Marketplace downloadable package

The marketplace package offers an individual marketplace implementation. The deployment of subsets or extension within DIHs is considered. This deployment aims at DIHs that want to run their own, domain-specific marketplace instantiation. The marketplace itself is understood as an own innovation and exploitation item that is custom built for experts that aim at gathering digital twin offerings and bring together selected offerings with relevant users (SMEs in need of digital twin technologies). As a result, a connected ecosystem of marketplaces, building on the same sustainable concept rather than on monolithic system and component installations is fostered. 

The documentation of the marketplace package for (E)DIHs is given in deliverable D2.6, which details each of the portal component: the front-end, the middleware, and the infrastructure. The documentation will be published on Zenodo (10.5281/zenodo.14234829).

Front-end

The front-end (Marketplace Landing Page) is the entry point for the user who wants to explore and use products listed in the marketplace. It also offers functionalities to services providers in order to register their items or directly deploying their instance of the marketplace. It uses the Change2Twin Middleware as backend component for shopping cart functionalities and service execution and is integrated with Keycloak instance for user authentication to the marketplace. 

Middleware

The middleware component acts as an abstraction layer that helps the marketplace to communicate with the CloudBroker platform (example) and execute functions accordingly to the end-user request, whether it is already prepared digital twin solution or software as a service available right from the marketplace page. 

Infrastructure

When launching a marketplace or related components, infrastructure is critical consideration. There are two primary options: self-hosted and 3rd party infrastructure. Self-hosted option allows for greater control and potential cost savings in the long run. Third-party infrastructure goes with reduced upfront costs, managed maintenance and often better scalability, though the costs may increase over time and there is dependency on the provider. Another aspect to consider is selection between cloud and traditional hosting. The traditional website hosting comes with lower operation costs, but the functionality is limited to just run and operate the marketplace. Cloud solution offers more flexibility and can host all components (marketplace, middleware, deployable solutions) within a single environment. However, cloud hosting typically comes with higher ongoing costs. The decision on picking up the right infrastructure to be used is left to the marketplace operator.

Running marketplace does not require authentication or authorisation mechanisms to be implemented. However, in case of allowing user registration in marketplace, and further integration with a middleware, such mechanism is required. The package is prepared in a way different Identity Management System can be used, though Keycloak, a widely-used open-source identity and access management solution, is suggested.

Marketplace operation

A well-defined onboarding process is essential for delivering a high-quality marketplace experience. Marketplace owners must establish a tailored onboarding process that aligns with their specific needs. To provide a helpful starting point, a detailed onboarding process that can be adapted and customised for your marketplace.

Additional material

Licensing

The content may not be copied, reproduced, or modified in whole or in part for any purpose without written permission from the Change2Twin Consortium. In addition to such written permission to copy, reproduce, or modify this content in whole or part, an acknowledgement of the authors of the content and all applicable portions of the copyright notice must be clearly referenced. Each component may fall under additional, yet different license restrictions, please refer to individual component documentation.