DigiPrime has the mission to develop a new concept of Circular Economy digital platform overcoming current information asymmetry among value-chain stakeholders, in order to unlock new circular business models based on the data-enhanced recovery and re-use of functions and materials from high value-added post-use products with a cross-sectorial approach. DigiPrime will create and operate a federated model of digital platforms for cross-sector business in the Circular Economy.
Nodes of the federation will offer interoperable functions and data, that can be accessed by other nodes, combined with local data and services, that are not exposed outside; connectors and open interfaces enable easy integration of new services, provided by third parties, that are not made accessible outside. Specific attention will be devoted to create trustable data sharing mechanisms, preserving the confidentiality of business-critical data. Security and sovereignity of information are guaranteed by IDSA (Industrial Data Space Association)-based solutions for on-demand and controlled sharing of data among organisations, regulated by smart contracts and tracked by block-chain.
The services cover:
- The cross-sector value-Chains dimension (De- and remanufacturing oriented product information management, product co-creation, LCA-LCC for eco-design, demand-supply matching, sustainable value network and reverse logistics barriers identification and legislation support, etc.),
- The operational dimension (rediction of product conditions, de-and remanufacturing decision support system, demand and supply forecasting, circular production planning and control, material testing and certificationetc).
DigiPrime, will be thoroughly validated through 6 cross-sectorial pilots, further detailed in 20 use-cases covering 5 different European industrial sectors (automotive, renewable energy, electronics, textile, construction), and by additional pilots in new sectors, funded through an Open Call mechanism.
| Web resources: |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/873111
https://www.digiprime.eu/ |
| Start date: | 01-01-2020 |
| End date: | 31-12-2023 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 19 257 130,00 Euro - 15 963 173,00 Euro |
| Twitter: | @DigiPrime2 |
Original description
DigiPrime has the mission to develop a new concept of Circular Economy digital platform overcoming current information asymmetry among value-chain stakeholders, in order to unlock new circular business models based on the data-enhanced recovery and re-use of functions and materials from high value-added post-use products with a cross-sectorial approach. DigiPrime will create and operate a federated model of digital platforms for cross-sector business in the Circular Economy. Nodes of the federation will offer interoperable functions and data, that can be accessed by other nodes, combined with local data and services, that are not exposed outside; connectors and open interfaces enable easy integration of new services, provided by third parties, that are not made accessible outside. Specific attention will be devoted to create trustable data sharing mechanisms, preserving the confidentiality of business-critical data. Security and sovereignity of information are guaranteed by IDSA (Industrial Data Space Association)-based solutions for on-demand and controlled sharing of data among organisations, regulated by smart contracts and tracked by block-chain. The services covers: i) the cross-sector value-Chains dimension (De- and remanufacturing oriented product information management, product co-creation, LCA-LCC for eco-design, demand-supply matching, sustainable value network and reverse logistics barriers identification and legislation support, etc.), ii) the operational dimension (rediction of product conditions, de-and remanufacturing decision support system, demand and supply forecasting, circular production planning and control, material testing and certificationetc). DigiPrime, will be thoroughly validated through 6 cross-sectorial pilots, further detailed in 20 use-cases covering 5 different European industrial sectors (automotive, renewable energy, electronics, textile, construction), and by additional pilots in new sectors, funded through an Open Call mechanism.Status
CLOSEDCall topic
DT-ICT-07-2018-2019Update Date
27-10-2022
The Battery Pilot will aim at demonstrating that the DigiPrime platform can unlock a sustainable business case targeting the remanufacturing and re-use of second life Li-Ion battery cells with a cross-sectorial approach linking the e-mobility sector and the renewable energy sector, specifically focusing on solar and wind energy applications.
As the proactive exploitation of the DigiPrime platform enables the car-monitored SOH tracing and availability, less testing is needed to assess the residual capacity of the battery. Moreover, by knowing the structure of the battery packs, a decision support system can be implemented to adjust the de-and remanufacturing strategy accordingly and select the most proper cells for re-assembly second-life modules, thus unlocking a systematic circular value chain for Li-ion battery cells re-use. Furthermore, excessively degraded cells which cannot be re-used can be sent to high-value recycling, based on the knowledge of their material compositions.
The DigiPrime project aims to address the issue of poor data and knowledge exchange among value chain stakeholders and sectors, which hinders cross-sectoral circular economy opportunities and limits the uptake of reusable materials by end customers. To solve this problem, the project is developing a digital platform concept that aims to overcome the current information asymmetry among value chain stakeholders. The project's main goal is to unlock new circular business models by focusing on the data-enhanced recovery and reuse of functions and materials from high-value-added post-use products as the foundation of its platform.
