6 July 2026

At the LOTAR Q2/2026 online workshop, held 22-25 June, significant progress was achieved across multiple workgroups, further strengthening LOTAR’s role as the leading industry initiative for long-term archiving and reuse of engineering data. Key milestones included the advancement of several standards toward publication, notably the continued development of PLM Part 200 Edition 2, the external ballot of Part 230, and the readiness of the MBSE Core specification (P500) for final ballot.

A major theme throughout the workshop was the increasing convergence of PLM, MBSE, CAx, and Digital Thread activities. The MBSE working group made substantial progress in defining standards for simulation archiving and model interoperability, while also strengthening collaboration with the CASCaRA initiative to support future semantic digital thread implementations. In parallel, the PLM workgroup explored new topics related to data traceability and the management of AI- and LLM-generated information.

The 3D Mechanical and CAx communities continued work on key interoperability topics such as semantic PMI, persistent identifiers, model-based notes, and screw threads, while the Composites community expanded testing activities with new industry participation, including Siemens. Across all groups, persistent identifiers and cross-domain interoperability were recognized as critical enablers for future digital thread solutions.

The workshop also reinforced the importance of collaborative development and industry use cases to drive future standardization. Overall, LOTAR continues to make steady progress toward enabling trusted, standards-based long-term preservation and reuse of product, systems, and engineering lifecycle data.