Re: Vocabulary for DPPs that are VCs

Dear Phil,
I leave it for the group chairs to also answer, but I think for various reasons the discussions have not really kicked-off as planned, despite a lot of interest. It is great that you try to get things moving!

As for the actual topic of the e-mail: I am unfortunately not an industry representative, but an academic, however, I think that the things you mention are very important and should definitely be addressed. When proposing the CG this was exactly what we had in mind to be discussed - a vocabulary/vocabularies for DPPs and other types of circular economy and sustainability data. If this is included in your WG, or part of this CG as a spin-off thing, but with overhearing and coordination between efforts, can of course be discussed.

There a number of “sketches” for DPP ontologies/vocabularies already, including some where I was involved, and we are discussing this also at the national and European level with GS1 in Sweden (Staffan Olsson primarily), and other partners. Some of the academic efforts include these [1], [2], and [3], but I am sure there are many more! Everyone else on this list - please fill in!

Also, together with IMEC/UGhent (PI from Ghent was Ben de Meester) we worked in the Onto-DESIDE (EU funded) project on the integration of VC with data according to the CEON ontology, for sharing via Solid protocols for circular economy use cases. Website with some links and papers: https://ontodeside.eu/

Best regards,
Eva

[1] https://w3id.org/dpp also described here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550924001362 and used here: https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-4002/paper3.pdf
[2] http://w3id.org/dppo also described here: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-78955-7_19
[3] https://w3id.org/CEON/ with an early version described here: https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3636/paper1.pdf


From: Phil Archer <phil.archer@gs1.org>
Date: Wednesday, 25 February 2026 at 12:30
To: public-ce-dpp@w3.org <public-ce-dpp@w3.org>
Subject: Vocabulary for DPPs that are VCs

Dear all,

This CG was formed over a year ago and has attracted more than 60 members - hello!

But, there is no record of any activity. At least, not that's visible from the group's homepage (https://www.w3.org/community/ce-dpp/). Is the group active somewhere else? I signed up on day one but have seen nothing so far.

The context for this mail is as follows. I'm a co-chair of the Verifiable Credentials WG  which is in the process of rechartering (https://w3c.github.io/vc-charter-2026/). At the last minute, we have been asked to include a new tentative deliverable of a vocabulary that will meet the (as yet unspecified needs) of the EU delegated acts for DPP that can be used in general but most specifically within Verifiable Credentials. I am aware of work in the CIRPASS 2 project, UNECE (the UN Transparency Protocol) and the Traceability vocab developed by the Credential Community Group a couple of years ago (https://w3c-ccg.github.io/traceability-vocab/). No doubt there are other similar efforts around the world.

Wearing my W3C VCWG co-chair hat, my response is "no way - we have enough to do already". But if I put n my day job hat at GS1, well, I can see good reason for doing this. So I'm completely torn.

If we were to work on some sort of core vocab for DPPs, no doubt one that can be extended to cover the needs of specific sectors, and that would have the needed hooks to work in VCs, would you, a member of this existing but apparently dormant Community Group, be willing and able to work on this?

I'm particularly keen to hear from people in industries that are preparing for upcoming DPP legislation.

Thanks

Phil



Phil Archer

Web Solutions Director

GS1 Global Office

+44 7887 767755

https://www.gs1.org<https://www.gs1.org/>



https://philarcher.org<https://philarcher.org/>

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