Tracking of supply chain products across industries

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of sustainability, in particular to the field of sustainable industrialization. The disclosure relates to methods, local compute and storage environments and computer-elements for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end-product(s). The disclosure further relates to methods, local compute and storage environments and computer-elements for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer. The disclosure further relates to a use of digital product passports generated according to the methods or by the local consumer compute and storage environments for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer.

Description

[0001] 240864

[0002] TRACKING OF SUPPLY CHAIN PRODUCTS ACROSS INDUSTRIES

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The invention relates to the field of sustainability, in particular to the field of sustainable industrialization. The disclosure relates to methods, local compute and storage environments and computer-elements for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end-product(s). The disclosure further relates to methods, local compute and storage environments and computer-elements for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer. The disclosure further relates to a use of digital product passports generated according to the methods or by the local consumer compute and storage environments for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer.

[0005] TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

[0006] Supply chain products produced by supply chain participants of a supply chain may be used for producing end products in multiple different industries. Due to the complexity of production chains used to produce the end products, supply chain participants lack transparency with respect to the endproducts produced from the supply chain products. Similarly, consumers of supply chain products lack transparency regarding the uses for which these products have received a clearance, for example by organizations responsible for product clearances. This hampers improvement of properties of the supply chain products as well as the properties of downstream products or the end-products. Hence there is a need to improve the transparency with respect to supply chains and end-products, the produced supply chain products are used within as well as supply chain product clearances.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] In an aspect disclosed is a method, in particular a computer-implemented method executed by one or more local data provider component(s) of a local provider compute and storage environment associated with a product producer, for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end-products), the method comprising:240864

[0009] 2

[0010] • providing product data associated with the product and industry data associated with at least one industry, wherein the at least one industry is associated with the one or more production chain(s), optionally wherein the industry data signifies the usage of the product within one or more industries to produce the end-product(s) and / or within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product(s), optionally wherein the industry data is associated with predefined chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product,

[0011] • providing a decentral identifier associated with the product data, optionally wherein the decentral identifier is further associated with the data owner of the product data, in particular the product producer, and / or one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product, optionally wherein the decentral identifier is generated and provided in response to a request for providing the decentral identifier, in particular wherein the request includes one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product,

[0012] • generating a digital product passport associated with the product, wherein the digital product passport includes the decentral identifier, at least part of the product data and the industry data, optionally wherein the digital product passport is generated based on a data model associated with the product or a product type the product is associated with, optionally wherein the generated digital product passport is provided to a local data storage of the local compute and storage environment accessible according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment,

[0013] • generating usage data based on the digital product passport, optionally wherein the usage data is generated based on the industry data included in the digital product passport, optionally wherein the usage data includes a usage data identifier and at least a part of the industry data,

[0014] • providing the usage data for access via a decentral network by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment.

[0015] In another aspect disclosed is a local provider compute and storage environment associated with a product producer for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end-product(s), wherein the local compute and storage environment includes one or more local data provider component(s), the local provider compute and storage environment comprising:240864

[0016] 3

[0017] • a data providing interface configured to provide product data associated with the product and industry data associated with at least one industry, wherein the at least one industry is associated with the one or more production chain(s), optionally wherein the industry data signifies the usage of the product within one or more industries to produce the end-product(s) and / or within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product(s), optionally wherein the industry data is associated with predefined chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product, • one or more of the local data provider component(s) configured to

[0018] o provide a decentral identifier generator configured to provide a decentral identifier associated with the product, optionally wherein the decentral identifier is further associated with the data owner of the product data, in particular the product producer, and / or one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product, optionally wherein the decentral identifier is generated and provided in response to a request for providing the decentral identifier, in particular wherein the request includes one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product,

[0019] o generate a digital product passport associated with the product, wherein the digital product passport includes the decentral identifier, at least part of the product data and the industry data, optionally wherein the digital product passport is generated based on a data model associated with the product or a product type the product is associated with, optionally wherein the generated digital product passport is provided to a local data storage of the local compute and storage environment accessible according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment,

[0020] o generate usage data based on the digital product passport, optionally wherein the usage data is generated based on the industry data included in the digital product passport, optionally wherein the usage data includes a usage data identifier and at least a part of the industry data,

[0021] • a decentral network interface configured to provide the generated usage data for access via the decentral network by decentral consuming network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment.

[0022] In yet another aspect disclosed is a method, in particular a computer-implemented method executed by one or more local data consumer component(s) of a local consumer compute and storage environment associated with a downstream product producer, for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the240864

[0023] 4

[0024] downstream product producer, wherein the supply chain product(s) are used within the downstream production to produce one or more downstream product(s), the method comprising:

[0025] • providing digital supply chain product identifier(s) associated with the supplied supply chain product(s), optionally wherein the digital supply chain product identifier(s) are provided based on physical identification element(s) physically connected to the supply chain product(s),

[0026] • gathering digital product passports associated with the supply chain product(s) according to a decentral network protocol from decentral provider network node(s) connected to local data provider compute and storage environment(s) associated with the supply chain product producer(s), wherein the digital product passport(s) include(s) usage data associated with a use of the supply chain product(s) within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s), • providing target clearance data associated with one or more target product clearance(s), optionally wherein the target clearance data is associated with supply chain product class(es), optionally wherein the target clearance data includes target industry data,

[0027] • validating the digital product passport(s) by matching the usage data to the target clearance data, • based on validated digital product passport(s), providing the supply chain product(s) associated with the digital product passport(s) to the downstream production for producing the downstream product(s), optionally wherein providing the supply chain product(s) to the downstream production includes generating monitoring and / or control data for monitoring and / or controlling the supply of the supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) to the downstream production, optionally wherein based on non-validation of the digital product passport(s), the supply chain product(s) associated with non-validated digital product passports are rejected, in particular are not provided to the downstream production.

[0028] In yet another aspect disclosed is a local consumer compute and storage environment associated with a downstream product producer for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer, wherein the supply chain product(s) are used within the downstream production to produce one or more downstream product(s), wherein the local consumer compute and storage environment includes one or more local data consumer component(s), the local consumer compute and storage environment comprising:

[0029] • a data providing interface configured to provide digital supply chain product identifier(s) associated with the supplied supply chain product(s) and target clearance data associated with one or more target product clearance(s), optionally wherein the digital supply chain product identifier(s) are240864

[0030] 5

[0031] provided based on physical identification element(s) physically connected to the supply chain product(s), optionally wherein the target clearance data is associated with supply chain product class(es), optionally wherein the target clearance data includes target industry data,

[0032] • one or more decentral consumer network node(s) connected to one or more of the local data consumer component(s), wherein the decentral consumer network node(s) are configured to gather digital product passports associated with the supply chain product(s) according to a decentral network protocol from decentral provider network node(s) connected to local data provider compute and storage environment(s) associated with the supply chain product producer(s), wherein the digital product passport(s) include(s) usage data associated with a use of the supply chain product(s) within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s),

[0033] • a validation engine configured to validate the digital product passport(s) by matching the usage data to the target clearance data and configured to provide - based on validated digital product passport(s) - the supply chain product(s) associated with the digital product passport(s) to the downstream production for producing the downstream product(s), optionally wherein providing the supply chain product(s) to the downstream production includes generating monitoring and / or control data for monitoring and / or controlling the supply of the supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) to the downstream production, optionally wherein based on nonvalidation of the digital product passport(s), the supply chain product(s) associated with non-validated digital product passports are rejected, in particular are not provided to the downstream production.

[0034] In yet another aspect disclosed is a use of digital product passports generated according to the methods disclosed herein or by the local consumer compute and storage environments disclosed herein for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer.

[0035] In yet another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) of the present disclosure or configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) of the present disclosure.

[0036] Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the environments, the uses and computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples.

[0037] EMBODIMENTS240864

[0038] 6

[0039] In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of embodiments and / or examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and / or examples.

[0040] To improve properties of end-product(s), properties of supply chain product(s) used to produce such end-products) need to be improved. To improve the properties of supply chain product(s), transparency on the production chain(s) using the supply chain product(s) and / or the end-products is required for supply chain product producers. Moreover, transparency on the product clearances associated with the supply chain products is required for supply chain product consumers. Owing to the complexity of production chains used to produce the end products, supply chain participants lack transparency with respect to the end-products produced from the supply chain products and / or with respect to industries downstream participants of the production chain are associated with. Likewise, downstream participants lack transparency with respect to product clearances associated with the consumed supply chain products. This hampers improvement of properties of the supply chain products, downstream products and / or the end-products.

[0041] By generating usage data associated with the usage of products produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) and by providing the usage data via the decentral network for access by participants of the decentral network, the decentral participants may gain transparency on the industry / ies the produced products are used within. The transparency with respect to the usage of the product achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows upstream participants producing supply chain product(s) used to produce the product to more efficiently tailor and / or customize the supply chain product properties to properties required by the downstream participants despite the presence of complex production chain(s) across various industries consuming the supply chain products. This way, the properties of the downstream products and / or the end-products may be improved without providing undesired transparency on the downstream production chain(s) and / or the downstream product(s). The transparency with respect to the use of upstream products across different industries achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows downstream product producers to more efficiently control the supply of upstream products to their productions by ensuring that the used supply chain product(s) fulfil required product clearance data, without providing undesired transparency on the upstream production chain(s).240864

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[0043] By validating the digital product passport(s) based on usage data included in such digital product passport(s), supply chain product streams to the downstream production can be reliably monitored with respect to their chemical and / or physical properties. By controlling the supply chain product streams based on the validated digital product passports, chemical and / or physical properties of downstream products produced based on the supply chain products fed to the downstream production can be reliably monitored. Validation enhances control over the supply chain product flow with respect to the chemical and / or physical property / ies of the supply chain products. Validation further enhances control over the chemical and / or physical property / ies of downstream products produced by the downstream production, since sufficient chemical and / or physical property / ies of the supply chain products used to produce the downstream products can be ensured.

[0044] Various units, entities, nodes or other computing components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. Configured to shall recite structure meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks on operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components can be configured to perform the task even when the unit / circuit / component is not operating. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components that form the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits and / or memory storing program instructions executable to implement the operation. The units, circuits, entities, nodes or other computing components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions shall be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.”

[0045] In general, the methods, apparatuses, systems, computer elements, nodes or other computing components described herein may include memory, software components and hardware components. The memory can include volatile memory such as static or dynamic random-access memory and / or nonvolatile memory such as optical or magnetic disk storage, flash memory, programmable read-only memories, etc. The hardware components may include any combination of combinatoric logic circuitry, clocked storage devices such as flops, registers, latches, etc., finite state machines, memory such as static random-access memory or embedded dynamic random-access memory, custom designed circuitry, programmable logic arrays, etc.

[0046] The product may be a supply chain product. The supply chain product may include production inputs for producing a downstream product. The downstream product may be a product produced using the supply chain product or the end-product. The product may be a discrete product. The product may be a component, a component-assembly, an end-product or a recycled material. The product may be a battery240864

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[0048] or a battery component. The product may be an electronic product. The product may be a chemical product.

[0049] The chemical product may include inorganic chemical products and organic chemical products. Inorganic chemical products may be devoid of carbon atoms and / or carbon-hydrogen bond(s) while organic chemical products may include at least one carbon atom and / or at least one carbon-hydrogen bond. The chemical product may be a naturally occurring chemical product, i.e. any unprocessed chemical substance that is found in nature, such as chemicals from plants, micro-organisms, animals, the earth and the sea or any chemical substance that is found in nature and extracted using a process that does not change its chemical composition. The chemical product may be produced via one or more process steps. The process steps may involve chemical reactions and / or physical processes. The physical process(es) may involve the use of chemical production inputs, such as chemical materials. Physical process(es) may include mixing, dispersing, extrusion, molding, casting, weaving, knitting, coating and / or filling.

[0050] Inorganic chemical products may include aluminium, iron, steel, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, titanium, magnesium, chromium, tin, manganese and / or cobalt. Organic chemical products may include detergents, cosmetic products, paints, lubricants, paper, pulp paper, paper boards and / or polymer products. Polymer products may include chemical products including or consisting of at least one polymer, such as synthetic textiles, footwear, mattresses, absorbent hygiene products, toys, fishing nets and fishing gear. The polymer may be selected from polyolefins, polyvinyls, polystyrenes, polyesters, polyethers, polyurethanes, poly(meth)acrylates, polyamides, polycarbonates, polyacetals, fluoropolymers, epoxides, silicons, polyimides, polylactic acid, cellulose, lignin, copolymers of such polymers and / or blends of such polymers. Organic chemical products may include compositions including alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, aromatic compounds, alcohols, aldeyhdes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, ethers, amines, amides, nitriles and / or halides.

