One of the key projects identified by GS1 in Europe is the Cloud for Locations project or the Location Registry project. The objective is clear: enhance the GS1 value proposition in location identification by developing our current offer and build functional requirements in order to launch a location registry. Some MOs already have tools for GLNs, but they are hardly used. 

Based on a customer centric approach, the project is focusing on:

• the business needs;
• the customer segments that we would like to target;
• the main features of the future service.

The project has resulted in a functional specifications document, with amongst others: 

• Business requirements (combining business needs and customer segments, focusing on product traceability and transport and supply chain efficiency)
• Benchmark including a SWOT analysis
• Data model for a location (with 6 primary attributes and 19 secondary attributes) all mapped to the customer segment needs
• Detailed use cases for the data workflow (data in and data out) with different personas

The next step is connecting industry to validate the current requirements and work together with other regions and the global office to harmonise the functional specifications and work on a global GLN registry. 

The project is led by Sara Kalboussi (GS1 France).