Response to EU’s Mandatory Digital Product Passport Growth Driven by Technology Transfer from KAIST Busan Innovation Research Center
The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a technology that digitally manages information throughout all stages of a product’s lifecycle, from production to distribution, use, and finally disposal and recycling. The EU is expanding the mandatory application of DPP for different product categories from 2026 in order to manage resource recycling and supply chain transparency.
Starting last year, Dataspira has engaged in a competitive Proof-of-Concept (PoC) process with Dolce & Gabbana and companies from various countries. Following this, Dataspira signed the final supply contract on April 9, officially commencing full-scale commercial service.
This contract marks the achievement of a local Korean company’s technology being deployed as an effective service to respond to European product-related regulations. The EU’s application of DPP will be extended from steel products in 2026 to batteries, textiles, clothing, aluminum, and furniture in 2027, and further to mattresses and electronic products in 2029.
Dataspira’s growth has been supported by technical assistance from the KAIST Auto-ID Lab Busan Innovation Research Center, jointly established by Busan City and KAIST. The company, a youth startup founded in the region in 2024, received support in digital transformation standard technology from this research center, which Busan City attracted in 2022. In July, Dataspira launched a product certified by the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and has now brought the DPP service into actual commercial use.