[0051] The product may be part of an ecosystem associated with the end-product. The ecosystem may include chemical products. The ecosystem may include production chain(s) for producing the product. The production chain(s) may include one or more production stage(s). The ecosystem may include processing chain(s) to process used end-products resulting from the use of produced end-products. Processing chains may include recycling chains to recycle at least part of the used end-product or a component thereof. Processing chains may include re-use chains to re-use the used end-product. The ecosystem may include various participants, such as raw input material producers, chemical product240864

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[0053] producers, chemical product users, end-product producers, end-product users, EOL product collectors and recyclers. The participants may be associated with the local data provider compute and storage environment(s) and / or the local data consumer compute and storage environ ment(s). Participants associated with the local data provider compute and storage environment(s) may include data providers. Participants associated with the local data consumer compute and storage environment(s) may include data consumers.

[0054] The local provider compute and storage environment(s) may include one or more component(s) configured to perform different functionalities. The component(s) may include one or more local data provider component(s) configured to generate and / or provide digital product passports and one or more local data provider component(s) configured to manage the usage data. Managing the usage data may include generating the usage data, providing the usage data for access via the decentral network and / or triggering gathering of usage data via the decentral network. The local data consumer compute and storage environment(s) may include one or more component(s) configured to perform different functionalities. The component(s) may include one or more local data consumer component(s) configured to trigger gathering of the usage data via the decentral network and / or one or more local data consumer component(s) configured to process the gathered usage data. Processing may include determining the infringement data. The local compute and / or storage environments may include distributed compute and / or storage environments controlled by the data provider or the data consumer. The component(s) may communicate according to a local communication protocol. The local communication protocol may facilitate communication in distributed compute and / or storage environment. The local communication protocol may include web protocols, such as HTTP / HTTPS methods, URI, MIME types or combinations thereof.

[0055] One or more of the local data provider component(s) may be connected to decentral provider network node(s) of the decentral network. The decentral network may be associated with participants of the ecosystem. The local data consumer component(s) may be connected to decentral consumer network node(s) of the decentral network. The decentral network nodes may be configured to perform data transactions or data exchanges, e.g. via peer-to-peer communication. The decentral provider network node(s) may be associated with data providers. The data providers may be downstream participants of a production chain. The data providers may be participant of the decentral network. The decentral consumer network node(s) may be associated with data consumers. The data consumers may be upstream participants of a production chain. The data consumers may be participant of the decentralnetwork. The data transactions or exchanges may be based on a decentral network protocol establishing peer-to-peer communication between the decentral network nodes. The decentral network nodes of the decentral network may be configured to provide or send digital product passports and / or usage data to another decentral network node of the decentral network and / or to ingest or receive digital product passports and / or usage data from another decentral network node of the decentral network. Providing digital product passports and / or usage data for access via the decentral network by decentral consumer network node(s) may include indirect or direct access of the decentral network consumer node(s) to the digital product passports and / or the usage data.

[0056] The decentral network protocol may specify a communication protocol for peer-to-peer communication according to a communication standard defined for the decentral network. The decentral network protocol may relate to decentral identifier(s) identifying the product and / or decentral participant identifiers associated with the decentral network nodes and / or authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s) authentication and / or authorizing the decentral participant nodes for data exchange.

[0057] The data transactions or exchanges may be based on the decentral network protocol including the decentral identifier(s) associated with the product and / or decentral participant identifiers associated with the decentral network nodes. Based on the decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the decentral network nodes, the decentral network nodes for peer-to-peer communication may be identified. Based on the decentral identifier(s) of the products the digital product passports associated with the product(s) for peer-to-peer data exchange may be identified. Based on decentral identifier(s) associated with the service managing the usage data, the usage data for peer-to-peer data exchange may be identified.

[0058] The data transactions or exchanges may be based on the decentral network protocol including authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s). Based on the authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s) a peer-to-peer network between participant nodes, e.g. decentral network nodes, of the decentral network may be established. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the decentral network nodes of the decentral network. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral participant identifier(s) may be provided to decentral network node(s) for authenticating the peer-to-peer communication between respective participant nodes. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral participant identifier(s) may be accessible by the decentral provider network node and / or the decentral consumer network node. The one or more authorization mechanism(s)11

[0059] may include at least one authorization rule for providing and / or consuming and / or accessing digital product passports and usage data. The one or more authorization mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the decentral network nodes and / or the decentral identifier(s) associated with the digital product passports and / or the decentral identifier(s) associated with the service managing the usage data. The one or more authorization mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral identifier(s) related to digital product passports to be accessed and / or exchanged. The one or more authorization mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral identifier(s) related to the service managing usage data to be accessed and / or exchanged. The decentral configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and strengthens control by each data owner of the decentral network.

[0060] The product passport may include at least one decentral identifier and product data. The decentral identifier may comprise any unique identifier uniquely associated with the product. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID) or a Digital Identifier(s) (DID). The decentral identifier may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer. The decentral identifier may include authentication information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the product access to product data may be controlled by the data owner of the product data, such as the product producer, the entity generating the product passport including the product data or the entity on behalf of which the product passport including the product data is generated. This contrasts with central authority schemes, where identifiers are provided by such central authority and access to data is controlled by such central authority. Decentral in this context refers to the usage of the decentral identifier(s) as controlled by the data owner of the product data. The decentral identifier(s) may be accessible and / or discoverable for decentral network node(s) of the decentral network. The decentral identifier(s) may be accessible and / or discoverable for the decentral participant node(s) based on a digital representation associated with the decentral identifier(s) and / or the digital product passport. The digital representation may be stored in a decentral registry accessible for at least a part of the decentral network node(s). The decentral registry may be associated with authentication and / or authorization mechanism. Access to the decentral registry may be controlled by the data owner of the digital product passports associated with the digital representations stored in the digital registry. Access may be controlled based on decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the participants of the decentral network. Access may be controlled via the decentral provider network node connected to the decentral registry.12

[0061] The product data may include data points defined by a data model used to generate the digital product passport. The product data may include data associated with the production of the product and / or product identifier(s) associated with the product. The product identifier(s) may be virtual product identifier(s). This way, the digital product passport may be uniquely linked to the physical entity of the product. The product data may include at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the production input(s) used to produce the product and / or the product, and / or at least one chemical and / or physical property determined from data collected during production and / or use of the production input(s) and / or the product.

[0062] The digital product passport may include one or more authentication mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the product data. The digital product passport may relate to one or more authorization mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the product data.

[0063] In an embodiment the industry data signifies the usage of the product within one or more industries to produce the end-product(s) and / or within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product(s). The production chain(s) may be associated with one or more industry / ies. The production chain(s) may include one or more production stage(s).

[0064] In an embodiment the industry data is associated with predefined chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product. The chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product may be predefined by the downstream industry / ies and / or downstream production chain(s) using the product. The chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product may be predefined by rulebook(s) and or regulation(s) applicable for the downstream industry / ies and / or downstream production chain(s) . This way, it can be ensured that the products fulfil the chemical and / or physical properties of products required by downstream participants. This allows to improve the chemical and / or physical property / ies of downstream product(s) and / or end-product(s).

[0065] In an embodiment the decentral identifier is further associated with the data owner of the product data and / or one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product. The data owner of the product may include the product producer.

[0066] In an embodiment the decentral identifier is associated with one or more authorization mechanisms. The authorization mechanisms may include authorization rule(s) including access instructions, data transaction instructions or data transaction protocols, such as data usage policies, associated with data providing and / or data consuming services. Through the authorization mechanism data access and data240864

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[0068] usage by local consumer compute and storage environments can be controlled in a secure manner by the data owner of the digital product passports.

[0069] In an embodiment the decentral identifier is generated and provided in response to a request for providing the decentral identifier. The request may include one or more digital product identifier(s) associated with the product. The digital product identifiers may digitally identify the product within the product production associated with the product producer. The request may be generated and provided in response to detecting a physical identification element physically attached to the product. The physical identification element may encode the digital product identifier. The decentral identifier may be generated by a local component of the local compute and storage environment associated with the product producer. The decentral identifier may be generated by a decentral infrastructure node.

[0070] In an embodiment the digital product passport is generated based on a data model associated with the product or a product type the product is associated with. The data model may include a semantic description of the passport data included in the digital product passport. The data model may include mandatory data point(s) that need to be included in the digital product passport. The data model may be stored in a local data base associated with the local compute and storage environment of the product producer. The data model may be stored in a database accessible for local component(s) of the local compute and storage environment. The database may not be part of the local compute and storage environment. The database may store data model(s) associated with product(s). The database may be accessible via a local communication protocol.

[0071] In an embodiment the generated digital product passport is provided to a local data storage of the local compute and storage environment accessible according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment. The data consumer(s) may include product consumer(s). The decentral consumer network node(s) may be connected to local consumer compute and storage environment(s) associated with the data consumer(s). The decentral provider network node(s) may be configured to authenticate and / or authorize requests to access the local data storage. The requests may be authorized based on decentral identifier(s) associated with the digital product passport and decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the decentral consumer network node(s).240864

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[0073] In an embodiment the usage data is generated based on the industry data included in the digital product passport. The usage data may be generated by parsing the digital product passport to determine the industry data and generating the usage data based on the determined industry data.

[0074] In an embodiment the usage data includes a usage data identifier and at least a part of the industry data. The usage data may include an industry identifier associated with the industry. The industry identifier may include an industry name.

[0075] In an embodiment the digital supply chain product identifier(s) are provided based on physical identification element(s) physically connected to the supply chain product(s). The physical identification element(s) may encode the digital supply chain product identifier(s). The digital supply chain product identifier(s) may be provided based on a sensor reading the physical identification element(s) .

[0076] In an embodiment the target clearance data is associated with one or more supply chain product class(es). Supply chain product class(es) may include define class(es) the supply chain product belongs to. The class(es) may include chemical product class(es) and / or discrete product class(es). Chemical product class(es) may include polymer, solvent, pigment or the like. Discrete product class(es) may include component class(es) and component-assembly class(es). This way, the target clearance data associated with the supply chain product class the supplied supply chain product(s) are associated with can be reliably determined, allowing a more reliable validation of the digital product passports despite consuming multiple different supply chain products from multiple upstream supply chain product producers.

[0077] In an embodiment the target clearance data includes target industry data associated with one or more target ind ustry / ies, wherein the target industry data is associated with chemical and / or physical property / ies of supply chain products defined for the target industry / ies. Target industry data may include one or more target industry / ies the downstream product producer is associated with. The target industry data may be associated with industry / ies the supply chain product is cleared to be used within. The target industry data may be associated with industry / ies the downstream products produced by the downstream product producer are used within.

[0078] In an embodiment, the digital product passport(s) are validated if the usage data at least partially matches the target clearance data. The digital product passport(s) may be validated if the industry data included in the usage data matches at least partially the target industry data included in the target clearance data.240864

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[0080] In an embodiment, the digital product passport(s) are not validated if the usage data does not at least partially match the target clearance data. The digital product passport(s) may not be validated if the industry data included in the usage data does not at least partially match the target industry data included in the target clearance data.

[0081] In an embodiment providing the supply chain product(s) to the downstream production includes generating monitoring and / or control data for monitoring and / or controlling the supply of the supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) to the downstream production. The monitoring and / or control data may include storage data associated with the storage of the supply chain product within the downstream production. The monitoring and / or control data may include production data associated with the production of downstream products using the supply chain product as production input. The monitoring and / or control data may be generated per supply chain product associated with a validated digital product passport.

[0082] In an embodiment based on non-validation of the digital product passport(s), the supply chain product(s) associated with non-validated digital product passports are rejected. Rejected supply chain products may not be provided to the downstream production. Rejection of the supply chain product(s) may include generating transport data associated with the transport of the rejected supply chain product(s) to supply chain productions having produced the rejected supply chain product(s).

[0083] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0084] In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures. The same reference numbers in the drawings and this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or like elements, components, and / or parts. The description of drawings is provided for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting. The embodiments and examples are illustrative embodiments and examples to further line out the concepts lined out herein. The figures include schematic illustrations and shall not be considered limiting. Other embodiments and examples that fall under the concepts lined out herein are possible and may not be explicitly described herein.

[0085] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a participant network of a product ecosystem including a material loop and being associated with a decentral peer-to-peer network for exchange of data associated with raw materials, chemical product(s), discrete product(s), end product(s) and recycled material(s).240864

[0086] 16

[0087] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a nested product production chain including production processes, production inputs and production outputs produced by the production processes.

[0088] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system architecture including components configured to generate and provide usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) and decentral network components acting as decentral data providing and / or consuming nodes.

