The DaFoX-OWL project aimed to raise awareness of industrial data rooms, such as Factory-X, in the East Westphalia-Lippe (OWL) region and to support businesses – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – in getting started with data rooms. To this end, the project established a ‘capability chain’ comprising the steps of informing, training, designing, implementing and networking, in order to introduce companies to the topic in a step-by-step manner.
Data rooms enable the controlled exchange of data between various stakeholders, such as companies or public authorities. Participants retain control over their data and determine who may access which data, for what purpose and for how long. This enables innovation, provides additional insights and creates added value that would not be possible without the cross-organisational exchange of data. In the mechanical and plant engineering sector, the development of such data rooms is currently being driven forward in particular by Factory-X.
DaFoX-OWL was primarily aimed at SMEs in the mechanical and plant engineering sector in the OWL region. The aim was to raise awareness of data rooms amongst SMEs and support them in getting started. This is because connecting to data rooms is not merely a technical task. Issues relating to responsibilities, processes and business models also play an important role. For this reason, the project developed formats tailored to the target group, which introduce SMEs to the topic in a practical and needs-based manner.
In the ‘Information’ phase, initial points of contact with data rooms were established, for example through videos and a quick check. In the ‘Training’ phase, training materials and programmes are on offer to impart the technical fundamentals. In the ‘Design’ phase, work was carried out jointly with companies on specific issues, and suitable solutions were refined in individual workshops and during the ‘XChange4Industry’ makeathon. In the ‘Implementation’ phase, the practical development of these approaches was supported through further workshops. The insights gained were consolidated into an implementation plan. This serves as a practical guide for SMEs – from initial considerations right through to participation in data rooms.
In addition, DaFoX-OWL was present at numerous events to present project results, promote dialogue with companies and other stakeholders, and build networks. The DaFox-OWL project is supported by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. It forms part of the funding guideline ‘Guideline for promoting a culture of cross-organisational and cross-sectoral data use in the research and innovation system through data trust models’ and ran until March 2026.
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