To achieve this, the project has planned standardization activities that cover two complementary aspects:
- Utilizing existing standards, such as those related to data modelling, to support the project's implementation activities and avoid duplicating effort during development; and
- Influencing future standardization in the circular economy as a means to increase visibility and maximize the overall impact of the project.
By doing so, the project aims to promote consistency in the circular economy and improve the efficiency of data and knowledge exchange among value chain stakeholders.
The project has a focus on standardization and aims to align with existing standards as much as possible in the development of the platform and the sharing of data and information. However, the project does not adhere to a specific standard or follow a strict standardization direction. Instead, the project collaborates with organizations that have experience in standardization, such as industry associations, like the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA). By working with these associations, the project can participate in standard-related working groups more easily, as opposed to the stricter rules and processes of SDOs. As part of the Digital Manufacturing Projects cluster under EFFRA, the project participates in CEN-CENELEC standardization workshops, including a workshop on ZDM terminology. The impact of the workshop on the project is expected to be minimal as ZDM is not directly related to the core goals of the project. Additionally, the project is involved in discussions about the emerging concept of product passports: it has provided input to the European Battery Association and the European Commission on the European Digital Product Passport. They also offered guidelines for circular economy dataspaces in a white paper for the Industrial Data Spaces Association and the OPEN DEI project.
Regarding standardization, the project anticipates that its efforts will result in contributions to the development of reference implementations for product passports and dataspaces for the circular economy. Additionally, the project expects to have an impact on the individual components of its digital platform that follow specific standards. By adhering to these standards, the project aims to improve the sustainability of the data on the platform, for example, in areas such as life cycle assessment and predictive asset management. Overall, these inputs on standardisation will help to improve the efficiency and interoperability of the developed digital platform. With respect to its standardization activities, the project has identified the following elements of good practice:
- Including an SDO in the consortium or, if not, a partner with strong connections to SDOs. This is crucial for successful standardization work, as it allows the project to work on the target standards in a focused and effective way and eliminates the need for extensive exploratory processes for understanding the relevant standardization processes and establishing the required connections;
- Focusing on a limited number of standards (e.g. one or two). This is essential for being effective given the limited standardization resources typically available in EU-funded projects.
- The project highlighted the importance of focused work on specific standards instead of trying to engage with too many standards and SDOs;
- Ensuring regular bilateral communication between the project and the SDO throughout the project's life cycle. This is important for addressing the challenges associated with aligning project timelines with the standardization process;
- Given the vast number of technology-related standards, projects would greatly benefit from services that help them identify the most appropriate SDOs for their standardization tasks. Such a service could assist projects in coping with standard fragmentation and avoiding overlaps.
The most relevant value-chain oriented services aim to:
- product information management and data collection on post-use Li-Ion batteries about their use phase in order to enable monitoring and full traceability of its life-cycle;
- define a sustainable value network and reverse logistics configuration of the post-use battery supply chain;
- monitoring of emerging limitations and barriers to Li-Ion battery related circular second-life business.
Operational services aim to collect product data on post-use Li-Ion batteries about their use phase in order to enable monitoring and full traceability of its life-cycle;
Operational services aim to:
- elaborate and analyse various data collected about post-use batteries to predict the conditions of the battery packs, modules and cells;
- define a Decision Support System to identify the best disassembly and remanufacturing strategy, given the post-use Li-Ion battery conditions.
As the proactive exploitation of the DigiPrime platform enables the car-monitored SOH tracing and availability, less testing is needed to assess the residual capacity of the battery. Moreover, by knowing the structure of the battery packs, a decision support system can be implemented to adjust the de-and remanufacturing strategy accordingly and select the most proper cells for re-assembly second-life modules, thus unlocking a systematic circular value chain for Li-ion battery cells re-use. Furthermore, excessively degraded cells which cannot be re-used can be sent to high-value recycling, based on the knowledge of their material compositions.
The architecture specifies a number of security services, which are applicable to both local and global federations of DigiPrime. The security services include:
- Authentication: This service deals with the authentication of the various users of the DigiPrime digital platform. Each user of the platform will be required to have an account in the platform and to become authenticated against this service.
- Authorization: Different stakeholders have access to different data, services, and functionalities of the platform. In this direction, the DigiPrime digital platform specifies an authorization service that provides stakeholders with access to the capabilities of the platform in-line with their roles in the circular chain. Characteristics examples of the different roles including OEMs / Manufacturers, Remanufacturers, Recyclers, End-users, Raw material processors, Policy Makers, Innovation hubs and CE Industries.
