In times of high interest rates, global uncertainty, and volatile supply chains, companies are under more pressure than ever to ensure efficiency, resilience, and sustainability simultaneously. Traditional supply chain management is no longer sufficient. An integrated view of material, information, and financial flows is crucial. This is exactly where financial supply chain management (FSCM) comes in: it connects financial processes with operational logistics, creating the basis for efficient working capital, stable supplier relationships, and lower risks.

Only when material, information, and financial flows are managed together can a consistent, responsive, and simultaneously agile system be established. A delay in payment can be just as crippling as a missing component. Synchronising financial flows reduces friction losses, improves predictability, and creates the basis for automated, data-driven decisions.

Liquidity is a key performance factor in modern supply chains.

In modern supply chains, liquidity is much more than a financial indicator; it acts as a lubricant, keeps processes moving, enables investment, and stabilises partners. Without it, even well-planned supply chains come to a standstill – not because of a lack of materials or data, but because payments are delayed or overdue, risks are not mitigated, or necessary upfront investments cannot be financed. Liquidity is therefore a strategic factor that influences efficiency, resilience, and sustainability in equal measures.

Efficiency is achieved by reducing financial friction losses along the supply chain.

In many companies, delays are not the result of logistical bottlenecks, but of financial process disruptions: manual invoice checks, unclear payment statuses, lack of coordination between transport events and financial approvals. The digital linking of delivery and payment data, automated workflows, and transparent event control reduces unnecessary waiting times, duplicate verification processes, and capital commitment.

Resilience is created through financial and operational synchronisation.

Supply chains become resilient not only through additional inventory or alternative sources of supply, but also through the ability to jointly manage financial and operational risks. When transport events, inventory changes, or delivery delays are directly linked to cash flows, liquidity requirements, and financing options, the result is a system that can detect disruptions early on and respond flexibly. FSCM creates precisely this connection: it reveals which suppliers are under financial pressure, where liquidity is becoming scarce, or which operational risks could develop into financial bottlenecks. This is how FSCM becomes a resilience booster.

Sustainability requires financial stability.

An integrated view of all flows in supply chain management not only creates more efficient and resilient processes, but also actively promotes the development of stable, fair, and sustainable supply networks. Financial stability is a prerequisite for environmental and social responsibility in supply chains—especially for smaller suppliers. FSCM ensures that liquidity is distributed fairly, payment processes are transparent, and capital can be directed toward sustainable activities, for example, through ESG-based financing or dynamic payment models. CO₂ data can be linked to payment flows, supplier evaluations become traceable, and financing incentives can be directly tied to sustainability criteria. In this sense, there is nothing more economically sound than sustainable supply chains, which also make a significant contribution to sovereign value creation.

The financial digital twin is becoming the central control instrument of the future.

Looking to the future, the open source Financial Digital Twin is a particularly promising solution. For example, it links digital transport and financial data, speeds up invoicing processes, improves risk assessments, and enables proactive management of financing and insurance.

The Financial Digital Twin maps all financial dimensions of a supply chain – risks, cash flows, receivables, liabilities, and all relevant assets – in a consolidated, dynamic overview. Through simulations and scenario analyses, the effects of investments, market fluctuations, or operational decisions are immediately synchronised and made visible. This enables companies not only to react but also to manage their operations proactively.

The Financial Digital Twin acts as an advanced warning system. It identifies liquidity bottlenecks, assesses financing options, and supports strategic capital allocation in real time. In doing so, it links operational logistics data with financial control parameters and creates a basis for decision-making that enables both speed and precision in the management of complex delivery networks.

However, the Financial Digital Twin is not a separate digital twin; rather, it should be understood as the “financial brain” of a comprehensive digital twin.

Open source is the key to interoperability and scalability.

All this potential can only be realised if data flows across systems. Open source acts as a catalyst here – it enables scalability, trust, and joint innovation in an ecosystem that can only function as a network. Open standards, APIs, and shared frameworks create interoperability in value creation networks consisting of many players.

Open source promotes collaboration instead of isolated solutions, reduces dependencies, and increases the speed of innovation. Companies benefit from real-time insights into payment flows, supplier risks, and liquidity requirements – across system and company boundaries. Open source modules for transport, order, and document management, such as those provided by the Open Logistics Foundation, make it possible to link physical logistics processes with financial and risk data.

It is precisely this interaction that is crucial: when transport events, proof of delivery, or quality data are available in open formats, they can be used immediately as triggers for invoicing, payment approvals, or financing decisions. This creates a continuous flow of information that creates transparency, reduces dependencies, and forms the basis for efficient, resilient, and sustainable financial supply chains.

The post FSCM: Open Source enables Financial Digital Twins appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

Why would a global software company, whose success is built on innovation, intellectual property, and differentiation, invest time, resources, and senior attention into open source initiatives? Why would a company like Blue Yonder — serving some of the world’s most demanding supply chains — actively support the creation of open, shared industry standards?

The answer is simple, and at the same time deeply strategic:

Because our success depends on the success of our customers — and our customers can only truly outperform in an industry that works together where it matters most. One year ago, Blue Yonder joined the Open Logistics Foundation. Looking back today, it is clear: this decision was not only right. It was necessary.

Customer excellence comes first

Blue Yonder’s primary mission has always been clear: enable customers to be excellent and outperform — in service, efficiency, resilience, and sustainability.
That is how we create value.
That is how long-term partnerships are built.
And that is how sustainable growth happens—on both sides.

To achieve this, Blue Yonder invests massively in proprietary capabilities:

• Advanced optimisation algorithms
• AI-driven planning and execution
• Deep industry-specific process models
• Integrated end-to-end decision intelligence

These are areas where differentiation matters. Where competitive advantage is created. Where customers win or lose in the market. But there is another category of capabilities — just as critical — where differentiation makes no sense at all.

Where open beats closed

There are parts of logistics where the highest value is created when everyone speaks the same language.

Standards for documents.
Standards for handovers.
Standards for appointment booking.
Standards for status exchange.
Standards for reporting.

In these areas, fragmentation does not create competition. It creates waste:

• Endless bilateral integrations
• Manual workarounds
• Misunderstandings and mismatches
• High coordination effort
• Constant firefighting

We are not competing on PDFs and phone calls. But we are spending an incredible amount of time on them.
This is exactly where the Open Logistics Foundation comes in.

