StandICT.eu 2023’s principal goal is to create a European Standardisation Ecosystem, by: a) launching & managing a robust and efficient facility with € 3,000,000 funding earmarked over 36 months & 10 Open Calls, the StandICT.eu Fellowship Programme; b) empowering contributions from ICT standardisation experts letting their voices be heard, also in the Standardisation Observatory; c) pursuing the training of next generation of ICT standardisation experts, engaging with National Standards Associations & PPPs; d) ensuring hi-level steering of StandICT.eu 2023 by means of an authoritative Expert Group (the EAG) who tap directly into the WGs & TCs of SDOs, tackling EU priorities, challenges & gaps; e) Creating an engaging & influential Foresight Committee (the EUOS-FC) to keep momentum in policy discussions, in-synch with the MSP. StandICT.eu 2023 builds on the success of the 2018-19 StandICT.eu initiative, moving from the existing 700+ community, the grants platform & processes, the standards watch. Moreover, StandICT.eu 2023 is proposed by a lean Consortium, coordinated by the same organisation leading the precursory initiative –Trust-IT Srl (IT), an SME with over 15 years’ experience of managing complex EC-funded projects in ICT– including 2 experienced partners: Dublin City University (IE), a major player in SDO WGs & TCs and in educating future ICT Standards experts, & Australo Interinnov Marketing Lab SL (ES), an SME specialised in stakeholder engagement, with their agile methodology approach. All Consortium Partners bring to the project their impressive international network in ICT standardisation. Principal outputs: The StandICT.eu Fellowship Programme, with 10 Open Calls, 1000+ proposals received, 400+ funded Experts & 50+ External Evaluators; 5,000+ significant ICT Standards uploaded in the Observatory; 10 Webinars, 10 Workshops, 2 Standards Assemblies, 2 ICT Standards Impact Reports, a truly engaged, multi-stakeholder ICT Standardisation Community, well representing SMEs and Academia.

The NGI Explorers Program vision is to leverage the EU-US researchers exchange and foster “made in Europe” NGI products and services, through the engagement of Internet researchers in understanding US different perspectives, vision, values and technology approaches, for an uplifted research mindset. The objective of the programme is to support the integration of the EU-US communities, exchange of Internet researchers and innovators, share of experiences and best practices and organize community events. Therefore, we have (1) designed an agile 2-step fellowship programme to favour the growth of high potential Internet researchers from hi-tech startups, SMEs, mid-caps, research centres or academia, to gather and exchange Next Generation Internet knowledge, experiences and concepts, and develop projects with the goal of creating concrete NGI services and products 'Made in Europe'; and (2) integrated this with a dynamic and captivated NGI community through an ecosystem building methodology, developed to attract the key European and US NGI players and build/ exploit synergies. We start the project with 16 US Exchange Nodes engaged (all signed Letter of Commitment). At the end the programme will have supported 30-50 fellows (3-6 months programmes), through >25 US Exchange Nodes, engaged more than 1000 participants in its activities and build the structure for the successful EU-US collaboration in the development of NGI products and services. The NGI Explorers consortium is a fusion of: Tech founders and startups community (F6S), an International innovation and Tech-transfer specialists (IINV) and R&D consultant (ZABALA).

S3E project ambition is to develop an engine of growth that will contribute to improve the connectedness and efficiency of the Southern European countries’ innovation ecosystems. S3E focus is on the acceleration of deep tech projects / start-ups that, by providing solutions to a more sustainable society, can impact the economic growth in these countries and contribute for the timely achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The focus on Southern European countries relates to the fact that all these countries are Moderate or Emerging innovators, according to European Innovation Scoreboard 2021, and thus, S3E will contribute to close the innovation gap between the targeted countries and more advanced innovation ecosystems. To achieve this we will design and deliver a set of services that: (i) support the uncovering of research projects with market potential, helping them develop into Deep Tech start-ups and supporting them to procure funding for the early stages of development; (ii) help growth stage start-ups to develop investment ready business plans and procure VC funding in the broader VC ecosystem or in national or European funding agencies and (iii) help scaling start-ups connect to larger companies, to gain market traction, throughout Europe. Our strategic objective is supported by the following sub-objectives: (i)uncover entrepreneurial research teams with ground-breaking science and support them to commercialize the technology through the development of a start-up, (iii) increase the connectedness among members of deep-tech start-up ecosystems and their start-ups (regardless of their stage of development) and to the European business ecosystem seeking maximum synergies, (iii) stimulate investments in sectors addressing sustainability issues through increasing the number of cross-border investments and empower accelerators in the targeted countries with the skills and processes that will ensure the future sustainability of the project.

StandICT.eu 2026 builds on the success of the previous two editions [2020-23 & 2018-19 StandICT.eu initiatives], delivered by the original partners who prepared the first proposal back in 2017, obtaining the recognition of the “go-to” project on ICT Standards in Europe. StandICT.eu 2026’s principal goal is to strengthen its global reach in the European ICT Standardisation Ecosystem, by: a) launching & managing a robust and efficient facility supporting the Fellowship Programme with € 2,925,000 funding earmarked over 36 months with 9 Open Calls; b) EUOS (EU Observatory for ICT Standardisation) and Technical Working Groups (TWGs) empowering contributions from ICT standardisation experts; c) Training the next generation of ICT standardisation experts, engaging with National Standardisation Bodies & PPPs through the Standards Education Group (EUOS-SEG); d) ensuring hi-level steering of StandICT.eu 2026 by means of an authoritative Expert Group (the EAG) who tap directly into the WGs & TCs of SDOs, tackling EU priorities, challenges & gaps; e) Creating an engaging & influential Forum on EU Strategy for ICT standards to identify early warnings around sensitive issues in ICT standardisation (FOREST). Trust-IT Srl (IT), coordinates the effort with 5 highly experienced partners: Dublin City University (IE), Open Forum Europe (BE), AUSTRALO (ES), Digital SME Alliance (BE), and Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI (DE). Principal outputs: Fellowship Programme, with Open Calls, 1000+ proposals received, over 400+ funded Experts & 50+ External Evaluators; 4,000+ significant ICT Standards uploaded in the Observatory; 18 Webinars & 5 Workshops, Training Lectures, 2 Impact Events, Impact Reports, Policy recommendations, 10+TWGs, 25+ signed MoUs, 1000+ participants in trainings. Sustainability strategy and a truly engaged, well represented multi-stakeholder ICT Standardisation Community.

StandICT.eu 2029 builds on the success of the previous three editions [2023-26, 2020-23, & 2018-19], delivered by the original partners who designed the previous editions, considered in Europe as the “go-to project” on ICT Standards in Europe. Its principal goal is to strengthen its global reach in the EU ICT Standardisation Ecosystem, by: a) managing a neutral and efficient facility supporting a Fellowship Programme with € 4.2M funding in 36 months & 6 Open Calls; b) delivering ICT standardisation landscape & gap analysis via Technical Working Groups, empowering contributions from ICT standardisation experts. Timely standards updated in the EUOS EU Observatory for ICT Standardisation; c) delivering a mentoring & coaching programme for the next generation of ICT standardisation experts, SMEs & researchers with SDOs, EU & national funded R&I projects & engage directly with a subcontract signed with the ESOs: ETSI & CEN & CENELEC; d) Providing a forum for foresight analysis to guarantee high-level steering with an authoritative Foresight Committee Board FCB supported by funded fellows active in SDOs, early-warning signals in-synch with the MSP, ICT Rolling Plan & High-level Standardisation Forum; e) Organising and support standardisation meetings of SDOs, global fora & consortia so Europeans, and SMEs, may participate easily. Consortium: Trust-IT Services (IT, coordinator), COMMpla (IT), Dublin City University (IE), Open Forum Europe (BE), AUSTRALO (ES), Digital SME Alliance (BE), Fraunhofer Institute for Systems & Innovation Research ISI (DE). Outputs: Fellowship Programme, 1200+ proposals, 300+ European Experts Funded & 70+ External Evaluators; 4,000+ metadata of ICT Standards in the Observatory; 20+ Webinars, 3 Mentorship Events, Training Lectures, 2 Impact Events & Reports, Policy recommendations, 8 TWGs, 25+ MoUs, 1000+ participants in webinars. Sustainability strategy and an engaged, well represented multi-stakeholder ICT Standardisation Community.