- Identity Management: Includes a set of framework services and policies that manage users’ authentications and authorizations within the DigiPrime digital platform. It caters for managing multiple authorizations and authentications in heterogeneous environments. Typical functionalities of the identity management framework include management of credentials (e.g., certificates, passwords) and single sign on functionalities.
DigiPrime is focused on the development of a circular economy digital platform that enables the creation of circular business models based on the data-enhanced recovery and reuse of functions and materials. A federated model of digital platforms for cross-sector business in the circular economy will be validated through cross-sectoral pilots and use cases in multiple industries including automotive, renewable energy, electronics, textile, and construction. The platform will help overcome current information asymmetry among value-chain stakeholders, thus contributing to unlock new circular business models based on the data-enhanced recovery and re-use of functions and materials from high value-added post-use products across manufacturing sectors. Through deploying a multi-node federation structure that is replicable on different, existing and prospective sectorial platform instances, DigiPrime supports the future systematic creation of cross-sectorial circular value-chains for the remanufacturing and re-use of high added-value components (i.e. batteries, composite and techno-polymer parts, textile components, and mechatronics / electronics).
DigiPrime develops a multi-sided platform pursuing the goal that all relevant actors of circular economy scenarios - i.e. Products and materials manufacturers, de-manufacturers, remanufacturers, material recyclers, Consultancy, Research and Innovation centres and ICT providers are placed in a common space thereby facilitating contact between two or more sides that would otherwise be unlikely to interact. The platform facilitates transactions (data and services) among those actors by actually reducing transaction costs: that’s the real value DigiPrime business model relies on. In fact, the platform provides a convenient way of matching the different sides of an
interaction (e.g. search or recommendation function), a virtual space to interact, a code of conduct, instruments that increase transparency and trust (i.e. comprehensive information, feedbacks, Material flow monitoring and aggregated system-oriented KPIs, Barriers Identification and legislation support, Circular Innovation Hubs integration, De-and remanufacturing oriented product information formalization, Reverse Logistics and value-chain integration, Demand and supply forecasting, Circular production planning and control, Material characterization and certification), methods of secure transaction, etc. to which both sides agree.
Moreover, the concept and availability of federated agile business collaboration platforms for the circular economy is at the core of the DigiPrime vision. The proposed federated platform model will lead to disruption and business benefits in all the above areas of circular economy impact. Unlike platform monopolies, federated platforms offer diversity and demand-led development in a wide range of industry sectors, yet they all adopt a common architecture, standards and core technologies to facilitate interoperability and economies of scale.
In their simplest shape, existing online platforms do not intervene in the transaction (still guaranteeing its correct execution), except by asking for a fee from one or multiple sides of the transaction in order to make profit. Those kind of platforms do not take control over the object of the transaction, nor on the transaction price. Considering preliminary investigations performed, the heterogeneous variety of requirements DigiPrime wants to address requires a more complex approach. For this reason, our platform needs to adopt a hybrid business model, choosing to act as a platform operator mediating between different market participants in one area of activity and as something like a distributor in another. Hybrid value creation is defined as the innovation strategy of generating additional value by innovatively combining products, data and services. To support such a vision, we currently foreseen a model where a permissioned network of actors can be created on top of the platform. To be in the network each actor will pay a minimal annual fee. Then each actor might earn incomes by selling products, data and services on the platform and/or need to pay additional fees once consuming/acquiring products, data and services.
To further define the business model of the DigiPrime platform, the project has started to define key elements of the Platform Design ToolKit (https://platformdesigntoolkit.com/), a tool inspired initially by the business model canvas, but extended with a set of tools especially thought for Platforms with several actors and with a distributed value generation. In the following only the Ecosystem mapping canvas and the final Business Canvas are reported for page limits; the overall canvas will be used as first reference for the business model generation and a key guideline for implementations, so to have always a clear vision shared among all the consortium partners.
Identify potential barriers identification and get legislation support to know and deal with the correct legislation thus implementing an effective circular business.
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| Politecnico di Milano (Coördinator)
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| AIT
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| ATLANTIS Engineering S.A.
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| BALance Technology Consulting GMBH
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| Bosch Rexroth GmbH
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| CIRCULAR ECONOMY SOLUTIONS GMBH (C-ECO)
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| COBAT SERVIZI (COBAT)
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| CONTINENTAL AG (CONTI)
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| Centrocot
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| DESIGNAUSTRIA (DA) (DA)
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| E REPAIR S.R.L. (E-REP)
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| EDAG ENGINEERING GMBH
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| ENGINSOFT TURKEY MUHENDISLIK YAZILIM TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI (ES)
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| ENVIROBAT ESPANA SL (ENV)
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| EXTRA RED SRL (EXTRA)