[0089] FIG. 4 illustrates a decentral system for exchanging digital product passports associated with products produced or producible by a product production via a decentral network.

[0090] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a local compute and storage environment associated with a participant of one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) for generating and providing usage data associated with a use of products produced by the participant within the production chain(s).

[0091] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a data format of a chemical product passport associated with a chemical product produced by a chemical product producer.

[0092] FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a data format for registering an endpoint providing access to usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) at a decentral participant network node associated with a participant of a decentral network.

[0093] FIG. 7B illustrates an example data format of policy data associated with the usage data for controlling access to the usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s)by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with participants of a decentral network.

[0094] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface for accessing usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) at a decentral participant node associated with a participant of a decentral network.

[0095] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s)240864

[0096] 17

[0097] returned by a decentral provider network node associated with the product producer returned upon requesting access to the usage data via a decentral consumer network node associated with a participant of a decentral network.

[0098] FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring and / or tracking the use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s).

[0099] FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for providing usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) for access via a decentral network for monitoring and / or tracking the use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s).

[0100] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a local consumer compute and storage environment associated with a downstream product producer for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer.

[0101] FIG. 13 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer.

[0102] DETAILED DESCRIPTON

[0103] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a participant network of a product ecosystem associated with a decentral peer-to-peer network for transfer of data associated with supply chain products and produced products used within the product ecosystem.

[0104] The participant network 130 of the product ecosystem associated may be associated with a decentral peer-to-peer network decentral network 134 for exchange of data associated with or related to raw material(s), chemical intermediate product(s), chemical product(s), discrete product(s), end product(s), recycled material(s) and / or their respective production. The participant network 130 may include one or more network participants 102 to 114 associated with decentral participant nodes 116 to 128. The network participants may be part of an industry or may be part of different industries. The network240864

[0105] 18

[0106] participants may be part of a product ecosystem including chemical products. The product ecosystem may include production chains to produce one or more end-product(s). The product ecosystem may include recycling chain(s) to recycle at least part of an end-of-life product resulting from the use of the end product(s). The product ecosystem may include re-use chain(s) to re-use at least a part of the end-of-life product(s).

[0107] The product ecosystem may include a raw material producer 104, a chemical product producer 102, a chemical product user 106, an end-product producer 108, an end-product user 110, an EOL product collector 112 and a recycler 114. The product ecosystem illustrated in FIG. 1 is a mere example and may include more or less network participants. For example, the product ecosystem may include a chain of chemical product producers instead of only one chemical product producer 102. The participant network 130 may include a chemical supply chain. The product ecosystem may allow the use of recycled materials resulting from recycling of end-of-life products to produce new products, such as chemical products. The product ecosystem may be associated with the production and / or recycling and / or re-use of physical products. The product may be a chemical product, an intermediate chemical product, a component, a component assembly, an end product, an end-of-life product or a recycled material.

[0108] The participant(s) of the participant network 130 may be associated with the production of products and / or recycling and / or re-use of products. The decentral network participant 102 to 114 may refer to a manufacturer of physical products, such as raw material producer 104, chemical product producer 102, chemical product user 106, end-product producer 108, a user of physical goods, such as end-product user 110, and / or a participant of a recycling chain associated with the physical product, such as EOL product collector 112 and recycler 114.

[0109] The participants of the decentral network may be associated with decentral participant identifiers. Each participant of the decentral network may be associated with one or more decentral participant identifier(s). The decentral participant identifier may comprise any identifier uniquely associated with a participant of the decentral network and / or with a production site of the participant of the decentral network. The decentral participant identifier may include letters and / or numbers. The decentral participant identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID(s)) and / or one or more Decentralized Identifier(s) (DID(s)). The decentral participant identifier may be associated with or may include a verifiable claim or credential. The verifiable claim may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer making one or more claims about a subject, such as an entity being a trustworthy participant of the decentral network. For instance, the issuer may make a claim about a consumer (e.g.240864

[0110] 19

[0111] the entity operating data consuming network node(s)) or a provider (e.g. the entity operating data providing network node(s)) the decentral participant identifier is associated with. The verifiable claim may include those claim(s) as well as proof instructions to prove that claim(s) have not been tampered with and were indeed issued by the claims issuer. The verifiable claim may also include duration information metadata that defines a period of time that the verifiable claim is valid for use or that defines a specific number of times that the verifiable claim is authorized for use. The verifiable claim may also include a DID of the claims issuer and / or the subject, such as an entity. The verifiable claim may be signed by the claims issuer. The claims issuer may provide the verifiable claim to a claims holder, such as the entity, for presentation to any relying party that relies upon the veracity of those claims, such as a decentral data provider. The signature of the verifiable claim may be validated with a public key associated with the claims issuer to determine that the respective entity is a trusted entity within the decentral network. The verifiable credential may be presented by a decentral data consuming network node and may be used by a decentral data providing network node to verify that the decentral participant associated with the decentral data consuming network node is a trusted entity within the decentral network prior to providing access to data, such as supply chain product data, hence ensuring that the supply chain product data can be exchanged in a secure and controlled manner within the decentral network.

[0112] The network participant may be associated with a participant node 116 to 128 and a decentral participant identifier related to associated participant node(s) 116 to 128. The participant node may be associated with an endpoint for accessing the participant node. The decentral participant identifier in combination with the endpoint may uniquely identify the participant node within the decentral network 134.

[0113] The participant(s) of the participant network 130 may be connected via material flows. The material flow may be a loop material flow 136. The loop material flow 136 may be a closed loop material flow. A closed loop material flow may refer to a material loop where recycled material is used to produce the same end products the recycled material is obtained from via recycling. The loop material flow 136 may be an open loop material flow. An open loop material flow may refer to a material loop where recycled material is used to produce different end products than the one the recycled material is obtained from. The material flow may be a linear material flow (e.g. not including recycling). The material flow 136 may correspond to the flow of product from one participant of the participant network 130 to the downstream participant of the participant network 130. The material flow 136 may refer to a continuous or a discontinuous flow of product. The flow of product may include any means of transportation suitable to transport the product from a participant to the downstream participant. The means of transportation may include pipes,240864

[0114] 20

[0115] containers, barrels, packages. The material flow 136 may be associated with raw materials used to produce the chemical product, such as virgin raw materials 158. The raw materials may be provided to chemical product producer 102 for producing chemical product(s) and / or intermediate chemical product(s) (not shown). The loop material flow 136 may be associated with chemical product(s). The chemical product(s) may be provided from chemical product producer 102 to chemical product user 106 for producing discrete product(s). In contrast to chemical production, the discrete products being produced are distinct units sold as individual products. The loop material flow 136 may be associated with recycled material. The recycled material may be provided from recycler 114 to chemical product producer 102 to produce chemical product(s).

[0116] At least part of the participants of the participant network 130 may be associated with decentral participant network nodes 116 to 128. The decentral participant nodes 116 to 128 may be under control of the respective decentral participant associated with the respective decentral participant node 116 to 128. The decentral participant nodes 116 to 128 may form decentral network decentral network 134. The decentral network decentral network 134 may be a peer-to-peer communication network. The decentral peer-to-peer network decentral network 134 may be configured to perform data transactions 132 according to at least one decentral network protocol. The decentral network protocol may relate to decentral identifier(s) identifying the materials and products and / or the at least one participant node and / or authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s) authentication and / or authorizing the at least one participant node for data transactions 132. Based on the authentication and / or authorization mechanism(s) a peer-to-peer communication between decentral network nodes 116 to 128 associated with network participants 102 to 114 may be established. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to a decentral identifier as described in the context of FIG. 4. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral identifier may be accessible by the decentral participant nodes 116 to 128 as described in the context of FIG. 4. The decentral configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and strengthens control by the data owners of the decentral network by allowing for data sovereignty.

[0117] Data transactions between decentral network participant nodes 116 to 128 may be based on the decentral identifier associated with respective data to be accessed, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3. The decentral identifier may be uniquely associated with the physical entity of the product and associated product data. The decentral identifier may uniquely identify the respective product within the decentral network. The decentral identifier may be associated with further decentral240864

[0118] 21

[0119] identifier(s), such as decentral identifier(s) of product(s) used to produce the product. This may allow to track the product(s) used to produce a product, such as an end-product. The decentral identifier may be included in a digital access element associated with the product.

[0120] The data flow 132 (e.g. transactions, depicted by dashed lines) between decentral network participant nodes 116 to 128 may be directly or indirectly associated with the material flow 136 (depicted by bold solid lines) between the network participants 102 to 114. For instance, data flow 132 may be directly associated with material flow 136 if data associated with a material provided from the raw material producer 104 to the chemical product producer 102 is accessed by decentral participant node 118 associated with said chemical product producer 102. For instance, data flow 132 may be indirectly associated with material flow 136 if data associated with a chemical product produced by chemical product producer 102 is accessed by decentral participant node 128 associated with recycler 114.

[0121] The decentral participant nodes 116 to 128 may be decentral computing nodes. The decentral computing node may be any device or system that includes at least one physical and tangible processor, and a physical and tangible memory capable of having thereon computer-executable instructions that are executed by a processor. The memory may take any form of volatile or non-volatile storages and may depend on the nature and form of the computing node.

[0122] At least part of the decentral participant nodes 116 to 128 may be configured as decentral data providing nodes. At least part of the participant nodes 116 to 128 may be configured as decentral data consuming nodes. A participant of the decentral participant network 130 may be associated with a decentral data providing node and / or a decentral data consuming node depending on whether data is provided to downstream participants and / or consumed from upstream participants. For instance, chemical product producer 102 may be associated with a decentral data providing node configured to provide chemical product data to a downstream participant (e.g. chemical product consumer 106 and / or OEM 108) for example as described in the context of FIG. 3. In addition to or alternatively, chemical product producer 102 may be associated with a decentral data consuming node configured to access data associated with material produced by an upstream participant (e.g. material supplier 104).

[0123] The decentral network 134 may include further decentral network nodes (not shown in FIG. 1). The further decentral network nodes may not be associated with or operated by a participant 102 to 114 of the product ecosystem. The further decentral network nodes may provide services for the network participants 102 to 114. The further decentral network nodes may be decentral infrastructure service240864

[0124] 22

[0125] nodes. The decentral infrastructure service nodes may provide services for decentral participant nodes 116 to 128, such as verifying the identity of the decentral network participant nodes 116 to 128 prior to performing a data exchange, providing decentral participant identifier(s) and / or providing endpoint(s) of participant node(s). The decentral network participant nodes 116 to 128 may be associated with or include certificate(s), such as X.509 certificate(s). The certificate(s) may be associated with decentral infrastructure service node(s) including e.g. a certificate issuing service and / or a dynamic provisioning service providing dynamic attribute tokens (e.g. OAuth Access Tokens). This way the decentral network participant nodes 116 to 124 may be associated with a unique identifier embedded in a X.509 certificate that identifies the respective decentral network participant node 116 to 128. The information required to verify the certificate may be provided via an authentication registry associated with the certificate issuing service and / or the dynamic provisioning service. For instance, in the IDSA Reference Architecture Model, Version 3.0 of April 2019, a decentral data providing node associated with a data owner of data and a decentral data consuming node associated with a data consumer requesting access to such data may use the Certification Authority (CA) and the Dynamic Attribute Provisioning Service (DAPS) to verify the identity of the counter node prior to performing exchange of the data (not shown in FIG. 1).

[0126] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a nested product production chain including production processes, production inputs and production outputs produced by the production processes. The nested production chain may be part of a product ecosystem, such as product ecosystem 130 described in the context of FIG. 1.

[0127] The product may be produced by multiple production stages. The example in FIG. 2 illustrates three production stages. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of nested production stages for illustrative purposes only and more or less nested production stages may be part of the production chain. Each production stage may be associated with a production chain for producing the product or the supply chain product. Supply chain product(s) may include production inputs for producing the product. Supply chain product(s) may be produced by upstream production stage(s) with respect to the product production stage.

[0128] Production stage 1 202 may be associated with the product producer. The production stage 1 may include one or more production processes 204 to 208 using one or more production inputs per production process. The production stage 1 202 may produce the product. The production inputs to production stage 1 202 may be provided by upstream production stages 2-1 210 and 2-2212. Production stages 2-1 210 and 2-2212 may be associated with producers producing discrete production inputs and / or non-discrete production inputs. The Production stages 2-1 210 and 2-2212 may each include one or more production240864

[0129] 23

[0130] processes using one or more production inputs per production process. The production inputs to production stages 2-1 210 and 2-2212 may be provided by production stages 3-1 214 and 3-2216. Production stages 3-1 214 and 3-2216 may be associated with raw material producers. The production stages 3-1 214 and 3-2216 may each include one or more production processes using one or more production inputs per production process. More concretely, production inputs for producing the product of production stage 1 202 - in this example a tire - may be provided by upstream production stages production stage 2-1 214 and production stage 2-2216 - in this example the rubber and metal wires to be used for producing the tire. Moving upstream for the rubber as one production input to production stage 1 202 producing the tire, production stage 3-1 218 may provide monomers, such as butadiene, styrene, isoprene and / or acrylonitrile to produce the rubber. Moving upstream for the metal wire as another production input to production stage 1 202 producing the tire, production stage 3-2220 may provide metal containing ores used to produce the metal, such as steel.

[0131] The product produced by production stage 1 202 may be used as production input in downstream production stage(s) (not shown in FIG. 2) to produce further products, such as end-products.

[0132] The product and / or the supply chain product may be a discrete product. Discrete products may be produced in distinct, countable units. Each of such units may be individually identified. The product may include components, component-assemblies and end-products. The product may include batteries and / or battery components. The supply chain product may include chemical intermediate products, chemical products, components and component assemblies. The supply chain product may include batteries.

[0133] The product may be a chemical product. The supply chain product may be a virgin chemical material, a recycled chemical material and / or an intermediate chemical material used to produce the chemical product. The supply chain product may be a virgin chemical material, a recycled chemical material, an intermediate chemical material and / or a chemical material used to produce the product, such as the discrete product.

[0134] The chemical product may include inorganic chemical products and organic chemical products. Inorganic chemical products may be devoid of carbon atoms and / or carbon-hydrogen bond(s) while organic chemical products may include at least one carbon atom and / or at least one carbon-hydrogen bond. The chemical product may be a naturally occurring chemical product, i.e. any unprocessed chemical substance that is found in nature, such as chemicals from plants, micro-organisms, animals, the earth and the sea or any chemical substance that is found in nature and extracted using a process that does24

[0135] not change its chemical composition. The chemical product may be produced via one or more process steps. The process steps may involve chemical reactions and / or physical processes. The physical process(es) may involve the use of chemical production inputs, such as chemical materials. Physical process(es) may include mixing, dispersing, extrusion, molding, casting, weaving, knitting, coating and / or filling.

[0136] The inorganic chemical product may include aluminium, iron, steel, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, titanium, magnesium, chromium, tin, manganese and / or cobalt. The iron may be produced from supply chain products including inorganic chemical materials, such as iron ore, coke and limestone. The steel may be produced from supply chain products including inorganic chemical materials, such as iron, oxygen and limestone. The aluminum may be produced from supply chain products including inorganic chemical materials, such as bauxite ore, sodium hydroxide and cryolite.

[0137] Organic chemical products may include detergents, cosmetic products, paints, lubricants, paper, pulp paper, paper boards, polymer products, curable composition(s), machine fluid(s), chemical product(s) for activation of metal surfaces, corrosion protection product(s), cleaning agent(s), cutting fluid(s), release agent(s), coagulating agent(s), chemical product(s) comprising a structured coating layer, olefin composition(s), formulation additive(s), care composition ingredient(s), additive(s) for industrial composition(s), plastic additive(s), aroma chemical(s), pharmaceutical active ingredient(s), pharmaceutical excipient(s), food supplement(s), unsaturated chemical compound(s), chemical compound(s) comprising at least one oxirane(s), aliphatic or cycloaliphatic chloride(s), organic phosphine(s), organic phosphate(s), sulfonic acid(s), nitrogen containing chemical compound(s), cosmetic ingredient(s), compositions including alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, aromatic compounds, alcohols, aldeyhdes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, ethers, amines, amides, nitriles and / or halides any combinations thereof or any single compound / composition thereof. Polymer products may include chemical products including or consisting of at least one polymer, such as synthetic textiles, footwear, mattresses, absorbent hygiene products, toys, fishing nets, fishing gear, polymer composition(s) and / or aqueous polymer composition(s). Polymer products may include chemical products including or consisting of at least one polymer, such as synthetic textiles, footwear, mattresses, absorbent hygiene products, toys, fishing nets, fishing gear, polymer composition(s) and / or aqueous polymer composition(s). The polymer may be selected from polyolefins, polyvinyls, polystyrenes, polyesters, polyethers, polyurethanes, poly(meth)acrylates, polyamides, polycarbonates, polyacetals,25

[0138] fluoropolymers, epoxides, silicons, polyimides, polylactic acid, cellulose, lignin, copolymers of such polymers and / or blends of such polymers.

[0139] Detergents may include chemical products used to remove dirt, grease and / or oil from surfaces, such as clothes, dishes or the like. Detergents may reduce or lower the surface tension of water to facilitate the removal of the dirt, grease and / or oil from the surfaces. Detergents may include surfactant(s), such as anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and / or amphoteric surfactants. Detergents may further include solvents, builders, such as phosphates, zeolites and / or citrates, enzymes, bleaching agents, optical brighteners, fragrances and / or preservatives. The detergents may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as surfactants, solvents, builders, enzymes, bleaching agents, optical brighteners, fragrances and / or preservatives.

[0140] Paints may include coating materials used to coat at least a part of the surface of an object. Paints may be used to protect the surface, to improve the appearance (e.g. color and / or texture) of the surface and / or to provide texture to the surface. Paints may include solvents, pigments and physically and / or chemically curable polymer(s). Paints may further include additives, such as thickeners, UV additives, flow additives or the like. Physically curable polymer(s) may form a coating film during release solvent from the paint by interlooping of polymer chains. Chemically curable polymer(s) may form a coating film by crosslinking reactions between complementary functional groups, e.g. chemical groups that can undergo chemical reactions. Crosslinking may be initiated by thermal energy and / or irradiation. Paints may be liquid or solid. The paint may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as solvents, pigments, physically and / or chemically curable polymer(s) and additives.

[0141] The lubricant may be chemical products capable of reducing friction between surfaces (preferably metal surfaces), such as surfaces of mechanical devices or machines. A mechanical device may be a mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles, such as the machines previously described. The lubricant may be a lubricating liquid, lubricating oil or lubricating grease. The lubricant may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as base oils, additives and thickeners.

[0142] Textiles, footwear, mattresses, absorbent hygiene products, toys, fishing nets and fishing gear may include or consist of synthetic polymers, e.g. organic polymers produced by chemical reaction(s) and / or mixture of synthetic polymers and naturally occurring polymers. Textiles and footwear may include polyesters, nylon, acrylic polymers, polypropylene, polyurethane, polyethylene and / orpolytetrafluoroethylene. Such polymer(s) may be extruded to produce yearn which may then be used in physical knitting and / or weaving processes to produce the textiles and / or parts of the footwear. Soles of footwear may include ethylene-vinyl acetate, polyurethane, natural or synthetic rubber, thermoplastic rubber, thermoplastic polyurethane and / or polyvinyl chloride. The soles may be produced from such polymers using injection molding, compression molding or foaming. The textiles and parts of the footwear may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as polymer(s) produced from chemical reaction(s). Mattresses may include one or more layers of polymer foams produced by polymerizing monomers in the presence of blowing agents. The layers of polymers may be encased in a fabric cover. The fabric cover may be produced from natural polymers, like cotton and / or synthetic polymers, like polyester. The mattresses may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as monomers, blowing agents, natural polymer(s) and / or polymer(s) produced from chemical reaction(s). Tires may be produced by assembling the inner liner made of rubber, the body piles made of fabric cord, such as nylon cord and / or polyester cord, coated with rubber, the rubber sidewalls, the bead rings, e.g. steel wires coated with rubber, the steel belts and the rubber tread and heating the assembly in a mold to vulcanize, e.g. crosslinking, the rubber. The tires may be produced from supply chain products including organic chemical materials, such as rubber and polymer cords, and inorganic chemical materials, such as steel. Absorbent hygiene products may include top sheets of nonwoven fabric, such as polypropylene or polyethylene, acquisition and distribution layers of nonwoven material layers, absorbent cores of cellulose fibers combined with superabsorbent polymers (SAP), back sheets made of polyethylene or bilaminate materials and adhesives. The absorbent hygiene products may be produced from supply chain products including polymers, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, cellulose, polyacrylates and adhesives. Toys may include plastic toys including one or more polymers. The toys may be produced from supply chain products including at least one polymer, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide and / or thermoplastic elastomers. Fishing nets and fishing gear may include synthetic and / or naturally occurring polymers. Supply chain products used to produce the fishing nets and / or fishing gear may include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, cotton and / or hemp.

[0143] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a system architecture including components configured to generate and provide usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) and decentral network components acting as decentral data providing and / or consuming nodes. The production chain(s) may be associated with the production of the end product(s). The production chain(s) may include one or more production27

[0144] stage(s), for example as illustrated in FIG. 2. The product may be a supply chain product, for example as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2.

[0145] The usage data may include industry data associated with one or more industry / ies using the product to produce the end-product(s). The usage data may include production chain data associated with one or more production chain(s) using the product to produce the end product(s). The usage data may indicate the usage of the product within one or more industries to produce the end-product(s). The usage data may indicate the usage of the product within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product. The usage data may be associated with a digital product passport associated with the product. The digital product passport may include a decentral identifier and product data, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The digital product passport may further include the usage data. The digital product passport may be accessible via the decentral network, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The usage data may not contain data associated with participants of the production chain(s) producing the end-product(s). This way, transparency on the production chain(s) using the product to produce the end-product(s) may be avoided. This enables to provide transparency on the production chain(s) and / or industry / ies using the product while avoiding transparency on the participants of the production chain(s), allowing to improve the trust of the participants of the end-product ecosystem with respect to sharing of the usage data.

[0146] The system may include components configured to generate and provide the usage data, such as usage data service 1 302 and usage data service 2316. The usage data service 1 302 may be associated with the product producer. The product producer may be a supply chain product producer. The product producer may be a chemical product producer. The usage data service 2 316 may be associated with a downstream participant with respect to the product producer. The downstream participant may consume products produced by the product producer to produce further products. The downstream participant may be associated with a downstream production stage with respect to the production stage the product producer is associated with.

[0147] The usage data services may be connected to decentral network node(s), such as nodes 118 and 120. The decentral network node(s) may form the decentral network (see also FIG. 1). The decentral network nodes may be configured to communicate with other decentral network nodes via peer-to-peer communication according to a decentral communication protocol or a decentral network protocol. The decentral communication protocol may facilitate communication in decentral network environment. The decentral network nodes may be configured to communicate directly or indirectly, e.g. through bridging28

[0148] component(s) configured to translate between local and decentral communication protocol(s), with components of the usage data services based on the local communication protocol. The decentral network protocol may include the decentral participant identifiers and / or decentral identifier(s) associated with digital product passports of products or end-products being discoverable and / or accessible by decentral participant nodes, e.g. through, via, in or by decentral storage. Individual decentral network nodes have hence access to decentral participant identifiers related to other decentral network nodes and can communicated directly with other decentral network nodes. In addition at least a part of the decentral network nodes may hence have access to the decentral identifiers associated with the digital product passports and can request access to such digital assets based on the decentral asset identifiers.

[0149] The decentral network nodes may include a control plane and a data plane. The control plane may be configured to negotiate policy data according to the decentral network protocol. The control plane may be configured to generate and provide a data catalog of the respective decentral network. The data catalog may be a collection of digital representations of data accessible for the requesting decentral network node. The decentral network node may generate the data catalog based on received decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the requesting decentral network node and an identifier associated with the usage data service connected to the participant node receiving the request. The digital representation(s) may include the policy data associated with the usage data service. The data plane may be configured to exchange data, such as usage data, according to the decentral communication protocol (also denoted as decentral network protocol herein. The decentral network protocol may include the decentral participant identifiers and / or decentral identifier(s) associated with digital product passports of the products being discoverable and / or accessible by decentral participant nodes, e.g. through, via, in or by decentral storage(s). Individual decentral network nodes have hence access to decentral participant identifiers related to other decentral network nodes and can communicated directly with other decentral network nodes. In addition at least a part of the decentral network nodes may hence have access to the decentral identifiers associated with the digital product passports and can request access to such digital product passports based on the decentral identifiers.

[0150] The usage data services may be associated with policy data for controlling access to the usage data services by decentral network nodes via the decentral communication protocol and usage of usage data. The policy data may include permissions, prohibitions and / or obligation(s) with respect to the access to the services and the usage of data, such as usage data, provided by the services. An example of policy data associated with the usage data services is illustrated in FIG. 7B. The policy data may be provided240864

[0151] 29

[0152] via a communication interface to the decentral participant node associated with the usage data service. The policy data may be provided via the communication interface to the control plane of the respective participant node.

[0153] The usage data service 1 302 may be associated with or may be part of a local compute and storage environment associated with the product producer. The usage data service 2316 may be associated with or may be part of a local compute and storage environment associated with the downstream participant. The usage data services may include a usage data management service and a usage data storage connected to the usage data management service. The usage data management service may be configured to receive usage data via the local communication interface and to provide the received usage data for storage in the usage data storage. The received usage data may be generated as described in the context of FIG. 5 and FIG. 10. The received usage data may be provided via a user interface. The usage data management service may further be configured to receive policy data associated with the usage data service and to provide the policy data to the decentral network node connected to the usage data service (not shown in FIG. 3). The usage data management service may further be configured to determine decentral participant node(s) based on received decentral participant identifier(s). The decentral participant node(s) may be determined by querying a registry storing mappings between decentral participant identifiers and endpoints of decentral participant node(s). The registry may be accessible via the decentral communication protocol to the decentral network node(s) connected to the usage data services. The registry may be operated by an infrastructure provider providing infrastructure services for the decentral network. The infrastructure provider may not be a participant of a production chain.

[0154] The usage data management service may further be configured to manage requests for accessing usage data. The requests may be received via the local communication interface. The requests may be received via a user interface (see for example FIG. 8). The requests may be associated with retrieving usage data stored in the usage data storage associated with the usage data management service. This way, usage data associated with products produced by the product producer associated with the usage data service can be provided upon request. The request may include an indication to retrieve the usage data stored in the usage data storage associated with the usage data service receiving the request. In addition or alternatively, the requests may be associated with requesting access to usage data generated by further participants of the production chain(s) via the decentral communication protocol. The requests240864

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[0156] may include a decentral participant identifier associated with the decentral participant the usage data is to be accessed from.

[0157] The usage data management service may be configured to gather usage data from the usage data storage in response to the received request and to provide the gathered usage data, for example via the local communication interface. The gathered usage data may be provided for display, for example within a graphical user interface. The usage data management service may be configured to trigger accessing of usage data according to the decentral communication protocol. The usage data management service may be configured to determine endpoints of decentral network node(s) associated with the received decentral participant identifier. The usage data management service may be configured to retrieve such endpoints from a local data storage or a decentral data storage storing mappings between decentral participant identifiers and endpoints of decentral network nodes associated with such decentral participant identifiers. The usage data management service may be configured to provide the endpoint and a service identifier associated with the usage data service of a participant of the decentral network, such as usage data service 2 316, to the decentral network node connected to the usage data service, such as node 118. The service identifier may identify the usage data service within the decentral network. The service identifier may identify the usage data service accessible for decentral participant nodes of the decentral network within the local compute and storage environment associated with the decentral network participant. The endpoint and the service identifier may be provided to the control plane of the decentral network node.

[0158] The decentral network node, such as node 118, receiving the endpoint and the service identifier may be configured to initiate negotiations according to the decentral communication protocol to access the usage data service connected to the decentral network node, such as node 120, associated with the endpoint. The node 118 may be configured to request the data catalog of node 120 based on the service identifier to access the usage data service 2 316. The request may include the decentral participant identifier associated with node 118 and the identifier. The node 120 receiving the request may be configured to gather policy data associated with the usage data service based on the service identifier and may provide the gathered policy data via the decentral network to requesting node 118. Node 118 may be configured to provide the received policy data to the usage data service connected to node 118 for validation. Node 118 may be configured to provide data indicating acceptance of the policy data via the decentral network to node 120. Node 120 may be configured to generate agreement data including an agreement identifier and to provide the generated agreement data via the decentral network to node 118.240864

[0159] 31

[0160] Node 118 may be configured to request an endpoint associated with the usage data management service 318 based on the agreement identifier. Node 120 may be configured to provide the requested endpoint to node 118. Node 118 may be configured to provide the endpoint to the usage data management service. The usage data management service may be configured to request access to the usage data at the received endpoint of usage data management service 318. The usage data management service 318 may be configured to retrieve usage data from usage data storage 320 in response to the request and provide the usage data to requesting usage data management service 304. The usage data management service 304 may be configured to provide the received usage data, for example for display within a graphical user interface (see FIG. 8). The usage data management service 304 may be configured to provide the received usage data to the usage data storage 306 for storage.

[0161] By gathering usage data associated with the usage of products produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) via the decentral network, the product producer may gain transparency on the industry / ies the produced products are used within. The transparency with respect to the usage of the product achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows upstream participants to more efficiently tailor and / or customize the product properties to properties required by downstream participants despite the presence of complex production chain(s) across various industries consuming the products to produce further downstream products or end-products. This way, the properties of the downstream products and / or the end-products may be improved without providing undesired transparency on the downstream production chain(s) and / or the downstream product(s). The transparency with respect to the use of upstream products across different industries achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows downstream product producers to more efficiently control the supply of upstream products to their productions by allowing to consider data, such as data associated with supply chain disruptions in further industries the upstream products are provided to, for controlling the supply of upstream products without providing undesired transparency on the upstream production chain(s) and / or the upstream.

[0162] By gathering usage data infringement data indicating an infringement event may be determined. This way, the transparency on usage of digital product passports within different industries accessible via the decentral network may be used to reliably and efficiently determine infringement events, such as infringement events associated with intellectual property rights. This allows owners of the intellectual property rights to reliably determine infringement events without providing any transparency on the production chain(s) participants of the decentral network are part of.240864

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[0164] FIG. 4 illustrates a decentral system for exchanging digital product passports associated with products produced or producible by a product production via a decentral network. The product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2.

[0165] The product 404 may be produced or producible using one or more production input(s) by the product production 402. The product 404 may be produced or producible via one or more process steps from the production input(s) within the product production 402, for example as described in the context of FIG. 2. Produced products may include physical entities of products having been produced by the product production. Producible products may include products not yet having been produced by the product production but being producible by production process(es) preformed within product production. The process steps may involve chemical reactions and / or physical processes. The production input may be used in one or more of such production step(s). The production input may include starting material used in a production process performed within the product production 402 to produce the product 404.

[0166] Production input may include recycled material. Product production 402 may be operated by the product producer. The product production 402 may be a chemical production.

[0167] The product production 402 may be associated with a local provider compute and storage environment 410. The local data provider compute and storage environment may include passport generation and transfer system 414 configured to generate digital product passport(s) associated with produced products 404 or producible products based on product data stored in data layer 408 and to provide generated digital product passport(s) for access by decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local consumer compute and storage environ ment(s), such as environment 418, associated with data consumers. The data consumer(s) may include product consumer(s). The data consumer(s) may include downstream participant(s) of production chain(s) associated with the production of end-product(s) with respect to the product producer. The local consumer compute and storage environment(s) may likewise include a passport generation and transfer system 420 configured to generate digital product passports associated with further product(s) or end-products produced or producible by downstream product production 406 based on product data stored in data layer 424 and to provide generated digital product passport(s) for access by decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local consumer compute and storage environment(s) associated with further downstream participants. The local provider compute and storage environment and / or the local provider compute and storage environ ment(s) may include the components described in the context of FIG. 5.240864

[0168] 33

[0169] In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the data layer may be associated with the local compute and storage environment. In another example (not shown in FIG. 4), the data layer may be part of the local compute and storage environment. The data stored in the data layer may be generated before, during and / or after production of the respective products. The data stored in the data layer may be linked to a digital identifiers associated with products produced or producible by the product production or the downstream product production. The data may include digital product identifier(s), product names, at least one chemical and / or physical property of the products, production data, emission data, safety data, certificates, processing data, handling data, life cycle data, storage instruction(s), processing instructions, any single data point or any combinations thereof. Examples of chemical properties include heat of combustion, enthalpy of formation, toxicity, chemical stability in a given environment, flammability, oxidation state(s), ability to corrode, combustibility, acidity and basicity, chemical composition, recyclate content, bio-based content, renewable content, carbon footprint, biodegradability, and / or pH value. Examples of physical properties include absorption, brittleness, boiling point, capacitance, color, concentration, density, ductility, distribution, efficacy, elasticity, electric charge, electrical conductivity, electrical impedance, electric potential, flow rate, fluidity, hardness, heat capacity, inductance, intrinsic impedance, luminescence, luminescence, luster, mass, melting point, opacity, permeability, permittivity, plasticity, pressure, radiance, resistivity, reflectivity, refractive index, solubility, specific heat, strength, stiffness, temperature, tension, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, viscosity, volume and / or wave impedance.

[0170] The digital product passport may be a data set associated with a defined semantic structure. The digital product passport may be a data set organized in a data format based on a defined semantic structure. The semantic structure may be defined by a data model used to generate the product passport. The data model may define one or more data points included in the product passport. The data model may define such data points as mandatory data points or as optional data points. The data model may define a semantic description of the respective product passport. The semantic description may include the structure of at least a portion of the product passport, and / or properties of the product passport. The properties of the product passport may include data types. The properties of the product passport may include possible or allowable values and / or value ranges. The properties of the product passport may be a physical unit of parameter(s) described by values contained in the product passport. The properties of the product passport set may include one or more attribute(s). The data model may define data points, such as data types and values and / or value ranges, to be included in the product passport.240864

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[0172] The product passport may include at least one decentral identifier and product data. The decentral identifier may comprise any unique identifier uniquely associated with the product. The decentral identifier may include one or more Universally Unique Identifier(s) (UUID) or a Digital Identifier(s) (DID). The decentral identifier may be issued by a central or decentral identity issuer. The decentral identifier may include authentication information. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the product access to product data may be controlled by the data owner of the product data, such as the product producer, the entity generating the product passport including the product data or the entity on behalf of which the product passport including the product data is generated. This contrasts with central authority schemes, where identifiers are provided by such central authority and access to data is controlled by such central authority. Decentral in this context refers to the usage of the decentral identifier(s) as controlled by the data owner of the product data. The decentral identifier(s) may be accessible and / or discoverable for decentral network node(s) of the decentral network. The decentral identifier(s) may be accessible and / or discoverable for the decentral participant node(s) based on a digital representation associated with the decentral identifier(s) and / or the digital product passport. The digital representation may be stored in a decentral registry accessible for at least a part of the decentral network node(s). The decentral registry may be associated with authentication and / or authorization mechanism. Access to the decentral registry may be controlled by the data owner of the digital product passports associated with the digital representations stored in the digital registry. Access may be controlled based on decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the participants of the decentral network. Access may be controlled via the decentral provider network node connected to the decentral registry.

[0173] The product data may include data points defined by the data model used to generate the respective product passport. The product data may include data associated with the production of the product and / or product identifier(s) associated with the product. The product identifier(s) may be virtual product identifier(s). This way, the digital product passport may be uniquely linked to the physical entity of the product. The product data may include at least one measured chemical and / or physical property of the production input(s) used to produce the product and / or the product, and / or at least one chemical and / or physical property determined from data collected during production and / or use of the production input(s) and / or the product.240864

[0174] 35

[0175] The digital product passport may include one or more authentication mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the product data. The digital product passport may relate to one or more authorization mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier(s) and the product data.

[0176] Generation of the digital product passports may be triggered by trigger event(s), such as request(s) for generating the decentral identifier(s) and the digital product passports. The requests may be generated by a labelling machine or a component connected to the labelling machine. The requests may be generated in response to receiving the digital product identifier. The request may include the digital product identifier associated with the product. The generated digital product passports may be stored in a local data storage of the respective local compute and storage environment, such as passport DB 416 or passport DB 422, for access by the decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local data consumer compute and storage environments, such as environment 418, via the decentral network.

[0177] The local data provider compute and storage environment may be connected to a decentral provider network node 118 of a decentral network. The decentral provider network node may be configured to authenticate and / or authorize requests to access digital representations stored in the decentral registry and / or requests to access digital product passports. The decentral provider network node may be configured provide a data catalog including digital representation(s) of data, such as digital product passports, accessible for the requesting consumer network node. The decentral provider network node may be configured to provide the digital representations stored in the decentral registry. The local data consumer compute and storage environment may be connected to a decentral consumer network node 120 of a decentral network. The decentral consumer network node may be configured to request digital representations associated with the decentral identifier(s) based on digital product identifier(s) according to the decentral network protocol. The decentral consumer network node may be configured to request digital product passports based on the decentral identifiers associated with such passports according to the decentral network protocol.

