The new DigitX roadmap frames digitalisation as a licence-to-operate issue, not a technology upgrade, for Europe’s textile and apparel value chain.
Textile ETP’s DigitX Innovation Hub has published a strategic roadmap for the digital transformation of Europe’s textile and apparel industry, setting out a shared 2035 vision for a digitally integrated sector. The roadmap, published in May 2026 and presented at the Textile ETP Annual Conference in the Netherlands, was developed over six months with input from more than 100 industry experts.
A sector at an inflection point
The roadmap targets an industry of 194,000 companies, 1.2 million workers, more than €166 billion in annual turnover and a business base that is 99.8% SMEs. Textile ETP argues that digital transformation has become essential because slow product-development cycles, document-heavy workflows and volatile demand are no longer compatible with fast, data-driven global competition.
The regulatory pressure is just as important. The roadmap links digital capability to compliance with the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Digital Product Passport, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, Waste Framework Directive, and wider EU digital laws including the AI Act, Data Act, Data Governance Act and Interoperable Europe Act.
Three digital priorities
DigitX identifies three major innovation themes. The first is digital manufacturing and on-demand production, where digitally controlled processes and real-time data flows can support smaller lots, higher agility and more responsive manufacturing. The second is AI and digital product creation, where data-rich design tools can link performance, aesthetics, sustainability, compliance, production planning and end-of-life decisions from the start.
The third is digital supply chains and DPP, where the ability to collect, analyse and exchange verifiable data across materials, processes, energy use, labour practices and product history will increasingly determine whether suppliers remain in buyers’ networks. Textile ETP warns that companies without a digital data strategy may struggle to stay in business.
The business signal
For textile manufacturers, the message is direct: digitalisation is moving from optional efficiency project to market-access infrastructure. The next test will be whether SMEs receive enough practical support, funding access and interoperable tools to turn the roadmap into operational systems before DPP and traceability requirements become unavoidable.
