ITU: new standards on digital product passports for ICT goods
By 2024, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had developed two standards on Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for ICT goods, setting a foundation for structured and standardized product information. These standards provide a framework to enhance transparency, traceability, and sustainability in the ICT sector, ensuring that consumers and businesses can access relevant data throughout a product’s lifecycle. As the global landscape for DPPs evolves, these ITU standards contribute to harmonization efforts, aligning with broader initiatives to establish a globally interoperable approach to digital product information:
ITU-T L.1070: The ITU-T L.1070 standard defines the general framework and requirements for Digital Product Passports (DPPs) in the ICT sector. It outlines key principles, including data governance, interoperability, and accessibility, to ensure that product information is structured in a way that supports circular economy objectives. The standard establishes guidelines on how data should be collected, shared, and updated throughout a product’s lifecycle, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions about repairability, recycling, and sustainability. By providing a common foundation, ITU-T L.1070 facilitates the adoption of DPPs across different ICT products, fostering consistency and transparency in digital product information systems.
ITU-T L.1071: The ITU-T L.1071 standard builds on the foundational framework of L.1070 by specifying data requirements and structures for Digital Product Passports in ICT goods. It defines the key data categories and attributes necessary to support sustainability objectives, covering aspects such as material composition, energy efficiency, durability, and end-of-life management. By standardizing how product information is formatted and exchanged, L.1071 ensures interoperability between different digital product information systems, reducing fragmentation across markets. This standard plays a critical role in enabling more effective resource management and empowering consumers with clear, reliable information to make sustainable choices.
In June 2024, at the ITU-T Study Group 5 (SG5) meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, ITU members approved the initiation of a new work item for the development of a third standard on Digital Product Passports for the ICT sector. This standard is currently being co-developed by ITU and UNEP, further advancing the integration of sustainability information into digital product frameworks.
ITU-T L.1070: The ITU-T L.1070 standard defines the general framework and requirements for Digital Product Passports (DPPs) in the ICT sector. It outlines key principles, including data governance, interoperability, and accessibility, to ensure that product information is structured in a way that supports circular economy objectives. The standard establishes guidelines on how data should be collected, shared, and updated throughout a product’s lifecycle, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions about repairability, recycling, and sustainability. By providing a common foundation, ITU-T L.1070 facilitates the adoption of DPPs across different ICT products, fostering consistency and transparency in digital product information systems.
ITU-T L.1071: The ITU-T L.1071 standard builds on the foundational framework of L.1070 by specifying data requirements and structures for Digital Product Passports in ICT goods. It defines the key data categories and attributes necessary to support sustainability objectives, covering aspects such as material composition, energy efficiency, durability, and end-of-life management. By standardizing how product information is formatted and exchanged, L.1071 ensures interoperability between different digital product information systems, reducing fragmentation across markets. This standard plays a critical role in enabling more effective resource management and empowering consumers with clear, reliable information to make sustainable choices.
In June 2024, at the ITU-T Study Group 5 (SG5) meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, ITU members approved the initiation of a new work item for the development of a third standard on Digital Product Passports for the ICT sector. This standard is currently being co-developed by ITU and UNEP, further advancing the integration of sustainability information into digital product frameworks.
Learn how these co-leads are contributing to D4CE:
