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Get an Overview

Welcome to this first step of the tutorial. As a developer, you most likely don't want to become an expert on all legal, organizational or business related Catena-X topics. Nevertheless, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with some of the high-level concepts of Catena-X, before you proceed with the architecture.

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To complete this tutorial you will not need to read through all the information provided under "further reading".

1. Catena-X​

Catena-X is an open, secure, and interoperable data ecosystem for the automotive industry. It is a collaborative initiative of automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and other stakeholders from across the value chain. Catena-X aims to enable the secure and efficient exchange of data across the entire value chain, from the development of new vehicles to the end-of-life recycling of components.

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More information on the Catena-X initiative can be found at the visions and goals section of the association homepage (https://catena-x.net/en/benefits).

2. Use-Cases​

Catena-X is organized around ten initial use cases. If your company decided to become part of Catena-X, it has chosen at least one use case it wants to benefit from. Participation in an use case usually includes the provisioning of data according to a shared semantic and standardized technology stack that shall enable interoperability and data sovereignty.

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The list of the ten initial use-cases as well as a description of each of them can be found here: https://catena-x.net/en/offers

3. The Data Space​

To enable the use cases, Catena-X builds a decentral data space. In a data space, data is directly exchanged between data provider and data consumer, without an intermediary. A data space requires data providers and consumers to use certain components either as managed services or as self-hosted. Furthermore, "core components" are needed within the network to ensure Identity & Trust, provide Data Discovery mechanisms or a Marketplace to find and purchase business applications that can be used to consume the data and generate value.

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For an in depth description of data spaces and the conceptual model behind Catena-X, read the Industrial Data Spaces Association (IDSA) Reference Architecture Model 4.0: https://docs.internationaldataspaces.org/ids-ram-4/ The Catena-X Operating Whitepaper describes how the Catena-X data space is operated: https://catena-x.net/fileadmin/_online_media_/CX_Operating_Modelv2.1_final.pdf

4. The Onboarding Journey​

Your task to setup the technical components is part of a larger onboarding journey that also includes a registration in the network, a use case selection, setting up a data governance structure and engagement of the various business departments. The onboarding journey varies depending on your companies decision on how to participate in which use cases. As you've already read, in case your company only intends to buy a fully managed SAAS business application, you won't need to operate the Catena-X components yourself. The Catena-X association provides extensive onboarding material such as an onboarding guide or an onboarding status tracker. Both can be found on the association homepage.

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For an in-depth understanding of the onboarding process, it can be helpful to read the Onboarding Guide (https://catena-x.net/en/catena-x-introduce-implement/onboarding) and especially the Chapter "IT Specialist". The "Internal Company Onboarding Tracker" provides a checklist for all onboarding steps and can also be found via the link above.

5. Backend Integration​

Setting up all technical components is only the first step towards active participation in Catena-X. To be able to send and receive data and participate in use-cases, the backend systems from/to where data is transferred must be connected. Those backend systems can be existing business applications, a data lake or data warehouses. Backend Integration also includes typical ETL tasks, such as adapting data formats to the Catena-X semantic.

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The data integration pattern guide gives an overview over the tasks and challenges associated with backend integration: https://catena-x.net/fileadmin/user_upload/04_Einfuehren_und_umsetzen/Onboarding/DataIntegrationPatterns_Guide_V1.1.pdf

In the next chapter, you will learn about the Catena-X architecture, and how some of the most important technical components work together.

Notice​

This work is licensed under the CC-BY-4.0.