One year in: From idea to impact

When Blue Yonder joined the Open Logistics Foundation a year ago, the vision was clear: build a coalition of the willing to create open, practical, implementable standards for real logistics processes.
The progress since then has been remarkable.

eCMR: A Digital Foundation for Everyone

The electronic consignment note (eCMR) is a perfect example.
Instead of every company and every country developing its own interpretation and interface, the foundation has created a shared, open standard that:

• Works across systems
• Works across companies
• Works across borders

The result is not just less paper. It is less friction in the entire ecosystem.

Learn more about the OLF-eCMR solution.

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Timeslot booking: Attacking one of logistics’ biggest sources of waste

Another powerful example is the Timeslot Management project. Today, a shocking amount of operational effort is wasted on:

• Coordinating arrival and departure times
• Chasing confirmations
• Handling last-minute changes
• Resolving conflicts manually

It is slow. It is expensive. And it is completely unfit for a digital supply chain. The Open Logistics Foundation is creating a shared standard that allows enables all participants — shippers, carriers, warehouses, and platforms — to use the same language and the same logic.
And this is where it becomes truly strategic.

Learn more about the Timeslot Management project.

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Once time windows are standardised and machine-readable, Blue Yonder’s network can interactively communicate, and planning systems can start to negotiate them dynamically, says Robert Recknagel, Vice President at Blue Yonder. Imagine a fleet management or transportation planning system that can optimise routes and schedules while interacting in real time with warehouse slot availability. That’s not just automation — that’s a completely new level of system intelligence. Our customers don’t buy Blue Yonder because of our proprietary document format. They buy us because we help them run their supply chains more efficiently. Open standards make the ecosystem faster, cheaper, and more reliable — and that makes our customers more successful.

Network effects beat individual optimisation

There is another, even more important aspect. Logistics is not a single-company game. It is a network sport.
The best planning system in the world still depends on:

• Partners
• Carriers
• Terminals
• Authorities
• And many other participants

Open standards multiply the value of digitalisation:

• Each new participant increases the benefit for everyone
• Each new adoption reduces friction for all others
• Each shared interface replaces dozens of custom ones

This is how real scalability is created.

Looking forward: An invitation

After one year, the conclusion is clear: this journey has only just begun.

Blue Yonder is ready to continue investing, contributing, and leading — as one of the global players in supply chain software. And we hope many more will follow. Because in the end, this is not about open source versus proprietary. It is about something much more important: enabling customers to outperform in an industry that finally works as one.

The post Competing on excellence, collaborating on standards: Why Blue Yonder invests in open source for logistics appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

The foundation: Independent custodian of shared open source assets

In principle, a foundation is nothing more than a state-recognised, ownerless entity with rights and obligations that has its own assets at its disposal. It can therefore be the owner of tangible and intangible economic assets, including newly developed software. It may carry out the related legal transactions within the scope of its respective statutory purpose. The purpose of the Open Logistics Foundation, against the backdrop of the legal framework for non-profit organisations, is to promote science and research in Germany and abroad, particularly in the field of logistics and the science and economy that serve the field of logistics. This purpose is achieved, in particular, through the Open Logistics Repository, which is an open and neutral platform for the joint development, use and public provision of open source software.
The foundation is organised as a corporation, similar to a public limited company. It has a board of directors, a board of trustees and, optionally, a supplementary management board.

Financing remains a key challenge for foundations. As a first step, the foundation is therefore endowed with initial capital by its founder(s) upon its establishment, which can be supplemented by additional donations. Naturally, this will not last forever; at some point, the foundation must stand on its own two feet financially, otherwise it could slide into financial difficulties and insolvency, as a public limited company or a limited liability company might. Since self-financing through the sale of open source software is naturally out of the question, and altruistic contributions in the form of donations and endowments from market participants are likely to be rather limited, a supplementary structure has been created that allows for a certain degree of participation as well as long-term financing of the foundation.

The support association: Platform for participation and funding

The support association (Open Logistics Foundation e. V.) is the second element of the dual structure, namely an association under civil law in which the project sponsors become members with certain rights and obligations and can exercise a certain degree of indirect participation. The association’s purpose is based on the foundation’s purpose. Like any other association, the association itself has a general meeting and a board of directors that is responsible for its business. In this case, both the foundation and association are structured as non-profit organisations, but this is not mandatory.

The organisational framework: cooperation between the foundation and the association

A key connecting element between the foundation on the one hand and the association on the other is a long-term cooperation agreement. This agreement sets out, in detail, the mutual obligations of cooperation and support, financing issues, and other aspects, such as voting recommendations for the appointment of committee members. Within this framework, an open exchange of ideas between all members of the association and between the association and the foundation is possible – even in a committee environment that can be designed to be quite flexible. The organisational framework is also flexible if set up correctly. For example, the cooperation can be extended to other institutions, and existing cooperation agreements can be adapted to the future needs of those involved.

The dual structure is therefore particularly well-suited to promoting open decision-making processes and community-driven idea development and implementation. Overall, it can be considered exemplary when companies, organisations, and private individuals want to jointly develop solutions in a specific field and make them available to a wider public – i.e. for the common good – without individual interests having too great a negative influence on their development and use. In principle, companies and individuals from other industries or sectors can also consider adopting a similar approach, for example, in the field of artificial intelligence. The initiators of such projects should, in any case, individually examine their specific needs, their industry-specific framework conditions and, above all, the legal and tax limits of their own project.

In doing so, they must always be aware that antitrust and competition law, in particular, sets very strict limits on cooperation and the exchange of certain information between the parties involved. All competition law restrictions must be strictly observed during the preparation, implementation and operation of such a concept. Above all, information relevant to competition law and trade secrets of individual association members, other stakeholders and competitors must not be exchanged under any circumstances. All of this makes the implementation, operation and monitoring of such a concept challenging and therefore continues to involve a considerable amount of effort after its implementation.

