Project ETHICA

ETHICA (Digital Product Passport for ESG Transparency, Harmonized Intelligence, Compliance, and Auditability) addresses the growing regulatory and industrial demand for Digital Product Passports (DPPs) as mandated by the EU’s Sustainable Products Initiative. The project aims to develop a scalable, AI-enabled DPP infrastructure that ensures semantic interoperability, data integrity, trust, and compliance across global value chains. ETHICA will leverage state-of-the-art technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs), Legal Language Models (e.g., LegalBERT), federated data architectures, and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) to automate the extraction, harmonization, and verification of lifecycle data from heterogeneous sources like ERP/PLM systems, supplier declarations, and unstructured documents.

By integrating retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), explainable AI, and standards such as EPCIS 2.0, SHACL, and GAIA-X federation services, ETHICA will create a trusted, sovereign, and interoperable DPP framework. The project targets high-impact sectors like electronics, textiles, batteries, and construction, focusing on ESG compliance, auditability, and data confidentiality.

ETHICA’s multi-country, cross-disciplinary consortium includes industry leaders, research institutions, and SMEs from Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Turkey, the UK, and South Korea. It will deliver an end-to-end DPP platform with intelligent services for data discovery, compliance validation, and trusted sharing. ETHICA will accelerate the EU’s digital and green transition by enabling circularity, transparency, and sustainable innovation through next-generation DPPs.