As per the sustainability objectives in multiple regions like the US, China or the European
Union, the Digital Product Passport (from hereon dPP) is an key enabler to provide the
transparency and validity of product information througout the entire value chain as well as an
holistic „product life cyle“ understanding.

This understanding entails not only the sourcing, processing, production and distribution of
goods and information, but extends to recyling, refurbishment, re-use and re-manufacturing of
these products and data. The latter is also known as the „second life“ and is an essential
mindset for the new data eco-systems allowing information to flow freely between the
participants of an end-2-end value chain. The flow of information amongst various and, most-
likely none pre-determined, parties shifts the paradigm of data security, data privacy and data
ownership onto the next level.

These factors are perceived, widely, as risks within todays data economy, but it somewhat
increases the challenge for new business models to take place. In order to overcome these
challenges, the dPP can provide one solution to share not only the data and information but
the risks and opportunities, alike.

One of the most discussed new business models at the moment is the so called „Circular
Economy“. This model aims to address not only the efficient usage of ressources, materials
and energy but re-defines the collaboration between companys as an eco-system in an nonlinear product lifecycle in terms of sharing their pains and gains.

The dPP as an key enabler of this non-linear thinking also needs to encompass all the features
and characteristics of the product as it gets sourced, processed, produced but also disassemble, re-used, re-manufactured into new-old „second life“ products.

As postulated in the title of this theme, the dPP collects, categorises, stores and represents
the data and information of the end-product as „the sum of it‘s parts“. However, by way of
augmenting the product’s usage information, following it‘s second life processes, distrubing
the information to all data providers, offering transparency to end-customers, fostering new
business models and so on and so on and so on.
The dPP is way more than the sum of it’s parts.

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