Blockchain solutions should enable manufacturing companies and suppliers to make the cross-company trading of data goods transparent and traceable in order to make data economically usable. Such a data economy of the future can now be experienced: with the MyDataEconomy platform, data can be monetized and given a price tag. As a digital value creation network and digital data marketplace for industrial data sources and large volumes of data in particular, the platform digitizes complex data sources that are still difficult to network with and among each other. The special design enables the secure and efficient exchange of data across network and company boundaries.

With the MyDataEconomy platform, the vision of a data economy for manufacturing technology was outlined back in 2018 within the Industrial IOTA Lab Aachen, which was founded by Senseering and the WZL machine tool laboratory at RWTH Aachen University. "The MyDataEconomy ecosystem not only makes it possible to improve the quality of condition monitoring and predictive maintenance approaches in particular, it also provides an infrastructure with which (industrial) data, digital twins, data-based services or innovative algorithms such as raw materials and goods can be used, exchanged and monetized in a value-adding manner in the future," says Dr. Daniel Trauth, CEO of Senseering and Head of the Digital Transformation department at the WZL.

The platform is now entering a closed alpha phase with the first pilot customers. The WZL is taking part with its Feintool XFT2500 speed industrial fineblanking system, as the fineblanking incubator is characterized by a variety of data sources and large amounts of data in a short period of time. At the same time, almost exclusively safety-critical components are produced, for example for the automotive industry. "This makes it particularly important that quality data can be tracked seamlessly along the value chain," says Professor Dr. Thomas Bergs, holder of the Chair of Manufacturing Process Technology at the WZL.

Digital transformation at the click of a mouse
At the click of a mouse, users of the platform are able to develop disruptive innovations in cooperation networks and shape their own digital transformation. This is achieved through a unique and comprehensive data exploitation or data monetization strategy. Based on IOTA Tangle technology, the MyDataEconomy platform also enables resource-saving, environmentally friendly and scalable use, even for fee-free transactions. In the background, distributed ledger technology (DLT, also known as blockchain) ensures data integrity, data sovereignty and counterfeit protection.

The MyDataEconomy platform is currently only accessible to selected companies, municipalities, federal states and public institutions. "We particularly need use cases that challenge our architecture. That's why we can't yet consider every use case," asserts Dr. Daniel Trauth. After a successful alpha phase, the MyDataEconomy platform will be open to everyone. as