The foundation’s independence protects it from outside influence

Since a foundation has no shareholders, it cannot be unilaterally influenced, either as a legal entity or in the projects it runs, by the particular interests of individuals, such as disruptive shareholders. It is also protected from outside influence, such as from unfriendly investors. This means that, from the founders’ perspective, the software developed by the foundation cannot fall into the ‘wrong hands’ in the normal course of business. In this respect, the foundation is structurally superior to all other possible legal forms, such as public limited companies, limited liability companies, cooperatives, limited partnerships, general partnerships, etc.

In addition, the Open Logistics Foundation’s corporate law approach avoids legal forms subject to stricter regulation and that require greater effort in terms of registers, authorities and administration. At the same time, it circumvents all legal forms that tend to entail higher liability risk for persons acting in executive bodies (e.g., due to capital maintenance regulations), thereby reducing all risks that cannot be completely avoided to a relatively low level. Finally, this legal structure allows for the desired multi-level and variable body and organisational structure, which is why it is fundamentally superior to many other legal forms, especially those with very strict articles of association (e.g., public limited companies), particularly with regard to the drafting of the articles of association.

The post The structure of the Open Logistics Foundation as best practice for collaborative innovation platforms appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

Decarbonising supply chains is one of the most powerful levers for corporate climate action, yet logistics continues to lag. The need for collaboration is clear, but so are the hurdles that make it hard to achieve.

The role of the Smart Freight Centre

These challenges are not new – they are the reason Smart Freight Centre (SFC) was founded in the first place in 2013: to make freight part of the climate solution and create a credible, industry-backed methodology for logistics emissions accounting in collaboration with the industry. In its early days, SFC focused on developing what became the GLEC Framework, which was first published in 2016 as an emission accounting and reporting guidance that works across transport modes (i.e. road, rail, maritime, and air) and operations (e.g., parcel and chemical operations). Today, the GLEC Framework is a globally recognised methodology for logistics emissions accounting and forms the foundation of the ISO 14083 standard, which, in turn, underpins the newly agreed CountEmissionsEU regulation, harmonising how greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are calculated.

It became clear over time that guidance alone was not enough, and the industry sought a neutral partner to help with mediation in difficult decision-making and choosing the trajectory and strategy for the industry to follow. SFC evolved accordingly to meet that need. It expanded geographically, launched new communities and programmes to support various operations, and built the Smart Freight Centre Academy to help industry professionals learn and apply methodologies in a real-world setting. But one gap remained open: how to turn a methodology into something that actually works across IT systems.

Enter iLEAP.

What is iLEAP and how does it work?

With its project partner, the SINE Foundation, Smart Freight Centre developed iLEAP as the digital counterpart to the GLEC Framework. SINE Foundation complements SFC’s expertise in developing methodologies with pioneering work in carbon transparency and solving data dilemmas. Together, they designed iLEAP as a structured digital protocol that can be implemented directly in company systems.

Before iLEAP, companies interpreted the GLEC Framework in their own way within their IT systems. Different naming conventions, units, hierarchies, and conversions were common, which made software integration and data exchange complex and error-prone. iLEAP addresses this by standardising how emissions data is recorded, structured, and exchanged. The result is a clear digital protocol that ensures reproducibility, and consistency and interoperability across software solutions.

The protocol aligns with ISO 14083, which was recognised by the European Commission in 2023 as the reference standard for logistics emissions. While ISO14083, as a normative document, provides a static reference for regulators, the GLEC Framework is more practical, continuously updated, and easier to digest for analysts and logistics professionals. Even with a standardised methodology, though, there is no universal approach for exchanging emissions data digitally. iLEAP fills that gap, facilitating both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) data exchange.

Its vision is to become the standardised way for companies to share emissions data with each other, their partners, and authorities. By offering a neutral, open source solution, iLEAP bridges the gap between methodological standards and practical IT implementation, supporting the wider adoption of consistent and reliable emissions reporting

Visit the protocol page and read the whitepaper to learn more about iLEAP.

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Technical specifications

iLEAP’s technical specifications define the emissions nomenclature that should be translated into software. By clearly describing data structures and exchange rules, the protocol reduces ambiguity for software providers and accelerates adoption across platforms. This helps close the gap between methodology documents and what systems actually measure and exchange.

Open source development

A central principle of iLEAP is its development as open source. Just as the GLEC Framework is a public good, freely accessible to all, iLEAP was designed to be open to ensure that no barriers impede adoption. Developing the protocol as open source allows companies of all sizes to participate in developing it and then adapting it, creating a peer-to-peer ecosystem for logistics emissions accounting.

The Open Logistics Foundation’s (OLF) Working Group Enabling Logistics Decarbonisation uses this open source approach in its Emissions Data Exchange project. Its ongoing pilot projects provide real-world feedback to SFC and SINE Foundation, directly influencing the evolution of iLEAP.

iLEAP’s added value in emissions reporting

iLEAP improves transparency, efficiency, and compliance in logistics emissions reporting. Through it, emissions values become traceable across the supply chain, even when a shipment passes through multiple companies. This directly supports compliant reporting under regulatory frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In addition, iLEAP also enhances companies’ operational efficiency and in-company decision-making. Carbon metrics are closely linked to operational data like fuel use and routing. By optimising these systems, companies can turn emissions reporting into a management tool, rather than a regulatory burden.

Integration of iLEAP generally involves identifying relevant data sources, bringing them into the iLEAP protocol, and validating outputs against the GLEC methodology. Here’s an example of a practical use case:

1. A transport service provider shares verified shipment-level emission data with a shipper, i.e. a manufacturing company.
2. The manufacturer automatically collects and consolidates emissions data across logistics partners that use iLEAP.
3. The manufacturing company reports supplier-provided figures to customers or authorities.

Early feedback from pilots since the launch of iLEAP V1 on 17 June 2025 shows real benefits. Developers report fewer misunderstandings around units, variable names, technical structures, and data hierarchies. Implementations are easier to debug and validate, and the practical application of GLEC and ISO 14083 becomes clearer.

The open source nature of the protocol also encourages innovation. Developers can build new tools, services, or business models on top of the shared, trusted foundation. Plus, the introduction of diverse stakeholders to the feedback process ensures that emissions data remains comparable and reliable across the transport chain.

