Driving CO2 reduction and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) tracking through cross-organizational data collaboration—pilot with Ford, Flex, Deutsche Telekom, and IBM

Executive summary
At CES 2024, a groundbreaking pilot was launched, uniting Ford Motor Company, Flex, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems, and IBM in tackling one of the automotive industry’s most pressing challenges: reducing CO2 emissions. Leveraging Catena-X technology built on Web3 core tenets—decentralized architectures, data sovereignty, and direct interactions without intermediaries or central control—combined with digital twins, this initiative demonstrated how to transform CO2 tracking from fragmented secondary data into precise primary data chains. The result? A scalable solution ready for real-world deployment.

The problem
As sustainability regulations like IFRS S1 and S2 (effective since January 2024) take hold, organizations must accurately report and reduce their product carbon footprint (PCF). The challenge lies in scope 3 emissions—indirect emissions embedded in supply chains—which require collaboration across companies and industries to obtain trustworthy, actionable data. The difficulty arises from modular product design and outsourcing, as most products are composed of many parts, each with a multi-tier supply chain. For example, an automaker knows the tier-1 supplier of a door lock but not necessarily the tier-2 vendor of the screws or the steel mill further upstream that supplied the steel for those screws. Traditional reliance on secondary data (e.g., industry averages or government statistics) introduces risks of inaccuracy and accusations of greenwashing, undermining authentic sustainability efforts. The need for a primary data-driven solution has never been more urgent.

The solution
The pilot leverages novel Catena-X (CX) technology for standardized data sharing and multi-tier collaboration across the automotive value chain (see “What is Catena-X”). CX ultimately empowers companies to track parts, materials, and vehicles throughout their lifecycle, fostering sustainable production practices. For this PCF use case, the technology enabled the construction of primary CO2 data chains, ensuring accurate and verifiable tracking across supply chains. Key innovations include (overview in “Data 0: README”):
• Dataspace network layer: A peer-to-peer data network that enables secure, sovereign data exchange without centralized control. It operates on top of existing cloud or on-premise compute infrastructure as well as communication networks and the Internet. This layer resembles a “container shipping system” for data: just as a container protects its contents and is universally compatible across ships, trucks, and ports worldwide, the dataspace network ensures data is securely and seamlessly exchanged. What you place in it and to whom you send it, and for what purpose, remains strictly between you and the receiver.
• Digital twins: Accurate digital representations of physical products, enabling seamless data analysis and integration across various use cases. Conceptually, they present a layer on top of the dataspace network, ensuring semantic interoperability along the supply chain.
CX is based on open-source software, which eliminates costly vendor lock-in, ensures regulatory compliance, and simplifies adoption for companies of all sizes.

Implementation
Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems (TSI) team, a pioneer in dataspaces and author of the first published dataspace pilot case studies (Schlueter Langdon & Schweichhart 2020), leveraged its expertise to orchestrate the pilot. As a key contributor to Catena-X software development, the team also provided the first CX-certified products to provide the pilot infrastructure:
• “Living Lab”: A Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environment for (dataspace) application development, featuring a built-in CX-certified sandbox for testing and experimentation, which served as the foundational infrastructure for the pilot.
• “Connect & Integrate” or ‘data phone’ software: A fully managed, browser-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product that enables participants to seamlessly connect to the dataspace network and engage in secure data sharing, with no need for software installation or system integration.
Additionally, the IBM Supply Chain Intelligence Suite (SCIS) is utilized to analyze exchanged PCF data along the supply chain through an intuitive graphical user interface.

Results and impact
• Data integrity: Transition from secondary to primary data reduced inaccuracies and supported compliance with emerging ISSB standards.
• Scalability: Demonstrated seamless integration across multiple stakeholders, laying the groundwork for broader industry adoption.
• Sustainability leadership: Positioned participating organizations as pioneers in addressing scope 3 emissions—a critical ESG benchmark.

Lessons learned
• Radical collaboration is essential for tackling systemic challenges like scope 3 emissions.
• Open-source, decentralized solutions lower adoption barriers for organizations of all sizes.
• Primary data is pivotal in overcoming greenwashing and delivering measurable CO2 relief.

Next steps: A living pilot – expansion, migration to production
The pilot highlights the transformative potential of Web3-enabled data ecosystems in fostering cross-organizational data cooperation. This is a dynamic, living pilot that continues to expand and serves as a stepping stone toward full-scale production. Initial data exchanges are already transitioning to production through Cofinity-X (CY), the first CX operational environment. Key milestones include:

1. CES 2024 (January): Launched the first live data chain with Ford and Flex using TSI’s CX-certified data exchange solution for a first live data exchange on stage.
   – Watch here: IBM’s 2min video
   – Read about it: TSI insights story, TSI LinkedIn post 3 of 3
2. Hannover Fair 2024 (April): Flex extended the data chain by integrating Murata as one of its tier-2 suppliers: Flex LinkedIn post, TSI insights story
3. CX Consortium Finale (June): After three years, as planned, the CX Consortium—serving as both the initiator of Catena-X and the incubator of its ecosystem software stack—successfully concluded its mission. Oversight transitioned to the CX Association, where leadership showcased a significant milestone: a multi-tier, multi-vendor PCF data chain. Participants seamlessly exchanged data using PCF applications from SAP, Siemens, SupplyOn, and TSI, demonstrating the ecosystem’s multi-vendor capabilities and interoperability: Catena-X LinkedIn post, TSI insights story, TSI LinkedIn post
4. IMDS-AIAG 2024 (October): Ford and Flex showcased their successful migration to the Cofinity-X operating environment with a live on-stage data exchange. Each company utilized different CX-certified PCF applications—Ford implemented SAP, while Flex deployed Deutsche Telekom’s TSI product—underlining the maturity of this multi-vendor setup.
   – Watch here: Cofinity-X webinar summary, CY webinar 40min video
   – Read about it: TSI insights story, Flex LinkedIn post
5. CES 2025 (January): Upcoming … see TSI events announcement

Companies are invited to join the pilot and experience the productivity gains of this next-generation solution firsthand.