---
title: "Research Edition"
description: "The complete EPCIS 2.0 platform for research, teaching and standardisation. Free of licence fees."
canonical_url: "https://benelog.com/openepcis/research-edition"
last_updated: "2026-09-16T09:19:14.082Z"
---

The Research Edition is the complete OpenEPCIS platform, the same one companies run in production as the Business Edition, only free of licence fees for non-commercial use. No trial, no functional limits, the full implementation of the GS1 EPCIS 2.0 standard.

It is aimed at GS1 Member Organisations, universities and research institutes worldwide, and is meant for training, demos, pilot projects and proofs of concept.

## Why now

A whole series of new regulations is turning traceability on GS1 standards into a mandatory topic. That raises the demand for people who genuinely know EPCIS 2.0, and for proven concepts others can build on. This is exactly where research and teaching come in.

<cards-row cols="4" gap="1">
<icon-card description="The Digital Product Passport calls for transparency across a product's entire lifecycle, in a form all parties can read." icon="mdi:file-document-outline" title="DPP">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Due diligence on deforestation-free supply chains. Companies have to prove where a material came from, not just claim it." icon="mdi:leaf" title="EUDR">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="The Ecodesign Regulation mandates the product passport sector by sector. One industry after another will be covered." icon="mdi:leaf-circle-outline" title="ESPR">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="The battery passport is the first of these obligations to become concrete. It asks for data on the individual product, across its entire life." icon="mdi:battery-charging-medium" title="Battery Pass">



</icon-card>
</cards-row>

For research and teaching, this is the chance to work on the real thing: showing EPCIS 2.0 in live demos, teaching it in training, and trying it out in real pilot projects, instead of staying with the theoretical model.

## What you use the platform for

A complete, running system opens up possibilities that slides and theory do not. Four typical fields of use:

<cards-row cols="4" gap="1">
<icon-card description="Teach EPCIS 2.0 on a working system. Participants capture and query real events instead of reading slides about them." icon="mdi:school-outline" title="Training">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Show what standardised event data actually looks like, with real identifiers from the use case at hand." icon="mdi:play-circle-outline" title="Live Demos">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Run a scoped pilot with real partners and real documents, and find the integration questions early." icon="mdi:rocket-launch-outline" title="Pilot Projects">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Test an idea against the standard before it turns into a budget request. Keep what works, drop what does not." icon="mdi:lightbulb-on-outline" title="Proofs Of Concept">



</icon-card>
</cards-row>

What the platform can do in detail is set out in the [feature matrix on openepcis.io](https://openepcis.io/docs/platform-overview/feature-matrix/).

## Flexible deployment

<centered-text>

Your infrastructure. Or ours. Your choice.

</centered-text>

<cards-row cols="2" gap="4" max-width="5xl" wide="true">
<icon-card description="In your own cloud or on-premises. You keep control over the data, the infrastructure and the configuration. Suitable where research data cannot leave the institution." icon="mdi:server" title="Self-Hosted">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="A fully operated OpenEPCIS instance in a certified German data centre. You run nothing yourself. That takes the load off projects without their own IT team." icon="mdi:cloud-outline" title="Managed by benelog">



</icon-card>
</cards-row>

### What applies to both operating models

The platform stays current with the GS1 standards. Whatever changes in EPCIS, in the GS1 Conformant Resolver or in the other building blocks, we implement it and make it available, as a rule by the time the standard in question is published. EPCIS 2.1 will be available too, as soon as the standard is out. That is possible because benelog helps develop the EPCIS standard as co-chair of the GS1 working group.

Comprehensive support with fixed response times and a named contact comes with the [Business Edition](/openepcis/business-edition). In the Research Edition, questions reach the people who wrote the code.

## Who the Research Edition is for

The Research Edition is meant for non-commercial work:

- **GS1 Member Organisations.** For member training, demos and standards work.
- **Universities and colleges.** For teaching, student projects and academic research.
- **Research institutes.** For funded projects and proofs of concept.

Use has to stay non-commercial. If a project turns into a commercial service, the [Business Edition](/openepcis/business-edition) is the
route, and moving over needs no rework, because it is the same platform. If you only need individual building blocks, the [Community Edition](/openepcis/community-edition) is enough.

<pull-quote name="Thomas Hirsch" photo="/img/Thomas_Hirsch_Photo.svg" photoAlt="Thomas Hirsch" quote="“The Digital Product Passport is coming … That is exactly why we want to empower all of them to make EPCIS 2.0 tangible in real training, live demos, and pilot projects.”" role="Founder and CEO, benelog">



</pull-quote>

## Apply for access

Send us a short message with the following, and we will set it up.

- Your name and your role
- The GS1 Member Organisation, university or institute you represent
- A business email address
- Whether you want to run it yourself or have benelog run it
- One or two lines on what you plan to do with it

<button-row :buttons="[{"label":"Request access","href":"mailto:info@benelog.com?subject=OpenEPCIS%20Research%20Edition%20-%20Apply%20for%20Access"}]" align="center">



</button-row>

## FAQ

<faq-accordion :items="[{"question":"Is this a trial version?","answer":"No. It is the Business Edition with everything switched on. There is no time limit and no feature is held back. The difference is the licence terms, which cover non-commercial use."},{"question":"What does it cost?","answer":"Nothing in licence fees. If you ask benelog to host and operate the instance for you, the hosting and operation are quoted separately."},{"question":"Can we publish results from work done on it?","answer":"Yes. Papers, teaching material and conference demos are exactly what it is for. A mention of OpenEPCIS is appreciated but not a must."},{"question":"Can we invite companies into a pilot?","answer":"Yes, as long as the project itself stays non-commercial."},{"question":"How long does approval take?","answer":"Tell us who you are, which institution you represent and how you want to deploy. We usually come back within a few working days."}]">



</faq-accordion>