[0178] The decentral network may be a decentral peer-to-peer network as described in the context of FIG. 1. The data exchange via peer-to-peer communication between the decentral provider network nodes and the decentral consumer network nodes may be based on a decentral network protocol. The decentral network protocol may implement authentication and / or authorization mechanism. Such authentication may be based on data related to an authentication mechanism. The authentication mechanism may be based on certificate(s) and / or token(s), for example a device certificate (X.509v3), a TLS connection certificate (X.509v3) and a ‘Dynamic Attribute Token’ (OAuth Access Token), associated with the240864

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[0180] respective decentral network nodes, e.g. decentral provider network nodes and decentral consumer network nodes. If authentication fails, no data, such as digital product passports, may be provided to the requesting decentral consumer network nodes. Such authorization may be based on or related to an authorization mechanism. The authorization mechanism may relate to or include decentral identifiers associated with the generated digital product passports. The authorization mechanism may be based on policy data linked via the decentral identifier(s) to the respective digital product passport. The policy data may include decentral participant identifier(s) related to decentral consumer network nodes allowed to access the digital product passport. The policy data may further include one or more data indicating permission(s), prohibition(s) and / or obligation(s) of data consumer(s) with respect to the processing of the product data included in the digital product passport. If authorization fails, no data, such as digital product passports, may be provided to the requesting decentral consumer network node.

[0181] The produced physical products, such as product 404, may be provided to the downstream production in combination with the digital product passport. The physical product may include a physical identification element physically connected to the product. The physical identification element, such as QR code, a bar code, an RFID tag, a marker or the like, may encode the digital product identifier(s) associated with the product. Based on the digital product identifier(s), the digital product passport associated with the product may be accessible via the decentral network protocol as described later on. The product may be used within the downstream production to produce one or more downstream product(s) or end-products).

[0182] The digital product passport may be accessed based on the virtual product identifier(s). The virtual product identifier(s) may be determined based on the identification element. The virtual product identifier(s) may be determined by component(s) of the local consumer compute and storage environment(s) or by component(s) associated with the local consumer compute and storage environment. The virtual product identifier(s) may be provided to the decentral consumer network node(s) connected to the local consumer compute and storage environment. The decentral consumer network node may be configured to gather the endpoint of the decentral provider network node(s) connected to such environment based on the digital product identifier(s) according to the decentral network protocol. The endpoint may be gathered from decentral infrastructure node(s) (not shown in FIG. 4). Based on the endpoint, the decentral consumer network node may be configured to gather the digital representation associated with the digital product identifier according to the decentral network protocol at the decentral provider network node associated with the endpoint. The request for accessing the digital representation240864

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[0184] may be authenticated and / or authorized by the decentral provider network node as previously described. Based on the decentral identifier included in the digital representation, the decentral consumer network node may be configured to request the digital product passport according to the decentral network protocol. The request may be authenticated and / or authorized as previously described. Upon successful authentication and / or authorization, the digital product passport may be provided via the decentral network to the decentral consumer network node. The decentral consumer network node may provide the received digital product passports to local data consumer compute and storage environment. The local data consumer compute and storage environment may be configured to store the digital product passports. The local data consumer compute and storage environment may be configured to process the digital product passport. Processing may include using the product data included in the digital product passports to generate digital product passports associated with downstream products produced by the downstream product production receiving the product 404.

[0185] By controlling access to the digital product passports based on the decentral identifier(s), the digital product passports can be exchanged within the decentral network in a secure manner under full sovereignty of the data owner of the digital product passport. This way, the sharing or exchange of digital product passports can be conducted in a more flexible manner with multiple decentral consumer network nodes associated with different participants of the production chain accessing the digital product passports.

[0186] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a local compute and storage environment configured to generate digital product passports associated with products produced by a production associated with the local compute and storage environment and to manage usage data associated with a use of products produced by the downstream participant within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-products). In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the local compute and storage environment is associated with a downstream participant of a downstream production stage using a product supplied by an upstream production stage to produce one or more further product(s). What is described with respect to the local compute and storage environment associated with the downstream participant likewise applies to local compute and storage environments associated with upstream participants, such as a participant associated with the product production described in the context of FIG. 4. The local compute and storage environment may implement the methods described in the context of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11.

[0187] The product may be a supply chain product, for example as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The downstream participant may240864

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[0189] consume products supplied by the upstream production stage to produce further products, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The further products may include downstream supply chain products or end-products.

[0190] The local compute and / or storage environment may include distributed compute and / or storage environments controlled by the downstream participant. Local compute and / or storage environment may relate to access controlled distributed compute and / or storage components communicatively connected through local communication protocol(s). Local may relate to the association of the compute and / or storage environment with the data layer and / or the passport storage and / or the usage data storage accessible by the downstream participant. Local may hence relate to the accessibility of digital product passports and usage data, which may be shared by decentral network nodes under control of the downstream participant. The local communication protocol may facilitate communication in distributed compute and / or storage environment. The local communication protocol may include web protocols, such as HTTP / HTTPS methods, URI, MIME types or combinations thereof.

[0191] The local compute and / or storage environment may include one or more component(s) configured to generate digital product passports associated with the products, to process the digital product passports and to manage usage data associated with a use of the products within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s). The local compute and storage environment may be connected to decentral network node(s), such as node 120. The decentral network node(s) may be configured to gather digital product passports via the decentral network, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The decentral network node(s) may be configured to provide data, such as digital representations associated with digital product passports or digital product passports via the decentral network. The decentral network node(s) may be configured to control access to the data based on associated policy data. The local compute and storage environment may be connected to a data layer, such as data layer 424, storing product data associated with products produced or producible by the production associated with the local data compute and storage environment. The local compute and storage environment may be connected to a decentral registry storing digital representations, e.g. asset administration shells, of digital product passports.

[0192] The passport generation and transfer system may be configured to generate digital product passports associated with the products and to provide the digital product passports for access via the decentral network. The digital product passports may be provided for access under control of the data owner of the digital product passports, for example based on the decentral identifiers as described in the context of240864

[0193] 39

[0194] FIG. 4. The data owner may be the product producer. The digital product passports may be generated based on a trigger as described in the context of FIG. 4. The digital product passports may be generated by the passport generator component. The digital product passports may be generated based on product data stored in the data layer (see FIG. 4). The generated digital product passports may include decentral identifier(s) and product data. The digital product passports may be associated with the product. The digital product passports may be associated with the product via a digital product identifier. The generated digital product passports may be stored in a local data storage, such as passport DB 422.

[0195] Upon and / or after generation of the digital product passports, the decentral identifier(s) associated with the digital product passports may be provided to the publisher service. The asset publisher service may be configured to generate policy data. The policy data may be generated according to the ODRL Information Model 2.2 from W3C (https: / / www.w3.org / TR / odrl-model / ).

[0196] The asset publisher service may further be configured to generate metadata for registering the generated digital product passport with the decentral network node connected to the local compute and storage environment. The metadata may include the decentral identifier(s) associated with the digital product passport and a representation for accessing the digital product passport. The representation for accessing may include a locator or pointer to the local data storage storing the digital product passport, such as passport DB 422. The policy data and metadata may be generated by the asset publisher service per digital product passport. The generated policy data and metadata may be provided to the decentral network node.

[0197] The asset publisher service may further be configured to generate digital representations of the digital product passports for discovery of the decentral identifiers associated with the digital product passports within the decentral network. The digital representation may include the decentral identifier(s) associated with the respective digital product passport and representation for accessing the digital product passport. The representation may include a locator or pointer to the decentral provider network node. The digital representations may be provided to the decentral network for the decentral identifiers to be discoverable and / or accessible by decentral participant nodes of the decentral network. The digital representations may be provided to the decentral network to provide access to the digital product passport, e.g. via the locator. The digital representation may be provided to a decentral data storage associated with the local compute and storage environment, such as DT registry 516. The decentral data storage may be accessible by the further decentral network nodes. Access to the decentral data storage may be controlled by the data owner of the digital product passports. Access may be controlled based on policy40

[0198] data associated with the decentral data storage and including decentral participant identifier(s) associated with decentral consumer network node(s) allowed to access the decentral data storage. Access may be controlled via the decentral network node connected to the local compute and storage environment.

[0199] The passport processing unit may be configured to process generated digital product passports.

[0200] Processing may include generating usage data based on industry data included in the digital product passports. Processing of the digital product passports may be triggered by generation of digital representations associated with the digital product passports and / or by storage of the digital representations in the decentral registry. A stream storage system (not shown in FIG. 5) may communicatively couple the decentral registry or the publisher service with the passport processing unit. The stream storage system may be configured to store data packages received (e.g. pushed) or gathered (e.g. pulled) from the decentral registry or the publisher service and to provide the stored data packages to the passport processing unit. The data packages may include digital representations. The data packages may include decentral identifiers. The stream storage system may comprise one or more persistent or non-persistent logs. Records stored in said logs may be ordered, for example by using IDs. This allows to identify a record within a specific log. A record may include a data package. The stream storage system may provide a streaming service or stream processing service between one or more streaming sources (e.g. the decentral registry or the publisher service) and one or more streaming sinks (e.g. the logs). The stream storage system may act as a persistent or non-persistent stream sink for digital representations and / or decentral identifiers. The stream storage system may be in a publishersubscriber relationship with the passport processing unit. For instance, data in one or more the logs(s) may be periodically read (e.g. pulled) by the passport processing unit. To avoid consumption of a data package stored in a log several times, an integer indicating the offset of the next data package to consume may be used. Such integer may be just one number for each persistent or non-persistent log. Such integer may be periodically checkpointed. Use of such an integer may allow the passport processing unit to re-consume data packages by rewinding the integer to an old offset. Open-source software systems such as Apache Kafka ("Kafka") or Azure Event Hubs may act as a persistent stream sink.

[0201] Processing may include gathering digital product passports based on the digital representations and / or decentral identifiers provided by the decentral registry or the publisher service and parsing the digital product passports to determine industry data associated with industry / ies using the product associated41

[0202] with the digital product passport to produce downstream products or end-products. The digital representations and / or decentral identifiers may be gathered from the stream storage system. The digital product passports may include decentral identifiers, industry data and product data associated with the product, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4.

[0203] Based on the determined industry data, the passport processing unit may be configured to generate usage data. The usage data may include the industry data. The usage data may include production chain data associated with one or more production chain(s) using the product to produce the end product(s). The usage data may further include an identifier associated with the usage data. The identifier may uniquely identify the usage data within the local compute and storage environment. The generated usage data may be provided to the usage data service coupled to the passport processing unit. The usage data service may be configured to store the received usage data in a database of or associated with the usage data service.

[0204] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a data format of a chemical product passport associated with a chemical product produced by a chemical product producer. The chemical product may be a chemical product as described in the context of FIG. 2.

[0205] The chemical product producer may be associated with a chemical production producing the chemical product. The chemical production may be a chemical production network. The chemical production network may include multiple interlinked processing steps. The chemical production network may be an integrated chemical production network with connected or interconnected production chains. The chemical production network may include multiple different production chains that have at least one intermediate product in common. The chemical production network may include multiple stages of the chemical value chain. The chemical production network may include the producing, refining, processing and / or purification of chemical products. The chemical production network may include multiple production chains that produce from one or more material(s) chemical products that exit the chemical production network. The chemical production network may include multiple tiers of a chemical value chain. The chemical production network may include physically connected or interconnected supply chains and / or production sites. The production sites may be at the same location or at different locations. In the latter case, the production sites may be connected or interconnected by means of dedicated transportation systems such as pipelines, supply chain vehicles, like trucks, ships or other cargo transportation means. The chemical production or production network may include one or more process240864

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[0207] step(s) involving chemical reaction(s). The chemical production or production network may further include one or more process step(s) involving physical processes.

[0208] The chemical product passport 602 may include a decentral identifier 606, chemical product data 610 and industry data 604. The industry data may indicate the industry / ies the chemical product is used within to produce downstream products using the chemical product. The industry data may indicate industry / ies downstream participant(s) using the chemical product to produce downstream products are associated with. The industry data may indicate one or more industry / ies.

[0209] The chemical product data may include digital chemical product identifier(s) 608. The chemical product data may include composition data associated with the composition of the chemical product. The chemical product data may include at least one chemical and / or physical property of the chemical product, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The chemical product passport may be generated as described in the context of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

[0210] FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a data format for registering an endpoint providing access to usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) at a decentral participant network node associated with a participant of a decentral network. The product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2.

[0211] The data format may be generated by a component of a local compute and storage environment associated with the usage data provider (see for example FIG. 5). The data format may be generated by the publisher service (see FIG. 5). The data format may be associated with a usage data service. The data format may be provided to decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment via a local communication protocol for storage.

