Information from IIoT data and models is considered the most important driver of digital progress: networked production data can be processed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to map correlations between machine statuses, qualities and environmental parameters, among other things.

For many companies, the availability of industrial and high-quality data from the Internet of Things is therefore not only an essential prerequisite for the digital economy, but also an important competitive advantage over international competitors. So far, however, only 16% of industrial companies in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are sufficiently digitized and networked, i.e. connected to at least two collaborating companies. In addition, data analysts at sufficiently networked companies have to spend up to 80 percent of their time on data preparation and quality assurance.

A decentralized IoT data room

In order to simplify cooperation and effectively increase data usability, the WZL machine tool laboratory at RWTH Aachen University, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT and Senseering GmbH have designed DatenMarktplatz.NRW. As a decentralized IoT data room, it is intended to provide every industrial company with the right data at the right time. This means that companies have to invest less time in their own digitalization and less money in the purchase of expensive measurement technology and infrastructure without losing sovereignty and control over their own data. At the same time, in-house data analysts have easier access to better data.
Data exchange often fails due to mistrust regarding the origin, integrity, quality and validity of production data. In order to guarantee data integrity and data sovereignty, the DatenMarktplatz.NRW was created on the basis of a blockchain variant (including the distributed ledger technology of the IOTA Foundation Berlin), which creates the necessary infrastructure for cross-company, transparent and traceable data trading. This ensures the free trade of data between data producers, data scientists and data consumers.

Own interpretation of a GAIA-X network

The WZL and Senseering GmbH have realized their own interpretation of a decentralized, cross-company Internet of Things (IoT) data space under the provisional project name "MachineCloud": "The MachineCloud is our interpretation of a digital, GAIA-X-inspired and GAIA-X-compliant value network or digital data marketplace, specially developed for industrial data sources and large industrial data volumes. The aim is to ensure secure, cross-network data availability for all players in order to optimize their own processes through digital twins," explains Prof. Thomas Bergs, Managing Director of the WZL and holder of the Chair of Manufacturing Process Technology.

Participating companies can systematically share their own data with other companies in order to jointly develop data-driven services, while in the background the MachineCloud ensures the data integrity of any originator data throughout the system, thus guaranteeing seamless tracking of the validity of the data.

Early adopters wanted for data network!

Interested companies can become part of the first IoT data room in North Rhine-Westphalia and apply informally via the website. We are looking for industrial IoT data producers from the following sectors in particular: production, energy, logistics, mobility, agriculture, chemicals, smart cities, healthcare.

Community leaders with reach (associations or market leaders) who can organize and lead the subsequent use cases in the above-mentioned industries are also invited to participate, as are use case leaders with charisma and platform effect (SMEs or large companies) that act as a scalable and valuable lighthouse project within their industry. Applications for participation in the DataMarketplace.NRW pilot project are possible until the end of February 2021 via www.datenmarktplatz.nrw