With Catena-X, the automotive industry of the future uses a trustworthy, collaborative, open and secure data ecosystem. All players are networked in end-to-end value chains, in which all partners are on an equal ground, have sovereign control over their data and no lock-in effects occur, which provides a sustainable solution for the digitalization of supply chains, especially for medium-sized and small companies, and supports the cooperation and collaboration of market participants and competitors.

Catena-X intends to:

• Increase the resilience and flexibility of supply chains
• Establish a globally active network
• Create the first open and collaborative data ecosystem

Catena-X encompasses several offers:

• EDC (Eclipse Data Space Connector): the central component to enable sovereign data exchange in the first place
• Portal & Marketplace: to create a joint entry into the network
• BDPM (Business Partner Data Management): tackles the problem of increasing data retention costs (data quality, up-to-datedness, speed & validation) with the concept of the Golden Record and Value Added Services
• IRS (Item Relationship Services): enables service for the use case traceability, to add context across n-tiers suppliers.
• Digital Twin / Semantic Layer: open source solution based on a standardized programming interface of the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) and its Asset Administration Shell
• Tractus-X Project: (1) Core Services (e.g., portal and marketplaces for, e.g., core service providers) as well as (2) Kits (e.g., for solution providers) in the Eclipse Tractus-X project. Tractus-X is the official corresponding open-source project to the Catena-X ecosystem following the Eclipse Foundation's development process to strengthen trust and collaboration.

Catena-X currently includes 144 members including: BMW AG, Deutsche Telekom AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, SAP SE, Siemens AG and ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Additional companies have joined the initiative including Mercedes-Benz AG, BASF SE, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Schaeffler AG, German Edge Cloud GmbH & Co.