The Catena-X Automotive Network (Catena-X) is developing a collaborative, decentralised data and service ecosystem along the entire automotive value chain. This will enable companies to benefit from the advantages of data-based management – from manufacturers, through SME suppliers and on to recycling businesses. Simultaneously they are being covered by European law with regard to data sovereignty and data protection.
The Catena-X consortium is comprised of automotive manufacturers and suppliers, dealer associations, and equipment suppliers. This also includes application, platform and infrastructure providers from the IT sector (Figure 1).
The Institute for AI Safety and Security has become actively engaged in the development and expansion of the project Catena-X and is currently involved in five of the eight sub-projects. Catena-X is considered an internationally relevant industrial policy flagship project. It is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) with more than 100 million euros. The project will run for three years, from August 2021 to July 2024.
Approach and objectives
The Catena-X project is the first application for Gaia-X; it utilises the concepts and principles and expands them according to need. With the connection to the cloud/edge infrastructure of Gaia-X, the consortium participants have already agreed upon principles and infrastructure fundamentals for the project implementation. One of the project goals is the development of uniform standards for data and information flows, which are essential for cross-sectoral collaboration. Today, the majority of companies already store and evaluate their data, but a lack of solutions for collaboration prevents them from creating seamless data chains. This is exactly where Catena-X comes to the fore.
Through the standardised availability of information and data within the entire automotive value chain and the integration of as many participants as possible, Catena-X aims to increase the competitiveness of the automotive industry and to create new data-based business models. The efficiency of both industry-specific collaboration and internal company processes should be increased and, at the same time, the legal requirements (e.g. Supply Chain Act) should be fulfilled. Furthermore, the project participants are expecting more efficient quality and logistics processes, higher transparency with regard to sustainable CO2 reduction, simplified master-data management and substantial improvements in product development. With the planned “SME-ready” solutions, Catena-X makes it possible for small and medium-sized enterprises to be integrated into the growing network in a way that is technically simple, efficient and therefore affordable.
The consortium is developing the legal, operational and technical basis for the Catena-X digital ecosystem and the planned services. Building on this, it is developing ten industry-relevant use cases (Figure 2), which will be successively tested and further developed in a user-oriented manner. As extensively as possible, the development is based on open-source principles.
In May 2023, the BETA phase was successfully completed with the standards developed in the Catena-X consortium. In October 2023, Catena-X, the first industrialised Gaia-X-compliant data ecosystem, went live together with the first of the ten planned use cases. At the same time, the first operating company (Cofinity-X) has already been established and is now ready to onboard users, developers, consultants, app and service providers. The transfer of all consortium results to the Catena-X Association for continuation and further development will take place successively until July 2024. A first hub in other European countries, in France, has already been established with the support of DLR.
Contribution Institute for AI Safety and Security
DLR contributes its expertise in the fields of digitalisation and artificial intelligence to the consortium. Specifically, the Institute for AI Safety and Security can demonstrate contributions and results in the following areas:
Federated Learning Platform
The DLR Federated Learning Demonstrator provides a framework with which federated machine learning can be used in the context of Catena-X. Federated learning is of particular value for the Catena-X ecosystem because it allows predictive models to be trained with artificial intelligence. Multiple companies in the Catena-X context can be involved without having to disclose their data. The DLR Federated Learning Demonstrator thus makes a practical technological contribution to data protection in Catena-X. On this basis, new data-based value creation ideas and business models can be developed that go beyond the prototypical implementations and the use cases planned for the project to date.
Semantic models in the Behaviour Twin
The Institute for AI Safety and Security provided advice on semantic modelling and created models for various use cases. In addition, a governance process was implemented for the joint development of new and updated models.
Lead User Connection
As part of the Catena-X Lead User Integration Program, various companies were supported in setting up an Eclipse Dataspace Connector (EDC) environment. This enabled the companies to analyse, set up and test the connector technology in a practical way and in their own company environment. DLR and the supporting IT enablers used the feedback to derive improvements, e.g. for onboarding routines and the Catena-X technologies themselves. The lead users Witte and Senodis provide an individual insight into the first practical trials in the Catena-X network.
Internationalisation
As co-lead of the Catena-X Internationalisation Committee, DLR has contributed significantly to the global dissemination and introduction of Catena-X. Two dedicated methodologies have been developed to assess the attractiveness, prioritisation and applicability of Catena-X for expansion into different regions, industries and markets. A network of over fifteen countries was built and a concept established to promote and strengthen the international transfer of Catena-X. In addition, we have pioneered by implementing proof-of-concepts in one or more regions to collect best practices for future scaling of Catena-X.
An important contribution was the establishment of an international network and cooperation with international partners, in particular with the regional hub in France.
Cross-sectoral transfer
Through analysis and contact with neighbouring industries and cross-sector Gaia-X domains, DLR, together with BASF and Henkel, has contributed to the harmonisation and cross-sector data space transfer of Catena-X developments and results.