[0212] The data format may include a service identifier 704 identifying the data provided by the endpoint within the decentral network. The service identifier may be accessible for decentral participant node(s) according to the decentral network protocol. The service identifier may be accessible for the decentral participant node(s) by requesting a data catalog associated with the decentral provider network node(s), for example as described in the context of FIG. 3. The data format may further include a representation for accessing the usage data service associated with the data format. The representation may include an endpoint for accessing the usage data service. The endpoint may include a service endpoint. A service endpoint may include a network address at which the usage data service operates.240864

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[0214] The decentral provider network node(s) may be configured to direct data traffic including usage data between the decentral consumer network node(s) requesting access to the usage data via the usage data service and the usage data service based on the service identifier and the endpoint. The decentral provider network node(s) may act as proxy with respect to requests to access usage data received via the decentral network protocol from decentral consumer network node(s). The requests may include the service identifier. Based on the service identifier, the decentral provider network node(s) may be configured to gather the data format and to determine the endpoint included in the data format for routing the received request to the usage data service associated with the endpoint.

[0215] FIG. 7B illustrates an example data format of policy data associated with the usage data for controlling access to the usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s)by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with participants of a decentral network.

[0216] The data format may be generated according to the ODRL Information Model (see technical report for ODRL Information Model 2.2. at https: / / www.w3.org / TR / 2018 / REC-odrl-model-20180215 / ). The data format may be generated using the Open Digital Rights Language (ODRL). ODRL is a policy expression language that provides a flexible and interoperable information model, vocabulary, and encoding mechanisms for representing statements about the usage of usage data accessed at a usage data service, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3. The policy data may be generated by a component of a local compute and storage environment associated with the usage data provider (see for example FIG. 5). The policy data may be generated by the publisher service (see FIG. 5).

[0217] The data format may define conditions for accessing the usage data service via the decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s). The data format may define conditions for processing the accessed usage data by components of local compute and storage environment(s) connected to the decentral consumer network node(s). The data format may not restrict access to define decentral participant node(s) of the decentral network. This way, the data format may not filter decentral participant node(s) based on decentral participant identifier(s) associated with the decentral participant node(s). The data format may be associated with the usage data service via a linking data set linking the policy data identifier to the service identifier associated with the usage data service.

[0218] The policy data and the linking data set may be provided to decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment via a local communication protocol for storage.240864

[0219] 44

[0220] The decentral provider network node(s) may be configured to gather the linking data set based on the service identifier and to determine the policy data identifier based on the gathered linking data set. Based on the determined policy data identifier, the policy data may be gathered for authorization of the request for accessing the usage data service by the decentral consumer network node(s).

[0221] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a user interface for accessing usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) at a decentral participant node associated with a participant of a decentral network. The user interface may be displayed by a display device communicatively coupled to a component of a local compute and storage environment associated with a participant of one of the production chains. The local compute and storage environment may include a usage data service, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. The usage data service may be configured to gather the usage data via the decentral network protocol from a usage data service associated with a participant of the decentral network and to provide the gathered usage data for display. The usage data service may be configured to gather the usage data stored in a local database associated with or included in the usage data service and to provide the gathered usage data for display.

[0222] The user interface may include an option to retrieve usage data stored in the local database associated with or included in the usage data service by clicking on button 804. Clicking this button will trigger gathering of the usage data stored in the local database by the usage data service, for example by usage data management system of the usage data service (see FIG. 3, FIG. 5).

[0223] In addition or alternatively, the user interface may include an option to gather usage data from usage data services associated with participants of the decentral network by clicking button 806. Clicking this button may trigger display of a search bar allowing the user to enter a decentral participant identifier associated with the decentral participant the usage data is to be gathered from. The gathering may be initiated by clicking on the search button. Clicking on the search button may trigger gathering of the usage data based on the entered decentral participant identifier according to the decentral network protocol, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3.

[0224] The received usage data may be displayed within the graphical user interface in a search result section. A card may be displayed per usage data identifier. The card may display the usage data identifier and the industry data associated with the usage data identifier. The industry data may include the name of the industry.240864

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[0226] FIG. 9 illustrates an example of usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) returned by a decentral provider network node associated with the product producer upon requesting access to the usage data via a decentral consumer network node associated with a participant of a decentral network.

[0227] The product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The participant of the decentral network may be an upstream participant of the production chain the product producer is associated with. The participant of the decentral network may be a downstream participant of the production chain the product producer is associated with. The participant of the decentral network may be a participant of a production chain being different from the production chain the product producer is associated with.

[0228] The usage data may be generated as described in the context of FIG. 4 and FIG. 10. Access to the usage data via the decentral network protocol may be requested as described in the context of FIG. 3. The usage data may be accessed via decentral provider network node(s) connected to a local compute and storage environment associated with the product producer by the decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local compute and storage environment(s) associated with the participant(s). The usage data may be accessed at the usage data service included in or associated with the local compute and storage environment associated with the product producer via the decentral provider network node(s) (see FIG. 3).

[0229] The usage data may include one or more usage data identifier(s) and associated industry data. The usage data may include a usage data identifier per industry data. The industry data per usage data identifier may differ from each other. The industry data may include the name of the industry. The usage data may further include the data type associated with the usage data. The usage data may be associated with the type “Boolean” indicating the presence or the absence of usage data associated with a particular industry or production chain.

[0230] FIG. 10 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for monitoring and / or tracking the use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-products). The product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be produced or producible by a product production, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The product may be used by participant(s) of the production chain(s) to produce further product(s) and / or the end-product(s).240864

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[0232] The method may be implemented by a local compute and storage environment, e.g. a local provider compute and storage environment, associated with the product producer, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. The local compute and storage environment may include one or more local data provider component(s). The local data provider component(s) may be connected to decentral provider network node(s) configured to provide access to generated usage data according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local compute and storage environment(s) associated with participants of the decentral network. The participant may be a participant as described in the context of FIG. 9.

[0233] Product data associated with a product and industry data associated with one or more industries associated with the production chain(s) may be provided. The product may be used in one or more of the production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product(s). The product data may be provided based on a digital product identifier associated with the physical entity of the product. The product data and the industry data may be provided from local source data storage(s) storing product data associated with products produced or producible by the product production and / or storing the industry data. The local source data storage(s) may be associated with or may be included in the local compute and storage environment associated with the product producer. The industry data may be provided based on the digital product identifier.

[0234] The product data may include digital product identifier(s), a product name, at least one chemical and / or physical property of the product, production data, emission data, safety data, certificates, processing data, handling data, life cycle data, storage instruction(s), processing instructions, any single data point or any combinations thereof. Chemical and / or physical properties may include the properties described in the context of FIG. 4.

[0235] A decentral identifier associated with the product data may be provided. The decentral identifier may further be associated with the data owner of the product data, such as the product producer. The decentral identifier may be associated with the product. The decentral identifier may be associated with a digital product identifier associated with the product. The decentral identifier may be provided in response to a request for providing the decentral identifier. The request may include the digital product identifier. The request may be generated in response to a trigger. The trigger may include the digital product identifier. The trigger may be generated from a labelling machine upon detecting a packaging unit containing the product. The decentral identifier may be provided by a local component upon receiving the request. The decentral identifier may be provided by a decentral infrastructure node of the240864

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[0237] decentral network. The decentral identifier may be discoverable and / or accessible via the decentral network protocol for decentral participant node(s) of the decentral network.

[0238] A digital product passport associated with the product may be generated. The digital product passport may include the decentral identifier, at least part of the product data and the industry data. The digital product may be generated by applying a data model associated with the product to the product data and the industry data. The product data and the industry data may be transformed according to the data model. The data model may include a semantic description of the digital product passport as described in the context of FIG. 4.

[0239] The digital product passport may be associated with at least one authentication and / or authorization mechanism. The authentication mechanism may directly or indirectly relate to the decentral identifier and the product data. In an example of indirect relation, the authentication mechanism may relate to a certificate mechanism. For example, on access request by the decentral consumer network nodes, a dynamic access token may be generated based on the certificate mechanism. Such dynamic access token may be used to open peer-to-peer communication channel between the decentral provider network node and the decentral consumer network node. The authentication mechanism may include a token, such as private and public key infrastructure, a certificate mechanism or a biometric mechanism, such as fingerprints, face recognition or voice recognition or the like. One common public key certificate is for instance the X.509 certificate. Through the authentication mechanism data access by the decentral consumer network nodes can be controlled in a secure manner and integrity of the decentral provider network node can be ensured. This allows for more reliable, controlled and secure data exchange or sharing. The digital product passport may be associated with one or more authorization mechanisms associated with the decentral identifier and the product data. The authorization mechanisms may include policy data. Through the authorization mechanism data access and data usage by a data consuming service can be controlled in a secure manner.

[0240] The digital product passport may be associated with a digital representation. The digital representation may allow discovery of the decentral identifier associated with the digital product passport within the decentral network. The digital representation may include the decentral identifier associated with the digital product passport and a representation for accessing the digital product passport, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5.240864

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[0242] Usage data may be generated based on the generated digital product passport. The usage data may be associated with a usage of the product within one or more production chain(s) associated with end-products). The production chain(s) may be associated with one or more industry / ies. The product may be used within the production chain(s). The production chain(s) may be used to produce the endproducts). The usage data may include a usage data identifier and the industry data. The usage data may be generated by parsing the digital product passport to determine the industry data and generating the usage data based on the determined industry data. The usage data may be generated upon or after generating the digital representation associated with the digital product passport, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. The usage data may be generated upon or after storing the digital representation associated with the digital product passport in a decentral registry, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. The decentral registry may be accessible for decentral consumer network node(s) according to the decentral network protocol.

[0243] The usage data may be provided for access via the decentral network. The usage data may be provided for access by one or more decentral consumer network node(s). The decentral consumer network node(s) may be connected to local compute and storage environ ment(s) associated with participants of the decentral network. The usage data may be provided via the decentral network under control of the data owner of the usage data, such as the product producer. The usage data may be stored in a local data storage associated with or included in the local compute and storage environment. The local data storage may be accessible via the decentral network under control of the data owner of the usage data. Providing the usage data for access may include generating policy data associated with the usage data and providing the policy data to decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local data compute and storage environment. The policy data may be generated as described in the context of FIG. 5.

[0244] By generating usage data associated with the usage of products produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) and by providing the usage data via the decentral network for access by participants of the decentral network, the decentral participants may gain transparency on the industry / ies the produced products are used within. The transparency with respect to the usage of the product achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows upstream participants producing supply chain product(s) used to produce the product to more efficiently tailor and / or customize the supply chain product properties to properties required by the downstream participants despite the presence of complex production chain(s) across various industries consuming the supply chain products. This way, the properties of the downstream240864

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[0246] products and / or the end-products may be improved without providing undesired transparency on the downstream production chain(s) and / or the downstream product(s). The transparency with respect to the use of upstream products across different industries achieved via the usage data accessible via the decentral network allows downstream product producers to more efficiently control the supply of upstream products to their productions by allowing to consider data, such as data associated with supply chain disruptions in further industries the upstream products are provided to, for controlling the supply of upstream products without providing undesired transparency on the upstream production chain(s) and / or the upstream product(s).

[0247] FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for providing usage data associated with a use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) for access via a decentral network for monitoring and / or tracking the use of products produced by a product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-products). The product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be a product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The product may be produced or producible by a product production, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4.

[0248] The method may be implemented by a local compute and storage environment, e.g. a local provider compute and storage environment, associated with the product producer, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. The local compute and storage environment may include one or more local data provider component(s). The local data provider component(s) may be connected to decentral provider network node(s) configured to provide access to generated usage data according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) connected to local compute and storage environment(s) associated with participants of the decentral network. The participant may be a participant as described in the context of FIG. 9.

[0249] A request to access the usage data may be received according to the decentral network protocol. The request may be received at the decentral provider network node. The request may be received from the decentral consumer network node(s). The request may include an identifier associated with one or more of the local data provider component(s) providing access to the usage data. The request may further include a decentral participant identifier associated with the decentral consumer network node(s), verifiable presentation (s) associated with the decentral participant associated with the decentral consumer network node, and / or a certificate associated with the decentral consumer network node. The received request may be authenticated. Authentication may include verifying the received certificate at adecentral infrastructure node, for example as described in the context of FIG. 1. If the request is not authenticated, the decentral provider network node may reject the request and may terminate the peer-to-peer communication channel with the requesting decentral consumer network node. No usage data may be provided to the decentral consumer network node upon lack of authentication.

