EFPF ensured that the Factory platform complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Aligning project objectives and activities with existing laws and standards is a crucial component of EFPF. In order to ease data sharing and standardisation procedures, it also engages in significant engagements with national and European regulation and standardisation organisations on smart industrial automation, data processing, and analytics. The question of which of the increasingly overlapping standards to use as a reference for every particular platform solution confronts researchers and technicians at EFPF. This is a typical issue in any field where standards are in conflict or overlap. 

The strategy used by EFPF is to closely monitor the development of various standardisation initiatives. With the assistance of experts (like ASI, a core partner of EFPF), RTD activities are aligned with ongoing standardisation activities with the goal of adopting existing standards and, when possible, contributing to their development. Based on the nature of technical activities in WP3 to WP7, the following aspects of EFPF are considered relevant to the ongoing standardisation and regulation activities:

• Connecting multiple digital manufacturing tools, services and platforms through APIs and service interfaces to realise a federated platform;
• Exchange of data by the diverse tools, systems and platforms that need to be federated through the Data Spine;
• Establishing interconnectivity and interoperability to most widely used industrial data exchange standards and systems;
• Smart contracting in agile value networks through the use of blockchain technology; 
• Security and privacy of information exchanged between partners in collaboration and also, the information exchanged through the platform;
• Linkage and interoperability of commonly used security protocols; and
• The use of Cloud services for storage and marketplace solutions.

KYKLOS 4.0 emphasises customisation and circular manufacturing. As a result, the candidate standards were determined in accordance with the following factors: (1) inputs from partners; (2) project requirements; (3) linked EU frameworks; (4) examination of scientific literature; and (5) standards inventory within the project's purview. The partners in KYKLOS 4.0 are interested in adopting standards in a variety of fields, such as digital transformation (such as OneM2M), sector-specific standards for pilots (such as ISO 14971:2019), data exchange and file formats (such as ISO 10303 and HDF5), or higher-level standards like ISO 27001 for information security management systems. The project requirements, acceptance in the worldwide community, comparable projects, or scientific papers were used to evaluate potential standards. Most of the identified standards are complementary and able to produce synergies in their incorporation. However, especially in the area of data exchange different standards suggest different solutions. No discrimination was made in terms of standards or points of origin.

The partners assessed the KYKLOS 4.0 standards and their adoption is continually improved, while the process is being carried out. In task T5.3, the team tried to assess various levels of interoperability in the procedure. Along with task T12.5, which is in charge of tracking the project's standardised context, a survey was started. Meetings with the various project partners were held on a regular basis, and the delivery was developed in line with the standardising framework noted in T12.5. The standards were chosen to be documented in a standardised fashion using the ArchiMate language. A list of other candidate standards that would be interesting to adopt in KYKLOS 4.0 is included in the documentation. Two standards—ISO 10303 and ISO 14048—that are highly pertinent to the scope of KYKLOS 4.0 are already in use by KYKLOS 4.0 pilots. With KYKLOS 4.0, ISO 10303 will be used beyond the CAD domain to prove its function in gathering and facilitating access to data linked to personalised and circular manufacturing. The data's long-term readability in this standard format is one of the issues that merit consideration. Project partners received instructions on how to use ISO 10303. KYKLOS 4.0 collaborates with Small Business Standards (SBS) to facilitate wide acceptance and utilization by the market.

Medical, electronic devices, electronic equipment, and automotive project pilots are already pursuing ISO 10303 (Industrial automation systems and integration — Product data representation and exchange) and ISO 14048 (Life cycle assessment and environmental management). The project currently has a good understanding of relevant standards. Modern algorithms have been used to identify various data reduction approaches, and a comprehensive model for fault relationships has been created. KYKLOS 4.0 will develop toolkits to implement auditing mechanisms.