Collaboration: Enhancing iLEAP’s development

iLEAP’s evolution is driven by collaboration thanks to its open source design. While SFC and the SINE Foundation defined the initial standard, its maturation now depends on the iLEAP Community.

Through regular meetings and workshops, companies – including members of the OLF’s Working Group ELD – contribute insights ranging from methodological interpretation to hands-on software implementation. This continuous feedback loop allows iLEAP to evolve without losing coherence.

OLF plays a key role here by providing a neutral collaboration space where members can test the protocol and ensure its relevance across the industry. Freight forwarders, logistics service providers, and technology providers jointly improve the standard by piloting the protocol and sharing their feedback along the way.

Learn more about the Working Group Enabling Logistics Decarbonisation (ELD).

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ILEAP has found that participants in early pilots are willing to engage deeply in its development. They are privy to a continuous feedback loop where companies can share experiences and even report on the software engineering “nitty-gritty” details. Challenges such as data quality and vehicle identification across IT systems have surfaced so far, and iLEAP is reliant on early implementers to understand where changes are needed and how the industry envisions the solution.

This iterative process, which brings multiple actors and interpretations into the open for a collaborative solution, is what makes a shared standard possible. Combined with OLF’s facilitation and SINE’s technical expertise, iLEAP demonstrates how open collaboration can accelerate reliable emissions reporting standards for logistics.

Looking ahead

The iLEAP project’s priority is industry acceptance. That means close collaboration with logistics companies and software providers to ensure iLEAP fits real operational needs. At the same time, SFC, SINE Foundation and partners maintain dialogue with public authorities interested in decarbonising logistics, as public policy and corporate action are so often intertwined.

Next steps also include growing the iLEAP community, refining the protocol based on pilot feedback, and ensuring it remains fit for purpose across transport modes and operational contexts. Companies that engage early can help shape the standard while also preparing for future regulatory requirements and saving resources. In this way, they can position themselves at the forefront of decarbonisation and standardisation.

Learn more about Smart Freight Week 2026.

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Regardless of a company’s current state in emissions reporting or digitalisation, providing feedback and participating in the community ensures that iLEAP evolves in ways that benefit all participants. Engaging now allows stakeholders to help shape a protocol that sits at the intersection of methodology, technology, and data exchange – and ensure it works effectively for everyone involved in day-to-day practice.

The post iLEAP: A protocol for logistics emissions appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

Supply chains are inseparably tied to the digital systems that support them. In Europe, this often means reliance on siloed, proprietary platforms controlled abroad, leading to high costs, limited interoperability, and reduced control over operational data and decision-making.   

This dependency poses a strategic risk: over 80% of Europe’s digital technologies and infrastructures are imported, primarily from the U.S. and China; 85% of AI models originate in the U.S. and China since 2017; and only 7% of global R&D spending in software and internet technologies comes from European firms (The Draghi report on EU competitiveness, 2024; EuroStack, 2025). Without change, Europe risks losing technological sovereignty and the digital resilience its logistics sector urgently needs. 

A future-proof supply chain requires both physical and digital transformation – trucks and warehouses, but also secure, interoperable, and adaptable IT infrastructures. 

The rising stakes of digital vulnerabilities 

Central to supply chain resilience is digital resilience: the ability of IT systems to function under stress, recover from disruptions, and maintain control over data. Logistics operations depend on cloud computing, IoT tracking, navigation, and coordination platforms. But centralisation and vendor lock-in magnify risk: a single cyberattack or technical failure can disrupt entire supply chains. 

Even though there are no separate statistics or studies on the use of the aforementioned technologies by logistics companies or companies along the logistics value chain, these are available for the industry as a whole, e.g.. for the area of cloud services. In Bitkom’s “Cloud Report 2025”, 78% of the 604 German companies surveyed consider Germany too dependent on U.S. cloud providers, and an 82% majority hope for a competitive European alternative.  

Plus, Europe’s innovation gap, caused by fragmented R&D, underinvestment, and talent moving abroad, has already cost it 30% of its tech unicorns between 2008 and 2021, mostly to the U.S. (The Draghi report on EU competitiveness, 2024). The gap continues to grow, increasing vulnerability not just to outages and cyberattacks but also to political pressure and trade restrictions – risks that many organisations lack the ability to manage. 

Physical disruption to digital dependency 

COVID-19 and geopolitical events like the war in Ukraine show how physical disruptions can quickly affect global supply chains. Meanwhile, digitalisation is accelerating: 

• AI-driven demand forecasting helps predict shortages  

• IoT-enabled inventory management ensures real-time visibility 

• Autonomous vehicles and warehouse automation improve capacity and efficiency  

As a result, physical and digital strategies are increasingly interdependent. Near-shoring and micro-fulfilment centres reduce transit risks, while digital platforms orchestrate supply chain operations at scale. But uneven digital maturity and proprietary IT landscapes create opaque, fragmented systems that are hard to secure. 

Herein lies a core dilemma: European logistics increasingly depends on hyperscalers such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft to run the very platforms that enable digital operations. Even if the industry would build European or open solutions, these platforms often still operate on non-European infrastructures. Complete self-sufficiency is unrealistic, at least in the short- and medium-term. But digital sovereignty is not about isolation. It’s about controlled dependence – the ability to decide how and where technologies are used, who has access to the data, and which dependencies are acceptable.  

The question, then, is not how to disconnect from global technologies, but how to establish “control layers” –  technical and organisational mechanisms that allow users to “take the wheel” and control technologies independently and on site (BSI, 2025).  

This is why digital resilience – and with it, digital sovereignty – has become a strategic imperative for Europe’s logistics sector. And this same vision of controlled dependence aligns with the direction of European policy. Resilience is now recognised as an essential part of economic security and, in turn, of strategic autonomy (CERRE, 2024).  So, how do we accomplish it? 

Open source as a strategic enabler in logistics 

Open source software offers a solution that does not require operating outside of global technology ecosystems. It enables companies to build and maintain digital systems on their own terms (using control layers) within these ecosystems. As a result, unlike proprietary solutions, it provides transparency, adaptability, and community-driven development. Organisations can inspect and improve code freely to fit their needs, reducing vendor lock-in and supplier failure.  

A 2025 Bitkom report confirms this potential: 

• 61% of companies view open source positively 

• Key advantages include cost savings (26%), access to source code (19%), and strengthening digital sovereignty (8%) 

• Yet only 37% of companies have a formal open source strategy, showing significant room for growth 

This gap between recognition and strategy highlights a key challenge: open source is valued but not systematically governed. Companies often benefit from open source indirectly, using it as part of vendor solutions rather than shaping it themselves. Building true digital resilience, however, requires turning this passive use into active participation. 

That’s why the next question is not whether open source can provide resilience (it clearly can) but how European industries can scale it sustainably. What governance and investment models are needed to make open collaboration strategically relevant?  

It’s at this point that open source becomes an institutional question. Beyond its technical benefits, open source carries legal, economic, and political implications. It strengthens trust, enhances cybersecurity responsiveness, and enables companies to maintain control layers independent of specific vendors or jurisdictions, turning digital sovereignty from political ambition into operational reality. 

Alongside open source then comes open standards, which ensure interoperability across borders, industries, and legacy systems. True digital resilience requires standards that are: 

• Developed collaboratively, not controlled by single vendors 

• Transparent, well-documented, and publicly accessible 

• Royalty-free, platform-independent, and compatible with both open source and proprietary solutions  

For more details on how the Open Logistics Foundation defines open standards, read our Open Logistics Report.

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Real-world example: OLF-eCMR 

The Open Logistics Foundation (OLF) sees open source as a collaborative movement, and our eCMR project is a prime example. 

Traditionally, the consignment note (CMR) was paper-based, error-prone, and costly to handle. Instead of creating proprietary digital solutions, more than 25 logistics providers, IT companies, and research institutes across Europe jointly developed a freely available, open source standard. This collaboration overcame regional and organisational differences to ensure compatibility across borders and systems. 

The OLF-eCMR software enables paperless, legally compliant, and standardised freight documentation. Features such as advanced electronic seals and system interoperability deliver faster processing times, lower costs, and improved transparency across the entire transport chain. Publishing it as open source allows any company to use and adopt the software, acting as a practical control layer, giving companies ownership while still integrating with global infrastructure. With every new participant, the eCMR grows into a de facto standard for the logistics sector, strengthening Europe’s digital autonomy. 

Learn more about the OLF-eCMR on our website, where you can download legal and technical information and watch a software tour through the Open Logistics Repository.

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Practical steps forward for logistics & open source communities 

We see five priorities for logistics organisations and the wider ecosystem seeking to strengthen digital resilience and sovereignty: 

1. Invest in open source solutions 
   Prioritise software and platforms that provide full transparency, modularity, and active community maintenance. Projects like eCMR show this is feasible and beneficial. 

2. Adopt standards in conjunction with open source 
   Ensure that systems can interoperate across providers, countries, and existing legacy IT systems. 

3. Develop in-house expertise & governance 
   Establish Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs), bring in or train people who understand risk, licensing, security, and maintenance. Use governance models that combine technical, legal, and operational oversight. 

4. Collaborate across borders & sectors 
   Working groups composed of logistics service providers, shippers, technology providers, and research institutes – as OLF has with over 50 partners – create shared infrastructure and reduce duplication of effort and risk. 

5. Integrate physical and digital resilience strategies 
   Supply chain resilience comes from both hard infrastructure (warehouses, transport routes, near-shoring, etc.) and soft infrastructure (algorithms, platforms, data, networks). Neither can succeed alone. 

Conclusion 

The logistics industry’s physical operations sustain economies, services, and infrastructure. Yet these operations cannot be resilient without digital resilience. Companies will continue to rely on global infrastructure, but must control how it is used, governed, and integrated.  

The question we leave for all logistics stakeholders is this: How can companies  balance interdependence with independence – and how can participation in open source projects help bridge the two? 

Open source, open standards, and cross-European collaboration provide the foundation for a secure and adaptive supply chain. They build the control layers needed for digital sovereignty: not fully self-sufficient but independently controlled within a globally connected system. 

The Open Logistics Foundation unites diverse perspectives and expertise to deliver solutions like OLF-eCMR. By investing in digital resilience, logistics organisations can ensure adaptability, trust, stability, and sustainability in an uncertain future. 

The post Building resilient supply chains: Why digital resilience is critical for logistics  appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

But the biggest opportunity? Companies that already prepare can gain a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing market.

With the law already in place and applicable from September 2025, now is the time to act. This blog explains what the EU Data Act is, how it impacts logistics, and how open source and standardisation can help support compliance and innovation.

What is the EU Data Act?

The EU Data Act regulates who can access and use data from connected products and related services. Its goal is to remove barriers to data sharing and to ensure fair access for users and service providers.

The regulation is part of the European Strategy for Data, a larger legislative framework established in 2015 that also includes the Data Governance Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This framework supports the development of a single European data market and data-driven innovation.

The Data Act covers a wide range of ‘connected products’, or any device that collects and transmits data. In a consumer setting, this might be a coffee machine or a washing machine. In logistics, IoT-enabled equipment in trucks, smart containers, automated warehouse equipment, or route optimisation software. These devices generate valuable data that, with the new law, can no longer remain siloed under exclusive manufacturer control.

The logic is simple: when you generate data by using a product, you should have the right to benefit from it. Until now, manufacturers and platform providers have held exclusive control, and data from leased or shared assets was often locked away. The Data Act changes this, granting Users the right to access their data and to authorise its use by Third Parties – creating a more transparent and efficient system and putting a legal value on specific kinds of data.

Click here to read part 1 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

Who does the regulation affect?

The Data Act defines three main roles in the data economy:

• Data Holders: Entities that manufacture or operate connected products and control access to the data (e.g., truck manufacturers or fleet platform providers).
• Users: Individuals or organisations that use the connected products and are granted the right to access and share the data they generate (e.g., freight forwarders, carriers, and warehouse operators).
• Third Parties: External service providers authorised to access data by the User (e.g., maintenance companies, marine or transport insurance providers, and visibility platforms such as track and trace software providers).

In practice under the Data Act, Data Holders must provide Users with real-time, secure, and direct access to product-generated data and enable the transfer of that data to Third Parties.

