The document, titled AAS/RDF Interoperability Approaches for DPP, outlines technical approaches for connecting two widely used data modelling frameworks that are expected to play a central role in the implementation of the European Union's Digital Product Passport (DPP).
The publication results from cooperation between the PSS-PASS project and 17 European initiatives involving 32 researchers. The authors aim to establish a common technical framework that enables data exchange between Asset Administration Shell (AAS) and Resource Description Framework (RDF) technologies.
Addressing data fragmentation
The Digital Product Passport forms a key element of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and supports broader European objectives related to product transparency, sustainability and data sharing. At the same time, manufacturers face increasing requirements under the European Union Data Act and other regulatory frameworks.
According to the white paper, different approaches to industrial data modelling create challenges for companies operating across sectors and supply chains. Asset Administration Shell, standardised under IEC 63278, supports industrial digital twins and operational manufacturing processes. Resource Description Framework technologies, in contrast, focus on semantic data integration, linked data and machine-readable knowledge structures.
The authors identify interoperability between these two approaches as an important prerequisite for efficient data exchange within future Digital Product Passport ecosystems.
Three technical integration approaches
The white paper examines interoperability from three perspectives: data consumption, data production and data processing.
For data consumption, the document describes how RDF-based semantic models can enrich Asset Administration Shell environments with standardised vocabularies and ontology-based data access. This approach can support data virtualisation without creating additional data silos.
For data production, the authors outline methods for transforming operational manufacturing data into RDF-based knowledge graphs. The paper also discusses the use of compressed JSON-LD serialisation formats to improve data exchange efficiency while maintaining semantic compatibility.
For data processing, the document highlights the use of Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL) for automated validation against regulatory requirements. It also examines reasoning technologies that can support consistency checks across complex and multi-level bills of materials.
Supporting circular manufacturing
The white paper emphasises the role of interoperable data infrastructures in circular economy applications. Manufacturers require access to reliable product information throughout product lifecycles, including remanufacturing, repair, refurbishment and recycling processes.
The proposed interoperability framework aims to support the tracking of product provenance, carbon footprint data and circularity-related information. It also addresses data portability requirements associated with Article 35 of the European Union Data Act.
According to the authors, harmonised semantic data structures can improve information exchange across distributed manufacturing and supply chain environments while supporting regulatory compliance.
Recommendations for standardisation
The publication includes recommendations for standardisation organisations and technical committees. These include the integration of JSON-LD serialisation into Asset Administration Shell specifications and the development of mechanisms that enable translation between AAS query languages and SPARQL-based semantic queries.
The authors state that such measures could support scalable information exchange across future distributed Digital Product Passport repositories.
About the PSS-PASS project
The PSS-PASS project investigates how the Digital Product Passport concept can be extended into a Digital Product Service System Passport. The project examines how product and service information can be integrated to support circular economy objectives in manufacturing.
Funded through the European Union's Horizon Europe programme, the project develops semantic technologies that connect Asset Administration Shell environments with industry ontologies. The objective is to facilitate data interoperability across digital manufacturing ecosystems and support future circular business models.
