Thomas L. Rödding: CEO & EU DPP Co-Chair

Insights

International Standardization in Practice

How International Standards Are Developed

Representatives from industry, research, and standards development come together at the ISO/IEC JTC 5 meeting to develop a common framework for interoperable product data.

"The regulatory burden point is always misunderstood. Number one is, it’s reducing the effort, it’s reducing the burden by streamlining the same infrastructure for multiple authorities and multiple purposes. But compliance is just the floor. The actual value adding feature addresses markets by the opportunity to hand over voluntary information in one standard system. "

Thomas L. Rödding

Regulation & Standardization

Active co-design of European DPP standards in DIN, DKE and CEN/CENELEC JTC 24.

Technological infrastructure

Development of scalable DPP platforms - from industrial use cases to consumer goods brands.

International perspective

Classification of the Digital Product Passport in a global context - from EU regulation to international trade.

Business & implementation

Translation of regulatory requirements into practical, economically viable solutions for companies.

"Once Thomas Rödding gets going, he’s almost impossible to stop. As the CEO of the technology services provider Narravero and Co-Chair of the European standardization committee JTC 24, Rödding is considered one of the architects of the Digital Product Passport (DPP). He is so enthusiastic about the possibilities it offers!."

Mara Javorovic, "Why the Digital Product Passport Is More Than Just a Nuisance" in TextilWirtschaft, October 15, 2026

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Connected across key committees in business and standardization:

International Coordination of AI and Digital Product Passport Standardization: Liaison Officer between the international standardization body for the Digital Product Passport and the international standardization body for Artificial Intelligence.

European Standardization of the Digital Product Passport: Co-Chair of the European committee developing the technical foundations for the Digital Product Passport.

German Standardization: Vice Chair of the German DIN/DKE committee on the Digital Product Passport.

Digital Economic Policy: Chair of the “Digital Innovation & Transformation” State Expert Commission of the North Rhine-Westphalia Economic Council.

Standards for Trade and Supply Chains: Member of the Expert Council of GS1 Germany and the Expert Council of TextilWirtschaft.

International Standardization Cooperation: Contributor to the German-Chinese Standardization Commission (DCKN) and the Global Project on Quality Infrastructure (GPQI)

Thomas Rödding on the current political context

"The launch of the EU DPP register in July 2026 marks the end of the political announcement phase. The Digital Product Passport will become operational. From that moment on, it will no longer be a question of what companies declare, but whether their products can exist within the system architecture."

Thomas L. Rödding in ESB Marketing Network, January 2026

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3 days in China

and a major step towards a global Digital Product Passport.

Over the past three days in China, I witnessed something remarkable:
the Digital Product Passport is moving closer to true global alignment.

Global trade urgently needs seamless digital communication, simplified processes for businesses and authorities, and - most importantly - reliable, machine-readable data flows across borders and organizations.

To the LinkedIn post

AI & DPP:

🔐 Market access is becoming a data problem - and Hashtag#Digital Hashtag#Product Hashtag#Passports sit right in the middle.

A pattern that's getting clearer each week: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 is 𝗻𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 are on the market. It's being 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱.

What's driving this shift: 1️⃣ 𝗗𝗣𝗣𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 "𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳" Regulators don't just want declarations - they 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 tie...

To the LinkedIn post

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗣𝗣?

The Digital Product Passport (DPP) has its origins in the EU Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR). Its goal is clear: to strengthen the circular economy and create fair competition conditions in the European single market.

Products are to become more transparent, with clear information on materials, reparability, energy efficiency, and recyclability.

But is the DPP really just a tool for transparent sustainability?
In short: no..

To the LinkedIn post