Data Holders themselves are not permitted to use or share this data with Third Parties without the User’s explicit consent. This means that even long-standing data flows between manufacturers, platform providers, and service providers may be disrupted unless clear permissions are granted.

This is a critical shift for software and platform providers. If consent is not given by the User, access to data may be lost, even for services that rely on it. They must participate in the data-sharing conversation between Users and Data Holders to secure long-term access and maintain service continuity.

Click here to read part 3 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

What rights does the regulation introduce?

The Data Act gives Users of connected products the right to access and share connected-product-generated data. The Data Holder must provide this data in a commonly used, machine-readable format, free of charge. If a User wishes to share this data with a Third Party, the Data Holder must enable that transfer directly.

Key rights include:

• User access to IoT data: Users of connected logistics devices gain the right to access, use, and share operational data. Users also decide on how Data Holders use this data (Art. 4 (13)).
• Mandatory B2B data sharing: Data Holders must provide access to data for free for the User and under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms for Third Parties (Arts. 3(1), 4(1)).
• Data portability: Non-personal data (e.g., cargo conditions, maintenance logs) must be transferable across service providers, without vendor lock-in. Personal data protections (e.g., driving patterns) remain in place during sharing.

Click here to read part 5 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

How does the EU Data Act impact logistics?

While the EU Data Act applies across industries, its effects on logistics are particularly far-reaching. According to a study by the European Commission, only 20 per cent of industrial data is currently used (European Commission, 2022). The Act aims to unlock the remaining 80 per cent by introducing mandatory data access and clearly defined rights for Users and Third Parties.

Read Dr. David Saive’s interview on the EU Data Act, featured in the 5th edition of Open Logistics Magazine.

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Some key impacts include:

• Mandatory access: Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and logistics platforms must provide secure, real-time, high-quality data in a structured format, free of charge.
• Open APIs: Open, standardised interfaces will become essential for secure, compliant data sharing.
• New responsibilities for operators: Leasing or renting a connected device may make companies Data Holders, even if they didn’t build the product themselves.
• Third Parties become part of the strategic equation: Their access depends on clear authorisation by Users.

Ultimately, the Data Act offers a clear message: logistics companies can no longer afford to treat data access as a side issue. It’s now a core operational and legal matter that touches every actor in the chain, and the question of data ownership becomes unavoidable.

These changes call for a twofold strategic response:

1. Defensive, by ensuring legal compliance and protection of business models, trade secrets, and sensitive operational data from misuse or exposure.
2. Offensive, by using newly accessible data to optimise processes, collaborate, and develop new value-added services.

Click here to read part 2 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

It is important to note that non-compliant companies could face additional legal and financial risks, as penalties can reach up to €20 million or 4% of global turnover (whichever is higher).

How does it regulate connected logistics products?

At its core, the regulation ensures that Users can access connected-product-generated data from the entity that holds it. Free of charge and in real time.

Articles 3(1) and 4(1) of the regulation establish the legal foundation for Users to access data for operational improvements (e.g., fleet management, maintenance schedule optimisation, supply chain visibility). They can also authorise access for Third Parties under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) conditions.

This empowers users to extract more value from connected assets. Clear rules for access and consent are crucial to balance compliance, security, and privacy. For logistics, it’s a pivotal step toward smarter, more connected supply chains.

Click here to read part 4 of our LinkedIn EU Data Act series.

What does the regulation mean for international logistics?

The EU Data Act applies to any company that processes data from connected products used in the European Union, regardless of where the company is based. This extended territorial scope has important consequences for global logistics providers, especially those managing assets across borders or operating within complex, multimodal supply chains.

Non-EU companies that handle data generated within the EU must now comply with the same standards as EU-based organisations, similar to how the GDPR introduced universal requirements for personal data. This includes adapting technical infrastructure, legal agreements, and data governance processes to comply with new standards of interoperability and transparency.

Click here to read part 6 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

How can logistics companies prepare for the EU Data Act?

To stay ahead of the regulatory curve, logistics organisations should start preparing for the EU Data Act now. I recommend a five-step structured compliance strategy to help companies both mitigate risks and seize new opportunities.

1. Identify affected devices, data flows, and legal obligations: Start by mapping data from connected logistics assets. Determine which devices fall within the scope of the regulation and understand the associated data-sharing requirements.
2. Define clear internal policies for data access and sharing: Define and implement clear internal governance policies for who can (and cannot!) access which data, for what purposes, and under what conditions. Role-based access control is essential to ensure that only authorised individuals or Third Parties can use specific data.
3. Implement cybersecurity measures: Companies must adopt cybersecurity best practices, such as encryption, to protect sensitive operational and business data. A practical starting point: assess what data is processed by each connected system and how it is secured.
4. Review and revise contracts with data partners: Update existing agreements that cover data ownership, usage rights, and sharing arrangements to meet the Act’s new requirements. This includes clarifying who owns the data, who may use it, and how data-sharing responsibilities are distributed across all parties in the supply chain.
5. Explore open source solutions: Use standardised, open source solutions that promote data exchange to simplify compliance and promote innovation.

Click here to read part 7 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

Why open source matters

“If companies work together to create a trusted ecosystem, it will help everyone navigate the new regulatory landscape and unlock the full potential of data-driven logistics,” says Andreas Nettsträter, CEO of the Open Logistics Foundation.

The Open Logistics Foundation plays a central role in helping the industry respond to the Data Act. As a neutral, non-profit platform for open source collaboration, the Foundation bridges regulatory demands with practical, standardised solutions for compliant data exchange.

The Foundation develops and provides open source components that enable:

• Compliance with the EU Data Act
• Cross-industry collaboration, breaking down silos and reducing complexity
• Seamless integration across supply chains through our solutions’ own alignment with EU interoperability standards (such as those under the eFTI Regulation)
• Innovation, sustainability, and cost-efficiency in a community that meets regulatory challenges head-on

Organisations that join the Open Logistic Foundation’s community and contribute to open source projects gain access to a group of experts and a growing portfolio of technical solutions that make compliance both achievable and scalable.

Click here to read part 8 of our EU Data Act series on LinkedIn.

In conclusion

By giving users control over the data from connected products, the EU Data Act enables new efficiencies, improved transparency, and fairer access across the supply chain. But the law also introduces new obligations around security, interoperability, and legal compliance that no company can afford to ignore.

