The vision of the project is to prepare a dedicated service platform for trusted electronics that integrates research results such as designs, IP blocks, tools or analysis methods from research projects in this and other related research areas on a voluntary basis and makes them jointly accessible, which then enables combined exploitation. In this way, a contact point is created for companies and users, in which not only individual projects and their results are accessible, but a bundled compilation of research services and resulting offers.
In the future, the platform should be able to identify the necessary solution components for companies' individual problems and present an integrated, demand-oriented concept. In this way, companies will not receive isolated solutions or individual services, but rather integrated concepts of interlinked solution components, also with a view to possible later certification, so that their own existing methods and processes are supplemented by as few dedicated components as possible. The new solution components can originate from different sources, for example from research projects within the research focus or from companies. The unified presentation of all project results on a user-oriented platform ensures their broad and sustainable exploitation. The platform offers functions through which the offers can be identified and selected and which enable a secure assessment of trustworthiness as well as comprehensive and flexible use.
Trustworthy data exchange along the supply chain
Initially, the focus is on the trustworthy exchange of data along the supply chain by means of suitable methods (e.g. on products and fingerprints of the components). For this purpose, there will be an exchange with other joint projects on the guideline »Trustworthy Electronics (ZEUS)«. As a result, a concept and a prototypical implementation of the trustworthy exchange of data and specifications on electronic products will be developed. In addition, concepts for a structured analysis of electronics supply chains and complementary risk assessment with a data-driven assessment approach will be developed. The possibility of including quantitative sources connected via interfaces and real-time data from supply chains will also be considered. Another topic is the analysis of the need for standardization along supply chains. For this purpose, a technical draft is being developed that includes aspects identified as necessary. Later, contributions from other parts of the project can be consolidated with regard to standardization and the results summarized.
Finally, a cross-project methodological kit for the use of technologies to secure the electronics supply chain will be developed in coordination with the advisory board as a basis for consulting projects. In this, a toolbox for technical solutions for the specific use case of secure electronics (both for sea freight, air freight and the last mile) will be designed. Tracking sensors, tamper proof films and other approaches serve as a basis.
»Welektronik« – a wiki based on knowledge graphs as the basis for the platform
The goal is to build a new database regarding supply chains for trustworthy electronics by means of a knowledge graph. To this end, the Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS is researching methods and procedures for describing electronics supply networks and analyzing their trustworthiness as part of the project. In this context, a structuring as well as comprehensive description and classification of companies, components, manufacturing processes, services and products along the supply chain of complex electronic products will be carried out. This will be reflected in the semantics of the graph, according to which the data located there will be structured. For implementation, a knowledge graph based on RDF lends itself. Ontologies provide the means for description and structuring in this environment. Also a good usability of the knowledge graph is given, since knowledge graphs can be read well by machines. This will be implemented using the framework Wikibase, which combines an easy-to-use wiki approach (open to contributions from prosumers) with the concept of knowledge graphs. The knowledge graph should be able to be updated via script-based conversion or import of data from freely accessible sources as well as selected project-internal sources.
The ontology and knowledge graph underlying the wiki will be analyzed in the next steps and the supply chains will be examined for their risk and need for standardization. Subsequently, the concept for trustworthy data exchange and the associated method kit for the use of technologies to secure the electronics supply chain can be developed.
Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS