Legal Framework and Practical Examples of the EU Data Act in Nondestructive Testing

The data-driven networking and interoperability of Industry 4.0 makes non-destructive testing (NDT) a key provider of safety-critical quality data. The EU Data Act creates a legal framework for fair access to and use of data generated when using networked products and related services. This article provides an overview of the key content of the new regulation and highlights its significance and implications for the NDT industry. This includes, among other things, the legal rights of users of connected testing devices to access the raw data and metadata generated by these devices, the obligations of data owners to provide the data free of charge and in a comprehensive manner in common machine-readable formats, and other modality requirements, the invalidity of unreasonable contract clauses, as well as interoperability and the switching of cloud service providers. This is explained using practical examples. The article helps readers to classify their own needs and benefits of the EU Data Act for their own use cases and highlights the challenges for device manufacturers in implementing the requirements of the EU Data Act.