses of interface problems. In an iterative cycle of further development and evaluation, the resulting infrastructure is continuously examined in terms of its impact on cross-company innovations, its contribution to value creation networks and the necessary transformation guidelines.

The removal of barriers in cross-company value creation networks offers great economic potential and, in particular, the ability of small and medium-sized companies to connect. The work carried out on the GAIA-X-compliant design of value creation networks is to be transferred into DIN standards and, together with the transformation guidelines, will be available for use in other sectors and scenarios. In scientific publications, the findings on the fringes of technical development will be brought to the attention of a global specialist audience and reflected.