Companies that act now by developing strategies, reviewing contracts, and adopting open source standards can position themselves as leaders in the data economy. With the support of initiatives like the Open Logistics Foundation, the logistics industry has an opportunity to shape a more transparent, efficient, and collaborative future that is more aligned with adjacent sectors, such as marine or transport insurance.

It makes more sense to enter into these discussions jointly, across the whole industry, and not just in one-to-one situations. Because the EU Data Act applies to everyone, and everyone is dealing with the same legislative environment, why don’t we talk together and make up our minds around the question, ‘how do we share data in the future?’

The post What the EU Data Act means for logistics, data sharing, and open source innovation appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

The eIDAS Regulation – short for “electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services” – is a regulation of the European Union that governs the legal framework for digital identities, electronic signatures, seals, and trust services across all of Europe. Article 36 of Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 sets out the requirements for an advanced electronic seal. For example, it must be uniquely linked to the creator of the seal and enable the identification of the seal’s creator.

What distinguishes the eCMR solution?

The advanced electronic seal is linked to a company’s identity using established and internationally recognised standards, such as ETSI TS 119 182-1, while the seal components are based on the identities of the employees. ecsec applied a “blueprint” it developed itself, which has already proven effective in many cases with public authorities, organisations, and industry; and adapted it – in close coordination with the Open Logistics Foundation and those responsible for the eCMR project – to the specific professional requirements of the logistics sector. Advanced electronic seals ensure the integrity of the eCMR by cryptographically linking the seal to the eCMR data to be sealed. Any subsequent and unauthorised change to the eCMR is immediately detected. This also meets the requirements of Article 36 of the eIDAS Regulation. As a result, the eCMR is significantly more secure than paper-based CMRs. If required, the advanced electronic seal can even be traced back to the individual person who triggered it.

How future-proof is the solution?

The eCMR is a very important initial use case for the server-based European Business Wallet (EUBW), which is already available today as a complement to the smartphone-based European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW). After all, what better way to match the European Union’s aim of promoting cross-border cooperation within the European Single Market than the eCMR, which helps build interoperability between digital economies in a trustworthy manner?

This interview was published in the fifth edition of the Open Logistics Magazine. You can read the full magazine and register for future editions here.

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Committed to a shared vision

The Open Logistics Foundation represents a new kind of civic-mindedness that has emerged from the unique challenges faced by companies, as well as their role in the economy and society. Securing supplies and meeting climate targets are immense tasks that the logistics industry has recognised for many years, and which every company is striving to fulfil — although individually. However, the robustness of supply chains and the sustainability of products and processes do not stop at company boundaries. They are a shared responsibility. This is the idea and strength of the Foundation: companies focus on commonalities and look to the future, rather than emphasising differences and allowing them to divide them. All members are committed to a vision that transcends their own company and strengthens logistics as a whole. Solutions are developed through dialogue, with companies contributing their individual perspectives with the aim of reaching an agreement.

Open source as a model for collaboration

The Open Logistics Foundation’s success is, of course, inconceivable without its most important tool: The open source development model, which serves as a guiding principle for open collaboration. The general understanding of open source development has undergone considerable change over the past two decades. While a volunteer culture of self-managed groups still prevailed at the beginning of the 2000s, the trend is now towards ‘a more industry-driven form of continuous research and development cooperation’, according to the 2020 report Open Source as an Innovation Driver for Industry 4.0 by the Research Advisory Board of Plattform Industrie 4.0 and acatech, the National Academy of Science and Engineering.

The open source model is also gaining ground because many software developments today are in the area of so-called commodities. These are non-market-differentiating, interchangeable basic functions — processes or services — and are therefore the opposite of unique selling propositions (USPs). In logistics, commodities often enable companies to manage internal processes more efficiently, for example by digitising transport information. They also fulfil customers’ expectations, such as the ability to track shipments in real-time, and help companies fulfil legal requirements, such as those relating to sustainability reporting.

If there is still a need for material incentives to encourage collaborative development, public spirit, and a focus on the common good, this should be acknowledged. In their working paper, The Value of Open Source Software, published in early 2024, economists Manuel Hoffmann, Frank Nagle, and Yanuo Zhou from Harvard Business School calculated that, without open source, companies would have to spend 3.5 times more on software than they currently do.

The post Taking on responsibility together: How logistics is rethinking digitalisation appeared first on Open Logistics Foundation.

Public property as an economic concept

The open source concept is one of the most successful modern examples of the medieval economic form of the “commons”, an alternative to private property: at that time, farmers cultivated meadows and forests that belonged to them collectively. At the end of the 1960s, the US evolutionary biologist Garrett Hardin linked the idea of the commons against the backdrop of overpopulation with the demand to consider and tackle problems not only as individuals but also as a community. The “tragedy of the commons”, or the reason for the failure of the concept, is that individuals always try to capitalise on their own advantages.

However, when the political scientist Elinor Ostrom, who researched the commons in the 1970s, turned her attention to the question of the conditions under which commons can be organised, it became clear that the concept can indeed work. Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2009 for her research into user organisations’ successful management of common property.

For companies that use open source software, it makes economic sense to contribute to creating and maintaining open source software.

The study “The Value of Open Source” by Harvard Business School, published in early 2024, is a decisive step towards determining the value of the digital commons, where the medieval commons once failed. In economics, the value (v) created by a good or service is traditionally measured by multiplying the price (p) by the quantity sold (q). In the case of open source software, however, not only is the price usually zero, but the quantity sold is also unknown, as the source code is publicly accessible, and its use does not have to be disclosed. In the past, there have been several studies in which researchers have approximated values for price and quantity. For example, labour costs that would have been required to rewrite existing open source software were assumed for the price. This is a very good way of estimating what it would cost to replace all existing open source software if it were to disappear tomorrow. However, the problem of quantity could not be solved.

Other research has focused on web servers that are publicly available on the Internet and, therefore, easily measurable. Using data from the United States, the resulting estimates showed a value of 2 billion dollars for the OSS Apache web server in 2012 and a combined value of 4.5 billion dollars for Apache and the increasingly popular OSS web server nginx in 2018. However, although web servers are an important part of the open source software ecosystem, they only make up a small part of it.

