WG 4 - Interoperability framework

This document defines a standard for secure and efficient data exchange protocols and data formats to be used for the digital product passport. Data exchange protocols establish the rules and procedures that systems follow when communicating and exchanging information. Data formats define the structure and presentation of that information so it can be understood and processed correctly by the involved systems. Together, protocols and formats ensure that data can be exchanged in a manner that is secure, reliable, and compatible across various platforms and sectors.
This will guarantee that data is machine-readable, structured, searchable, and transferable through an open, interoperable network without vendor lock-in.
a)   Secure communication:
this standard defines protocols that ensure secure and authenticated data exchange between systems, ensuring that data is protected against unauthorised access and that only authorised entities can access the information.
b)   Interoperability for data exchange:
The protocols and data formats defined in this standard allow for easy integration with existing data exchange systems, ensure compatibility of protocols and formats across various sectors and supporting a wide range of applications and use cases.
c)   Ease of use and integration:
Ensure that the identified protocols and formats can be implemented easily, especially for mobile devices, and are user-friendly in order to facilitate widespread adoption.
d)   Data integrity:
The protocols and data formats defined in this document ensure the integrity of information linked to physical objects and electronic data throughout the entire value chain, extending to the product's or asset's end-of-life end-of-life.
e)   Documentation and Discoverability:
The protocols and formats are available to individuals without specialised knowledge, enabling broader adoption across sectors
In order to promote interoperability, reduce costs for businesses, and align with existing European regulations and initiatives, this document considers the data exchange protocols and data formats already in use in other legislations. Relevant existing standards are integrated into the development process to ensure consistency and coherence with industry practices and regulatory frameworks.

This document specifies requirements for decentralized data storage, archiving and data persistence of digital product passports. The archiving service securely stores historical passport data, preserving a comprehensive record of past information. This feature is particularly relevant for market surveillance purposes. Persistence is required to make sure that data included in the digital product passports remains available even when the economic operator creating the digital product passport is no longer active.
This document also specifies requirements for the replication between economic operators and back-up operators as well as rules for data lifetime definition.

The scope of this document includes:
—   the semantic description of a product, including its properties where relevant and the semantic aspects to represent the product lifecycle;
—   a common information model allowing for the implementation of data dictionary systems;
—   metadata models and formats to be used in exchange and representation, allowing for the integration of dictionaries;
—   rules on how to systematically use such metadata models when developing product group specific data models and dictionaries;
—   technical and organizational interoperability.
This document follows the approach of standard interoperability layers and proposes the following aspects in this regard.

This document aims to standardize the specifications for the API of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) as mandated by the ESPR of the European Commission. The purpose of this API is to facilitate the searchability of DPPs, as well as to provide the necessary means for interactions throughout the lifecycle of a product's DPP.