Dr Kuhn, a year ago at the Hannover Messe, you used a demonstrator to show how your middleware can be used to implement a fully digitalized and flexible factory with digital twins and administration shells. How was the demonstrator received? Are there any companies that are implementing solutions with your technology?

Dr. Thomas Kuhn: The technology has been very well received. Numerous companies are now recognizing the advantages that digital twins offer in terms of digitalization. Sick, for example, uses our solution to control numerous machines in production. Smaller companies are also using our solutions. There are now so many that we no longer know them all ourselves.

Generating a digital twin is only half the battle. In the future, we need to look at the entire supply chain. And that brings the topic of data rooms into play. Is this on your radar?

Sharing data across companies is an important prerequisite for companies to work together not only more efficiently, but above all more sustainably. Only with the help of such data rooms is it even possible to calculate the_{CO2 footprint} of products, create a battery passport or produce digital product passports.
Our new research project at Fraunhofer IESE has tackled precisely this topic. Together with renowned partner companies, we have developed the AAS Dataspace for Everybody. This is a platform that enables the uncomplicated sharing of data and preconfigured software solutions based on the open source middleware Eclipse BaSyx. The unique thing about it is that companies can use the platform to do more than just exchange data with each other. In combination with BaSyx, they are able to share their digital twins via the dataspace - confidently and in compliance with clearly defined specifications.

Are there partner companies that use your solution?

We are currently in close contact with eight companies that would like to try out Dataspace. Initially, the companies will only share test data via the data room. These are therefore initially proof-of-concept projects. There are many advantages for our partner companies as a result of the collaboration: they have the opportunity to set up their own data rooms and develop business models from them. We also help them to make their existing solutions fit for creating and sharing digital twins. Conversely, many companies are still coming up against their
limits when it comes to digitizing their production processes in the first place.

Are there plans to market the platform in the form of a commercial provider?

As I said, the current situation is that test data is initially being exchanged on the platform. We are therefore still at a development stage in which the aim is to learn as much as possible from practical application and thus further professionalize the dataspace. We at Fraunhofer IESE provide our partners, for example interested companies, with the entire technology behind the Dataspace. This includes the open source middleware Eclipse BaSyx, as well as the entire technological setup for the integration of the Dataspace at our customers. Ultimately, this results in great potential for new business models for us and the respective users.

What are your next steps - or even your vision?

The Dataspace is a separate research project that runs parallel to BaSys4Transfer - our third core project in the field of Industry 4.0 middleware. In the future, we will probably merge the two research areas. This means, of course, that digital twins will remain an important topic for us. However, the main focus will then be on the next step: the comprehensive sharing of cross-company data with the help of data rooms.

Web tip: Success stories from users can be found on the BaSyx project website: eclipse.dev/basyx