[0250] If the request is authenticated, the request may be authorized. The request may be authorized by the decentral provider network node. Authorizing the request may include determining policy data associated with the service, such as the usage data service (see FIG. 3 and FIG. 5) providing the usage data and determining whether the requesting decentral consumer network node is authorized to access the service. Determining whether the requesting decentral consumer network node is authorized to access the service may include gathering policy data associated with the service based on the service identifier included in the received request and comparing the decentral participant identifier provided by the decentral consumer network node with decentral participant identifiers included in the policy data. The request may be authorized if the provided decentral participant identifier matches a decentral identifier included in the policy data. The request may be authorized if the provided decentral participant identifier matches a decentral identifier included in the policy data. The request may be authorized if the permission(s) defined by the policy data are not constrained by decentral participant identifiers. If the request is not authorized, the decentral provider network node may reject the request and may terminate the peer-to-peer communication channel with the requesting decentral consumer network node. No usage data may be provided to the decentral consumer network node upon lack of authorization.

[0251] If the request is authorized, the decentral provider network node may generate initiate negotiations on the policy data associated with the service according to the decentral network protocol, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3. Upon successful negotiation, the usage data may be provided according to the decentral network protocol. Providing the usage data may include providing an endpoint associated with the service by the decentral provider network node to the decentral consumer network node. The decentral consumer network node may request the usage data based on the received endpoint, for example as described in the context of FIG. 3.

[0252] By controlling access to the usage data service providing the usage data via an identifier associated with the usage data, access to the usage data service by multiple consumer network nodes may be controlled by the data owner of the usage data. This way, the usage data can be reliably shared within the decentral network under full data sovereignty of the data owner of the usage data, such as the product producer.51

[0253] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a local consumer compute and storage environment associated with a downstream product producer for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer. The local compute and storage environment may implement the methods described in the context of FIG.

[0254] 10 and FIG. 11. The supply chain product may be produced by an upstream participant. The supply chain product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The supply chain product may be used in the downstream production to produce further products, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The further products may include downstream supply chain products or end-products.

[0255] The local compute and / or storage environment may include distributed compute and / or storage environments controlled by the downstream participant, for example as described in the context of FIG.

[0256] 5. The local compute and / or storage environment may be associated with or connected to a downstream production producing downstream products from supplied supply chain products (see FIG. 4). The local compute and / or storage environment may be associated with or connected to an operating system associated with the downstream production. The operating system may control the downstream production.

[0257] The local compute and / or storage environment may include one or more component(s) configured to trigger gathering of digital product passports, to validate digital product passports associated with supplied supply chain products and to generate digital product passports associated with downstream product(s) produced by the downstream production. The local compute and storage environment may be connected to decentral network node(s), such as node 120. The decentral network node(s) may be configured to gather digital product passports via the decentral network, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The decentral network node(s) may be configured to provide data and to control access to the data, for example as described in the context of FIG. 5. The local compute and storage environment may be connected to a data layer, such as data layer 424, storing downstream product data associated with downstream products produced or producible by the downstream production. The local compute and storage environment may be connected to a decentral registry storing digital representations, e.g. asset administration shells, of digital product passports.

[0258] Digital product passports associated with supply chain products supplied to the downstream production may be gathered by the decentral consumer network node according to a decentral network protocol. The digital product passports may be gathered based on digital supply chain product identifier(s)52

[0259] associated with the supply chain product(s), for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The digital supply chain product identifier(s) may be encoded in or associated with physical identification elements physically connected to the supply chain products. The decentral consumer network node may provide the gathered digital product passports to the validation engine.

[0260] The validation engine may be configured to validate the digital product passports based on target clearance data. The target clearance data may be stored in a local database of the local consumer compute and storage environment. The local database may be accessible for the validation engine. The validation engine may be configured to access the local database to gather target clearance data upon validation of the digital product passports. The validation engine may be configured to store validated digital product passports in a further local database of the local consumer compute and storage environment. The further local database may be accessible for the passport generation and transfer system configured to generate digital product passports and to provide the digital product passports for access according to the decentral network protocol, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4 and FIG. 10. The validation engine may further be configured to trigger - upon validation of the digital product passports - provisioning of supply chain products associated with validated digital product passports to the downstream production or to trigger - upon non-validation of the digital product passports - rejection of supply chain products. The trigger may be provided to the operating system associated with the downstream production. The trigger may include the digital supply chain product identifier(s) associated with the supply chain products associated with the validated digital product passports. Rejection of supply chain products may include not providing the supply chain products for production to the downstream production. Rejection may include generating transport data associated with a transport of the supply chain products to the supply chain product producer the rejected supply chain products have been produced by.

[0261] FIG. 13 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer. The supply chain product may be produced by an upstream participant. The supply chain product may be a supply chain product as described in the context of FIG. 2. The supply chain product may be supplied by supply chain product producer(s). The supply chain product may be used in the downstream production to produce further products, for example as described in the context of FIG. 4. The further products may include downstream supply chain products or end-products.240864

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[0263] The method may be implemented by a local consumer compute and storage environment, associated with the downstream product producer, for example as described in the context of FIG. 12.

[0264] Digital supply chain product identifier(s) associated with the supply chain product(s) may be provided. The supply chain product(s) may include supply chain product(s) supplied to the downstream production. The digital supply chain product identifier(s) may be provided based on physical identification element(s) physically attached to the supply chain product(s). The digital supply chain product identifier(s) may be encoded in the physical identification element(s). The digital supply chain product identifier(s) may be provided based on a sensor reading the physical identification element(s).

[0265] Digital product passport(s) associated with the supply chain product(s) may be gathered according to a decentral network protocol from decentral provider network node(s) associated with supply chain product producer(s). The digital product passport(s) may be gathered by decentral consumer network node(s) connected to the local consumer compute and storage environment. The decentral consumer network node(s) may be connected to one or more of the local data consumer component(s) of the local consumer compute and storage environment (see FIG. 12). The digital product passports may include a decentral identifier associated with the supply chain product and passport data. The passport data may include usage data associated with a use of the supply chain product within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s) via a decentral network. The decentral provider network node(s) may be connected to local provider compute and storage environment(s) associated with the supply chain product producer(s). The decentral provider network node(s) may be connected to a local data storage storing the digital product passports. Gathering the digital product passports may include requesting access to the digital product passports according to the decentral network protocol. The request may include the decentral identifier associated with the digital product passport and a decentral participant identifier associated with the decentral consumer network node(s). The request may be authenticated and / or authorized. The request may be authorized based on the decentral identifier and the decentral participant identifier. The request may be generated based on a trigger received from one or more local data consumer component(s). The request may be triggered based on data received via a user interface.

[0266] Target clearance data associated with one or more target product clearance(s) may be provided. The target clearance data may be associated with chemical and / or physical property / ies of the supply chain products. The target clearance data may be associated with supply chain product class(es). The supply chain product class(es) may indicate the class(es) the supply chain product(s) are associated with.240864

[0267] 54

[0268] Class(es) may include polymer, solvent, pigment or the like. The target clearance data may include target industry data. The target industry data may be associated with industry / ies the supply chain product is cleared to be used within. The target industry data may be associated with the industry the downstream product producer is associated with. The target industry data may be associated with industry / ies the downstream products produced by the downstream product producer are used within.

[0269] The digital product passport(s) may be validated by matching the usage data to the target clearance data. Validating may include determining target clearance data associated with a supply chain product class(es) the supply chain product(s) are associated with. The supply chain product class(es) may be determined based on passport data included in the digital product passport(s). The digital product passport(s) may be validated if at least a part of the usage data matches the target clearance data. The digital product passport(s) may be validated if industry data included in the usage data matches target industry data included in the target clearance data. The digital product passport(s) may not be validated if at least a part of the usage data does not match the target clearance data. The digital product passport(s) may not be validated if industry data included in the usage data does not match target industry data included in the target clearance data.

[0270] Based on validated digital product passport(s), supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) may be provided to the downstream production for producing downstream product(s). Providing the supply chain product(s) to the downstream production may include generating monitoring and / or control data for monitoring and / or controlling the supply of the supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) to the downstream production.

[0271] Based on non-validation of the digital product passport(s), the supply chain product(s) associated with non-validated digital product passports are rejected. Rejected supply chain products may not be provided to the downstream production for producing downstream products.

[0272] By validating the digital product passport(s) based on usage data included in such digital product passport(s), supply chain product streams to the downstream production can be reliably monitored with respect to their chemical and / or physical properties. By controlling the supply chain product streams based on the validated digital product passports, chemical and / or physical properties of downstream products produced based on the supply chain products fed to the downstream production can be reliably monitored. Validation enhances control over the supply chain product flow with respect to the chemical and / or physical property / ies of the supply chain products. Validation further enhances control over the240864

[0273] 55

[0274] chemical and / or physical property / ies of downstream products produced by the downstream production, since sufficient chemical and / or physical property / ies of the supply chain products used to produce the downstream products can be ensured.

[0275] The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims.

[0276] Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment / data processing.

[0277] As used herein ..determining" also includes ..initiating or causing to determine", “generating" also includes ..initiating and / or causing to generate" and “providing” also includes “initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and / or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0278] In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” or “including” or similar wording does not exclude other elements or steps and shall not be construed limiting to the elements or steps lined out. The indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation or further elements may be included.

[0279] Providing in the scope of this disclosure may include any interface configured to provide data. This may include an application programming interface, a human-machine interface such as a display and / or a software module interface. Providing may include communication of data or submission of data to the interface, in particular display to a user or use of the data by the receiving entity.

Claims

1. 24086456CLAIMS1. A method for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end- products), the method comprising:providing product data associated with the product and industry data associated with at least one industry, wherein the at least one industry is associated with the one or more production chain(s),providing a decentral identifier associated with the product data,generating a digital product passport associated with the product, wherein the digital product passport includes the decentral identifier, at least part of the product data and the industry data,generating usage data based on the digital product passport,providing the usage data for access via a decentral network by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the industry data signifies the usage of the product within one or more industries to produce the end-product(s) and / or within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of the end-product(s).

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the industry data is associated with predefined chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the chemical and / or physical property / ies of the product are predefined by the downstream industry / ies and / or downstream production chain(s) using the product.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the generated digital product passport is provided to a local data storage of the local compute and storage environment accessible according to a decentral network protocol by decentral consumer network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment.240864576. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the usage data is generated based on the industry data included in the digital product passport.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the usage data includes a usage data identifier and at least a part of the industry data.

8. A local provider compute and storage environment associated with a product producer for monitoring and / or tracking the use of a product produced by the product producer within one or more production chain(s) associated with the production of one or more end-product(s), wherein the local compute and storage environment includes one or more local data provider component(s), the local provider compute and storage environment comprising:a data providing interface configured to provide product data associated with the product and industry data associated with at least one industry, wherein the at least one industry is associated with the one or more production chain(s),one or more of the local data provider component(s) configured to• provide a decentral identifier generator configured to provide a decentral identifier associated with the product,• generate a digital product passport associated with the product, wherein the digital product passport includes the decentral identifier, at least part of the product data and the industry data,• generate usage data based on the digital product passport,a decentral network interface configured to provide the generated usage data for access via the decentral network by decentral consuming network node(s) associated with data consumer(s) under control of decentral provider network node(s) connected to the local compute and storage environment.

9. A method for controlling a stream of supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product producer, wherein the supply chain product(s) are used within the downstream production to produce one or more downstream product(s), the method comprising:providing digital supply chain product identifier(s) associated with the supplied supply chain product(s),gathering digital product passports associated with the supply chain product(s) according to a decentral network protocol from decentral provider network node(s) connected to local24086458data provider compute and storage environment(s) associated with the supply chain product producer(s), wherein the digital product passport(s) include(s) usage data associated with a use of the supply chain product(s) within one or more production chain(s) associated with one or more end-product(s),providing target clearance data associated with one or more target product clearance(s), validating the digital product passport(s) by matching the usage data to the target clearance data,based on validated digital product passport(s), providing the supply chain product(s) associated with the digital product passport(s) to the downstream production for producing the downstream product(s).

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the target clearance data is associated with one or more supply chain product class(es).

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the target clearance data includes target industry data associated with one or more target ind ustry / ies, wherein the target industry data is associated with chemical and / or physical property / ies of supply chain products defined for the target industry / ies.

12. The method of any one of claims 9 to 11 , wherein the digital product passport(s) are validated if the usage data at least partially matches the target clearance data or wherein the digital product passport(s) are not validated if the usage data does not at least partially match the target clearance data.

13. The method of any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein providing the supply chain product(s) to the downstream production includes generating monitoring and / or control data for monitoring and / or controlling the supply of the supply chain product(s) associated with the validated digital product passport(s) to the downstream production.

14. The method of any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein based on non-validation of the digital product passport(s), the supply chain product(s) associated with non-validated digital product passports are rejected.

15. A use of digital product passports generated according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 or by the local consumer compute and storage environment of claim 8 for controlling a stream of24086459supply chain product(s) supplied by supply chain product producer(s) to a downstream production associated with the downstream product produce.

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