New transnational needs assessment provides evidence from five European countries to guide the development of practical, sector-specific and role-based DPP training for SMEs.
As European businesses prepare for the implementation of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), SMEs face a challenge that goes far beyond adopting new technology. They need the knowledge, skills, processes and organisational capacity to understand regulatory requirements, manage reliable product data and exchange information effectively across increasingly interconnected value chains.
The newly published DIGITRACE Deliverable D2.1 - Transnational DPP Needs Assessment Report examines these challenges and identifies the general, sector-specific and role-based training needs that should be addressed to strengthen DPP readiness among European SMEs.
The report brings together evidence collected across the five DIGITRACE partner countries - Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Norway - and will serve as an important foundation for the development of the project's future training programme.
From DPP requirements to practical implementation
Digital Product Passports will require companies to work with product information in new ways. Understanding the regulatory framework is only one part of this transition.
Businesses will also need to determine which requirements apply to their products, collect and maintain appropriate product and sustainability information, integrate data across digital systems and collaborate with suppliers and other actors throughout the value chain.
The DIGITRACE research shows that many SMEs are not yet fully equipped to translate these requirements into operational processes.
The quantitative findings reveal several significant competence gaps:
73.98% of respondents assessed their knowledge of ESPR requirements as absent or basic.
78.09% reported an absent or basic ability to determine the DPP implementation deadlines relevant to their sector.
64.39% indicated absent or basic competence in using ERP/PIM systems to manage DPP-related product data.
The same 64.39% reported absent or basic competence in system and data-flow integration using APIs.
71.24% indicated absent or basic competence in selecting an appropriate digital platform or DPP solution provider.
These findings demonstrate that successful DPP implementation will depend not only on the availability of digital solutions, but also on companies having the competences required to select, implement and use them effectively.
What do SMEs want to learn?
The research also identified clear priorities for future competence development.
The highest-rated training need was understanding DPP/ESPR and related EU requirements, identified by 93.15% of respondents.
This was followed by:
sector-specific DPP requirements - 80.82%
strategic planning and investment decisions - 76.71%
managing product data in ERP/PIM systems - 75.34%
sustainability, circular economy and product-impact information, including LCA and PCF - 73.97%
The results highlight an important point: DPP readiness is not purely an ICT issue.
It requires a combination of regulatory knowledge, data-management capabilities, sustainability competences, strategic decision-making and cooperation between different functions within a company and across the wider value chain.
Evidence from across five European countries
The needs assessment combines three complementary sources of evidence.
Desk research conducted across the five partner countries provided the regulatory, sectoral and training context and helped identify existing practices and gaps related to DPP implementation.
A cross-country competence self-assessment survey involving 73 respondents provided quantitative evidence about current competence levels and training priorities.
This was complemented by five focus groups, conducted using a shared qualitative framework, which explored the practical barriers faced by organisations, the conditions affecting implementation and the types of learning that businesses consider most useful.
Together, these sources provide a more detailed picture of DPP preparedness than competence figures alone.
Existing traceability does not automatically mean DPP readiness
One of the important conclusions emerging from the research concerns the relationship between existing traceability systems and future Digital Product Passports.
Companies in several of the sectors examined already have established systems for tracing products, materials or processes. However, these systems were often developed for specific purposes such as quality assurance, food safety or product recalls.
DPP implementation introduces a broader information challenge.
Companies may need to connect traceability information with lifecycle, environmental, sustainability and circularity data and make relevant information accessible throughout the value chain.
The report therefore concludes that:
Existing traceability should be treated as a foundation for DPP implementation, not as evidence that an organisation is already DPP-ready.
Interoperability is also an organisational challenge
Another recurring issue identified across the research is interoperability and data exchange between organisations.
The challenge is not simply to collect information inside one company. Reliable product information may need to move between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and other actors operating different systems and at different stages of the value chain.
This raises practical questions about data quality, verification, system compatibility and responsibility for maintaining information.
The research also identified the difficulty of verifying material and environmental information received from earlier stages of the supply chain, as well as the need to balance increased transparency with the protection of commercially sensitive information and trade secrets.
These findings reinforce the need to approach DPP implementation as a value-chain transformation rather than an isolated company-level IT project.
Different SMEs will need different learning pathways
The assessment also demonstrates that there is no single level of DPP readiness across countries, sectors, companies or professional roles.
This has an important implication for training.
Rather than developing one uniform DPP course, the report recommends a modular and practical learning architecture built around three complementary layers:
CORE - shared competences covering DPP and ESPR fundamentals, product data, traceability, interoperability, sustainability and implementation.
ROLE - learning pathways adapted to different functions, including management, ICT/data, production and supply chain, sustainability/compliance, and marketing/sales.
SECTOR - specialised modules addressing the realities and requirements of the five priority sectors covered by DIGITRACE.
Participants also expressed a strong preference for learning approaches that connect knowledge directly with business practice. These include short introductory content, practical workshops, real business cases, demonstrations, work-based learning, mentoring and opportunities to work with companies' own systems and processes.
Turning research into practical support for SMEs
Deliverable D2.1 is therefore more than an assessment of current knowledge gaps.
Its findings provide an evidence base for the next stages of DIGITRACE, particularly the development of learning content and training pathways capable of supporting SMEs at different stages of DPP maturity.
The objective is to move from general awareness of Digital Product Passports towards the practical competences companies need to prepare their data, processes, systems and people for implementation.
The future DIGITRACE learning offer will combine common European competence requirements with sector-specific applications and role-based pathways, while supporting recognised learning outcomes and the project's approach to micro-credentials.
As DPP requirements continue to develop, strengthening these capabilities will be essential if SMEs are to participate effectively in more transparent, interoperable and sustainable European value chains.
With Deliverable D2.1, DIGITRACE takes an important step towards that goal: identifying what SMEs need to learn today in order to become DPP-ready tomorrow.