Catena-X Automotive Network e.V

The Catena-X Automotive Network e.V. is often referred to as 'the association'. It is important to understand that the association consists of five bodies with different tasks and responsibilities. The association bodies are:

• Management board,
• Committees,
• Expert Groups,
• Working Groups, and
• Catena-X office.

The Association promotes, sponsors, and coordinates the overlying requirements of the Eclipse Tractus-X Project.

Committees and Expert Groups are mapped to products or use cases. They are advertised, selected, and established on the basis of a requirement. The application phases are similar and the distributors are always the Catena-X members.

Roles and Responsibilities within the Association

Association Member

This is the basic role that every employee in the of an Association Member can obtain. Being a member grants access to Associations meetings and fundamental tooling necessary for participation, such as viewing content, participating in discussions, or accessing standard resources.

The role must be requested actively.

Other roles

An Association Member can acquire additional roles by joining one of the Association's bodies. The rights associated with these roles are granted in addition to those already held as an Association Member.

DACI matrix for association bodies

• Driver (D): A single driver of overall project like the person steering a car.
• Approver (A): One or more approvers who make most project decisions, and are responsible if it fails.
• Contributor (C): Are the worker-bees who are responsible for deliverables; and with whom there is two-way communication.
• Informed (I): Those who are impacted by the project and are provided status and informed of decisions; and with whom there is one-way communication.

		Management board		Committee			Expert Group		Catena-X office
		Member	Sponsor	Lead	Member	Mentor	Lead	Member
Strategy	Develop and maintain the Association strategy	A	D	I			I		C
	Develop and maintain the business domain strategy	I	A	D	C		I	I	C
	Develop and maintain a strategy on functional level		I	A		C	D	C	C
Mgmt. of association bodies	Setup Committees	D, A							C
	Close Committees	A	D	C	I
	Setup Expert Groups		I	A	A	D			C
	Close Expert Groups		I	A		D	A	A	C
Development	Propose new feature requests			C	C	C	A	D
	Approve features requests)				I	I	D	A,C
	Track the progress of the feature)				I	I	D	A,C
	Test and Feedback of the delivered feature)				I	I	D	A,C
Promote	Promote use cases	C	C		D	A			C

The DACI should provide an overview of the tasks the Association bodies are engaging in. Each individual in the management board, a committee or an expert group is at least a "member". If one takes over additional roles, e.g., as "Lead", the responsibilities of that role are added to those as member. In detail, the responsibilities for specific individual aspects may differ slightly (but always in alignment with this overarching DACI.

Escalation path

If an issue cannot be resolved by the designated Association body, it must be escalated to the appropriate higher authority. The escalation pathway is as follows:

1. Expert Groups: Issues should initially be addressed within the Expert Groups. If the Expert Group Members are unable to find a solution, a vote may be conducted to reach a decision. Should the vote fail to achieve a majority or if an Expert Group member raises substantial concerns regarding the outcome, the issue may be escalated.
2. Responsible Committee: If the Expert Groups are unable to resolve the issue, it is escalated to the responsible committee. This committee is tasked with oversight and decision-making based on broader organizational perspectives.
3. Board Sponsors: Should the committee find the issue beyond its scope of resolution, the matter is escalated to the Board Sponsors. These senior members of the board provide strategic guidance and authoritative decisions on escalated matters.
4. Mediation Board Member: As the final level of escalation, unresolved issues are directed to a Mediation Board Member. This individual is empowered to mediate and resolve high-level disputes or complex issues that could not be settled at prior levels.