CESMII’s international collaborations, with organizations like Manufacturing-X and the IDTA, continue to drive improved standardization and greater reuse of the interoperability technologies we’ve invested in.

 

One of our key initiatives is the Cloud Library (CloudLib), developed through a joint working group with the OPC Foundation and three hyperscale cloud providers. CloudLib serves as a global repository for Smart Manufacturing Profiles, enabling publishers to share common data models worldwide. Two public instances of CloudLib are currently in regular use:

Recently, the OPC Foundation and Microsoft have advocated for using CloudLib as a repository for Asset Administration Shell (AAS) templates—part of a European standard we’ve supported. This standard is increasingly used to distribute standardized information about manufactured goods (e.g., the EU Battery Passport).

 

To support this broader adoption, a simplification to CloudLib has been proposed. Since this change may affect other users and developers, CESMII is seeking your feedback:

 

GitHub Issue #232
This change affects only direct GraphQL access to CloudLib and does not impact SMIP instances. Logs and analytics indicate REST is the preferred interface, and this change would allow our development team to focus on evolving the REST API.

CESMII has requested a two-week public comment window before any changes are implemented. If your organization or developer workflows might be affected, we strongly encourage you to share your perspective:

While the term “removal” may sound like a loss, this change supports a broader vision for interoperability and simplification. Maintaining unused or underused features is costly and complex. Our internal analysis shows that  REST is the most appropriate choice for this use case—but we want to hear from you if your experience differs.

Thank you for helping guide the future of CloudLib.

 

Best regards,
Jonathan Wise
Chief Technology Architect
CESMII – The Smart Manufacturing Institute