The source code of the developments is now freely available and can be further developed by companies and adapted to their needs.
Prof. Michael ten Hompel, Managing Director of the Fraunhofer IML, emphasises: “With our Silicon Economy project we have set out to build something like the Linux for logistics. The foundation for a new type of decentralised platform ecosystem in logistics has now been laid with the publication of our first open source components. Logistics is increasingly determined by digitalisation and artificial intelligence. Now it will be decided who will lift the much-cited data gold and be the first to launch the right algorithms. With the Open Logistics Foundation, we have an environment in which interfaces and basic processes become standardised and applicable, and an open, federated and sovereign data space emerges. Companies can now develop intelligent solutions to digital waybills or tracking of pallets. Companies are already rethinking: They know that a joint effort is needed and that open source is indispensable for the digitalisation and automation of logistics. We are therefore convinced that the ecosystem of providers and users will grow rapidly.”
The “Silicon Economy” research project started in May 2020. It will run for three years and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) with 25 million euros. “We want to make our country more modern and more digital. With this project, we are setting new standards for logistics internationally. Our goal is to digitalise all business processes along the supply chain – from ordering to transport planning to invoicing. Germany is a pioneer here. With the digital library of the Open Logistics Foundation, we are opening up our collected data to companies worldwide. With digitised import processes, we increase plannability, reduce bureaucracy and lower transport costs,” says Dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport.
You can find the press release on the project here in german.
