Supply chains are global, and to maximize value for our clients with a global footprint, any dataspace solution must work in the U.S., the world’s largest economy by GDP (IMF 2024). Consequently, we were grateful to be invited to join a tour in the U.S. organized by Acatech and DLR to discuss and demonstrate dataspace technology opportunities.
Delegation by Acatech, DLR, and Telekom
Acatech, Germany's National Academy of Science and Engineering, serves as the nation's premier advisory body on political and technological matters under the patronage of the Federal President (link). The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., or DLR) is the national hub for aerospace, energy, and transportation research, acting as the German space agency responsible for the national space program and engaging in diverse R&D projects and partnerships (link). The delegation included Acatech’s Jan Fischer, also head of the Gaia-X Hub Germany (link), the DLR team of Maximilian Staebler, Steffen Turnbull, and Robin Taba, all involved with the Gaia-X lighthouse projects of Gaia-X 4 Future Mobility (link) and Catena-X (link), and Deutsche Telekom’s Prof. Dr. Chris Schlueter Langdon, agile Product Manager of CX who had worked in Silicon Valley earlier in his career. Acatech and DLR organized the tour with two stops: one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast.
- Washington D.C., the political epicenter of the US
- Silicon Valley, the world’s foremost hub for tech innovation and startup culture
Figure 2: Discussing dataspace opportunities at Accenture Labs in San Francisco
Washington D.C., May 11-12
Washington D.C. is the political heart of the United States, hosting federal agencies and international organizations, and offering unparalleled access to decision-makers and policymakers. A key stop on our tour was an invitation from the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE, link) at the historic National Academy of Sciences building on Constitution Avenue, the iconic thoroughfare that runs along the National Mall, connecting the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. The meeting was chaired by NAE President John Anderson (link) and included participants from various NAE initiatives.
For info on our East Coast Stop: https://bit.ly/WashingtonDC2024_Dataspaces
Silicon Valley, May 15-17
Our West Coast stop was highlighted by visits to Stanford University in Silicon Valley and Accenture Labs in downtown San Francisco. Stanford University serves as a pivotal force at the heart of Silicon Valley, propelling innovation through leading-edge research, fostering entrepreneurship, and nurturing a collaborative culture between academia and industry. Our visit was arranged through an invitation from the robotics team at the Computer Science School for engaging discussions among engineers. The half-day Accenture workshop was a homecoming for Chris, who launched his career at Accenture and relocated to the firm’s Silicon Valley office on Page Mill Road when the world’s first Web browser company, Netscape, went public in 1995. Chris had extensively covered this Web transformation for German clients in prominent publications such as Manager Magazin (Preissner 1995), Handelsblatt (Schlueter Langdon 1998, 1996), and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Schlueter Langdon 2001) – perfect preparation for this forthcoming wave of Web 3 including distributed and federated data like dataspaces.
For info on our West Coast stop: https://bit.ly/SiliconValleyStanford2024_Dataspaces
From CES in Las Vegas to Hannover Fair and back to the US
Our tour in the US marked the third phase of promoting dataspace capabilities. Following our initial efforts at CES 2024 in Las Vegas and the Hannover Fair 2024, which demonstrated clear commercial benefits, it was imperative to return with this evidence of business viability to engage with policy and technology influencers.
- CES 2024: An all-American cast took the stage at the world's premier tech show to unveil a groundbreaking data chain spearheaded by Ford Motor Company and its Tier 1 partner, Flex, to facilitate the exchange of CO2 scope-3 data for product carbon footprint (PCF) tracking using Catena-X technology
- IBM’s 2min video: https://youtu.be/YEfqlCXYYs4
- T-Systems‘ LinkedIn post: bit.ly/CES2024_PCF-Pilot_DIH_LinkedIn1
- Hannover Fair 2024
Benefit from distilled insights gained through our pioneering projects
- What is it, impact on (a) strategy and (b) operations: “Dataspace 101”
- First use cases: Mobility super-app disruption
- Ecosystems resurgence: Ecosystems 2.0 – Built on data
References
IMF 2024. WEO Database. Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: World, European Union. International Monetary Fund, IMF (retrieved 2024-04-16), link
Preissner, A. 1995. PC Goes Shopping. Manager Magazin (May): 88-98, 94
Schlueter Langdon, C. 2001. Elektronische Märkte und Netze ändern Industriestrukturen (electronic markets and networks are changing industry structures). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (January 11): 9
Schlueter Langdon, C. 1998. Der nächste Shop ist nur ein Klick weiter (the next store is just one click away). Handelsblatt (November 17): 48
Schlueter Langdon, C. 1996. Informationen aus der Steckdose (information from the power outlet). Handelsblatt (December 18): B3
