At SEMIC, we are constantly monitoring the needs of the semantic interoperability community. Recently, we received a request from DG-ENV to support the effort of expanding the lifespan of electric vehicle batteries by predicting when to repurpose them for other devices. When successful this reduces harmful waste and contributes to preserving our planet.
The prediction of battery lifecycle relies on the analysis of data collected during charging and discharging cycles. However, transferring battery data to R&D centers poses challenges related to privacy protection and data sovereignty, since the battery belongs to a vehicle that belongs to an individual. To increase the interoperability among data holders, intermediaries and recipients, requires the additional component of semantic modelling.
The emerging meta-question is then whether it is possible to embed green transition projects with data sourced from personal devices while ensuring compliance with the legal framework on personal data. This raises the practical questions about what technology can instantiate: 1- shared semantics, 2- prescribed roles, and 3- legal policies that apply when channeling personal data.
To address these questions, SEMIC ran a proof-of-concept experiment leveraging synergies in the Personal Data Spaces and Vocabulary modeling streams of work. We opted for SOLID technology as one of the various platforms & technologies available to enable the channeling of data with explicit semantics (1), and orchestrate the exchange of personal data among actors as prescribed by the Data Act, Data Governance Act and the GDPR (2,3).
We hold the expectation for the Proof of Concept (PoC) to allow the plug-and-play of players whose roles fit with a defined actor, assign them capabilities prescribed by policies, and enable their participation in green transition initiatives relying on leveraging personal data.
At the end of running the experiment, we designed a semantic model encoding personal data, vehicle data, battery data, and actors' data, reusing CatenaX model, Core Vocs, Firewire Smart Models, Schema.org, and other W3C standards. We also produced a demo application to experience the user journey of EU citizens deciding to share their battery data in response to a call for action from DG-ENV. The demo app makes use of data pods on SOLID infrastructure and loosely implements the legal framework in the scope for the demonstration.
Is it possible to safely feed personal device data into green transition initiative? Our experience suggests that we have been able to materialize all the components to make this possible, and our stakeholders audience is eager to pursue another investigation iteration.
What does the future holds for this PoC? Among the feedback we received from our stakeholders, one requested to include data intermediaries and service provides as the actors who incentivize the participation to data sharing, with rewarding schemes directly to the individuals. We also intend to test the limits of the SOLID technology and see how well its protocols can adapt in response to changing legal framework. We are opening the PoC to a larger stakeholders audience, so we expect an increasing demand of features and scenarios to be covered.
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