From data to knowledge: how DPP startups span boundaries across stakeholder divides

Purpose Digital Product Passports (DPPs) aim to increase product transparency and enable circular economy practices. However, transforming DPP data into actionable knowledge across diverse stakeholder groups remains a key challenge. This study aims to investigate how startups span syntactic and semantic knowledge boundaries to make DPPs understandable, drawing on knowledge management theory to examine the communicative mechanisms through which product data is translated into shared knowledge across organizational boundaries. Design/methodology/approach Using Carlile’s (2004) boundary-spanning theory alongside constructs from absorptive capacity, knowledge integration and knowledge governance, this qualitative study analyzes digital materials from 12 European startups and interviews with 10 industry practitioners. The analysis identifies strategies used to communicate DPP systems across different media and stakeholder contexts. Findings Extending sequential accounts of knowledge boundary management, startups deploy syntactic and semantic strategies simultaneously through a bundled boundary-spanning approach. Syntactic strategies include standardized terminology, visual schemas and role definitions, while semantic strategies encompass narrative framing, technical metaphors, contextual use cases and ESG-aligned messaging. These bundles vary systematically across communication channels, stakeholder types and stages of DPP adoption, with web pages prioritizing semantic appeals and whitepapers emphasizing syntactic formalization. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to early-stage ventures, publicly available materials and EU-based contexts. Further research could explore stakeholder reception, cross-cultural comparisons and pragmatic boundary dynamics involving interest-based negotiations. Practical implications Startups can benefit from intentionally designed communication frameworks that bundle structural clarity with interpretive scaffolding when engaging stakeholders in emerging regulatory contexts. Policymakers should consider providing communication support tools alongside technical requirements. Social implications Effective communication of DPPs supports transparency, regulatory compliance and wider public understanding of sustainable product systems. Originality/value This study offers three contributions to boundary-spanning scholarship: first, by demonstrating that syntactic and semantic strategies are bundled rather than sequenced in pre-regulatory contexts; second, by introducing the concept of startups as “trust translators” who convert cryptographic guarantees into accessible narratives; and third, by revealing a temporal dimension to boundary-spanning in anticipatory regulatory environments where both technical infrastructure and interpretive frameworks must be constructed simultaneously.