Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is developing “the Industrial Data Space”, a data space available to industry all over the world. Access and usage of the Industrial Data Space will be safeguarded by a set of uniform standards. The goal is to develop secure solutions in the face of wall-to-wall digitalization and the rapid shifts in industrial manufacturing and business processes that come with it.
“The lifeblood of any company is its data. Ensuring reliable and secure access to information is essential for the future of industry and society,” says Professor Reimund Neugebauer, president of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “We envisage a connected data space that will provide a more efficient way of creating value in all sectors. Together we want to develop tools that enable as many companies as possible to successfully participate in the digital industrial revolution. German and European industry must retain control over its own data. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises need a protected space in which they can share and exchange data according to rules that they themselves establish,” said Professor Johanna Wanka, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, after the high level talks.
The German federal government is being very deliberate in its support of this decentralized approach in order to open up the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0 to as many companies as possible. State Secretary Matthias Machnig at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy emphasizes: “The digitalization of industry is one of the core social and political tasks for Germany as it sets policy. Industry 4.0 is of critical importance for us as a production location, and our goal is to rigorously seize the opportunities of this fourth industrial revolution. Creating a consortium of industry and research to address issues including reference architecture, standardization and data security, is an important step toward that goal. It shows that industry, research and politics are all working together.”
