Mr. Heymann, what is the idea behind the OWL platform?

Heymann: While marketplaces are widely used in the consumer sector, the potential in the industrial sector has not yet been tapped. This is due to the lack of architecture for interoperable and simple marketplaces for industrial applications. The IIoT offers industry new intelligent technologies as a solution.

The demand for high-performance field devices with edge computing functions is also growing steadily, as is the number of hardware manufacturers. Since these field devices usually use heterogeneous CPUs and their own customized Linux distributions or real-time operating systems, it is a challenge for independent developers to develop interoperable APPs compared to mobile devices. For this reason, the container virtualization Docker as a fundamental abstraction layer provides the basis for APPs on industrial devices.

This enables software developers to develop APPs in the field in a modular, platform-independent manner. This and a solution for an uncomplicated rollout of the APPs to the field devices are the two fundamental prerequisites for an open Industrial APP Marketplace. We have been working on what a solution based on open source developments could look like in an open community from business and science in OWL since 2020.

The web-based online platform of the Industrial APP Marketplace has been running in test mode for several months. What does the future roadmap look like?

Heymann : A joint manufacturer-neutral marketplace specifically for the needs of industry, where platform-independent solutions can be purchased and offered, would lead to immense growth in the entire industrial market segment. To ensure the necessary interoperability, the community will meet in December at the SmartFactoryOWL in Lemgo to solve common challenges as part of a hackathon. I am sure that this will give rise to new issues that we will tackle together in the community in 2022.

At the Industry 4.0 Alliance, Hilscher will be responsible for supporting the platform. What does that look like for your platform? Who will provide service and marketing?

Heymann : As a research institution, we at Fraunhofer IOSB-INA offer companies and start-ups our help in developing and setting up a manufacturer-neutral platform and the necessary technologies. However, our task is not to introduce products beyond prototype status into a market and compete with IT providers. With our demo marketplace, we make it possible to test all functions pre-competitively and develop them further in a practical manner.

However, we are always on the lookout for partners who can use our expertise to jointly implement and launch an Industrial APP Marketplace. The IT giants in the USA show us that the marketplace business can be worthwhile.