Value measurement in width and depth

The approach developed at Harvard Business School in recent years now looks at the value of open source software in both width and depth:

• The study follows the literature mentioned above and uses the labour replacement value to estimate the price (p).
• For the quantity (q), the researchers use two data sources, which together form the most complete measurement of the use of open source software to date: the ‘Census II of Free and Open Source Software – Application Libraries’ and the BuiltWith dataset. The two datasets complement each other: the first focuses on open source software integrated into the software sold by a company, and the second on open source software integrated into a company’s website.

This means that the approach takes into account not only the price of creating open source software—the supply side—but also, to an unprecedented extent, the usage or demand side. In addition, the value of the open source software used in companies is explicitly quantified.

The study also shows that users’ active participation in maintaining the open source software they use is crucial for the success and growth of the ecosystem. Companies should realise that contributions to the design of open source software only account for a fraction of the costs they would incur if open source software did not exist.

The proportion of open source software compared to proprietary software in the codes of all codebases worldwide is 77 per cent. 96 per cent of all codebases worldwide – and therefore practically all of them – contain at least one open source component. The average number of open source components in an application is 526.

Source: 2024 OSSRA Report, Synopsys

The value of OSS on the supply side is 4.15 billion dollars, i.e. this is the amount companies would have to spend on the theoretical new development of the most commonly used open source software products today. The value of open source on the demand side is 8.8 trillion dollars, i.e. this is the amount that companies using open source software would have to spend if they had to buy or develop the systems themselves. The figure is around 8 billion dollars for the logistics sector (transport and storage). Of the 20 sectors analysed, logistics is in 15th place: the potential for using open source software is, therefore, still high.

Source: „The Value of Open Source Software”, Hoffmann, Nagle, Zhou, 2024

Without open source, companies would have to spend 3.5 times more on software than they currently do. 84 per cent of the additional costs would be incurred for the six most important programming languages alone, i.e. C, Java, JavaScript, Python, Typescript and Go.

Source: „The Value of Open Source Software”, Hoffmann, Nagle, Zhou, 2024

The increase in code contributions to open source projects via the GitHub portal in a country by 1 per cent leads to 0.2 to 0.4 per cent more start-ups of IT companies in general and 0.03 to 0.1 per cent more new open source companies. Above all, start-up activity increased in countries with higher per capita incomes and better-educated populations. The new companies generate services in the double-digit billions every year.

Source: „Open source software and global entrepreneurship”, Wright, Nagle, Greenstein, 2021

This article was published in the fourth edition of the Open Logistics Magazine. You can read the full magazine and register for future editions here.

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Miriam Seyffarth: The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) introduces EU-wide cybersecurity requirements for the design, development, production and deployment of hardware and software products on the market. The regulation aims to reduce the vulnerability of digital products and to ensure protection against unauthorised access – throughout the entire life cycle of a product. Specifically, this means, for example, that when purchasing a smartphone or a washing machine with a WI-FI connection, consumers must receive information on how long the manufacturer will provide security updates for the product. The minimum period here is five years. Products that comply with the CRA receive the already-established CE marking.

The CRA applies to products with digital components, such as smartphones or washing machines, and it also covers software as an independent product. What requirements does the regulation place on software?

The CRA focuses on the principle “security by design”, i.e., integrating security aspects into all phases of software development. This approach increases the resilience of hardware and software against attacks. Companies must also carry out comprehensive risk analyses and establish processes to identify and assess the cyber security risks of their products. Additionally, they have to take measures to address problems should they occur and publish information about the cyber security of their products commercially.

Which companies are affected by this?

All companies that launch and sell digital products in the course of commercial activity, i.e. hardware and software, on the market – regardless of whether they have developed 100 per cent of the digital components or whether they buy or integrate third-party components. Companies, therefore, have to consider not only their final product or finished software but also the entire supply chain. This is because software vendors bear responsibility for all components that they embed in their software as soon as they launch or sell the product.

In its final version, which has already passed the EU Parliament, the CRA also takes into account the special nature of the open source ecosystem. The Open Source Business Alliance has strongly advocated for this. Why were you in favour of distinguishing between proprietary and open source software?

The development and distribution models of open source software differ considerably, in some cases, from the development and distribution models of proprietary software due to the open and cooperative approach and the freedoms granted by open source software licences. In particular, it is not so easy to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial players in the open source sector. A more differentiated categorisation is required here. We have therefore explicitly welcomed the European Commission’s decision to recognise the complex web of the open source ecosystem by distinguishing between producers of open source software – the manufacturers – and the developers and administrators of basic open source software components – the stewards.

What does this mean for the Open Logistics Foundation and its member companies?

Organisations such as the Open Logistics Foundation will fall into the category of stewards. The requirements for stewards are less strict, and the member companies are not responsible for the software development in the Foundation’s projects, as this is the responsibility of the Foundation as long as it only concerns standards and basic components. However, as the member companies themselves want to use and distribute the software they have developed in a business environment, they then bear the full responsibility for the commercial product they sell as a manufacturer; therefore, they will be keen to develop the software to be CRA-compliant from the outset. The entire logistics sector – i.e. all companies that subsequently use the software – will eventually benefit from the collaboration under the umbrella of the Foundation.

When the General Data Protection Regulation came into force in May 2018, many companies struggled with the changes, often making them at the last minute. What can they do better with the CRA?

Let’s be better prepared this time! Companies should find out now what they need to do and how they can fulfil the requirements of the CRA. This could include looking into existing security processes within the company and the business partners in the supply chain, as well as a detailed list of all the components of their software solutions, the so-called Software Bills of Material. Admittedly, the text of the regulation is long, unwieldy and abstract. However, the EU is currently developing concrete standards and a clear catalogue of criteria and is also planning to publish a guide for small and medium-sized enterprises in particular.

About the CRA

The European Parliament adopted the regulation in March 2024. The Council of the European Union must also approve the CRA before it enters into force. Companies must then apply the regulation 36 months after it comes into force, which is expected to be the case in 2027.

This interview was published in the fourth edition of the Open Logistics Magazine. You can read the full magazine and register for future editions here.

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