Requirements Engineering for Data Spaces in Cross-Organizational Co-Design: A Case Study Approach

Abstract

Due to increasing product complexity and numerous suppliers, CAD-based co-design is becoming increasingly important. However, cross-company collaboration via email, cloud services, or centralized platforms raises issues around data sovereignty, transparency, efficiency, and security. Data space technology, seems to be a promising solution for the secure exchange of sensitive data with partners across company boundaries. However, in the field of industrial co-design, specific requirements must be considered for future data space applications. During the collaborative development of a product involving 12 organisations, a focus group was formed to identify current challenges in cross-company collaboration and derive requirements. These were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively using a mixed methods approach. Six key requirements were identified, highlighting the need for structured workflows, fine-grained access control, and flexible integration. These findings provide concrete design guidance for future data space solutions.