The emerging spring of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will enable innovative applications exploiting the myriad of connected sensors and appliances embedded in every corner of modern life. Currently, AI requires high computational resources only available in high-performance data centers; therefore, realizing an architecture capable of securely processing this unprecedented amount of remotely sensed and potentially sensitive data, as well as conveying timely responses to pervasive configurable actuators is a non-trivial endeavour, requiring the cooperation of multiple parties. To address these challenges, DECENTER aims to realise a robust Fog Computing platform, covering the whole Cloud-to-Things Continuum, that will provide AI application-aware orchestration and provisioning of resources. The project will enrich existing Cloud and IoT solutions with advanced capabilities to abstract features and process data closer to where it is produced. DECENTER will enable a collaborative environment in which multiple stakeholders (Cloud and IoT providers) can securely share and harmoniously manage resources, in dynamically created multi-cloud/edge, federated environments. Cross-border infrastructure federation will be realized via Blockchain-based Smart Contracts defining customized Service Level Agreements, used to commit the execution of verified workloads across multiple, potentially remote, administrative domains. Through such novelties, DECENTER will unlock the potential of innovative decentralised AI algorithms and models, by deploying them across multiple tiers of the infrastructure and federated clouds. The project will follow a lean implementation methodology and validate its concept with real-world pilots executed in urban, industrial and home environments. With its approach, DECENTER will target the emergence of innovative digital businesses, thus providing a competitive advantage to EU and Korean industry and fostering cross-border collaboration.

URBAN-FLOW is a groundbreaking initiative designed to reshape urban spaces into sustainable, climate-neutral, and resilient environments. The project addresses key urban challenges such as limited public space, inefficient mobility and land use planning, suburban connectivity gaps, fragmented energy and mobility systems, and the need for inclusive, liveable urban areas. By integrating Local Digital Twins (LDTs) and Mobility Data Spaces (MDS), URBAN-FLOW enhances data-driven decision-making, enabling dynamic space management and participatory urban regeneration towards climate-neutral mobility, integrated energy, and resilient design. The project is demonstrated in three Lead Cities: Valencia (Spain), Florence (Italy), and Tampere (Finland), where innovative urban solutions will be tested. These solutions include dynamic curb-side management, multimodal transport optimization, and green infrastructure integration. The project also involves three Replicant Cities: Edinburgh (United Kingdom), Brussels (Belgium), and Pilsen (Czech Republic), ensuring the scalability and adaptability of the proposed measures across diverse urban contexts. URBAN-FLOW employs a systemic co-creation approach through City Living Labs (CLLs), engaging policymakers, citizens, and businesses in collaborative urban transformation. The project aligns with the European Green Deal and the Mission 100 Climate-Neutral Cities, driving policy-driven replication across European cities. By combining advanced digital tools, participatory governance, and climate resilience strategies, URBAN-FLOW seeks to create urban environments that enhance accessibility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve the overall quality of life for residents. To maximise its footprint and its results uptake, the project leverages several city and climate related EU networks: ClimateKIC, EIT Urban Mobility, Open and Agile Smart Cities, Urban Technologies Alliance.

InCUBE brings together 23 high-profile partners and two affiliated entities from 7 European countries, envisioning to unlock the EU renovation wave through cutting-edge standardized, lean integrated processes based on 4 key pillars of innovation: 1) Industrialization: Off-site manufactured solutions including the use of robots (e.g., demolition, telescopic cranes, drilling and waste sorting), so far applied only in industrial environments, offering novel services (e.g., anti-collision, area boundary, waste tracking); 2) Novel self-RES power producing and storage technologies, products and environmentally friendly materials (e.g. low GWP-refrigerant heat pumps); 3) Digitalization: Dynamic Digital Twins of both products and buildings, utilizing immersive capturing techniques (e.g., Laser 3D scanners and Drones), digitally merging innovative manufacturing processes with BIMs, and; 4) New market entrants, organized under novel business models, to allow for increased levels of collaboration and productivity. The InCUBE Suite, integrates digital tools across all 4 pillars, enables for seamless coordination of different renovation phases while leveraging data streaming from multiple interoperable sources to accommodate tenants’ comfort and render buildings active energy nodes in the synergetic energy networks paradigm of the future. Solutions will be validated in 3 large-scale demo sites (19,100 m2, >600 residents) in 3 countries (IT, ES, NL), including a cultural heritage building. Key expected outcomes include among others: Reduction of waste streams and time needed on-site by >35%, renovation cost reduction by >30%, reduction of working time with hazardous activities by >50%, energy savings >6GWh/y (78%), GHG reductions >1,980 tCO2eq/y, achieving an energy performance gap between as-built and as-designed 2,000 users; all while accounting for social inclusion, upskilling and enhancement of women’s role in the construction industry.

Next generation enablers, such as IoT, AI and cloud computing, open new opportunities to deal with world’s current and future societal, environmental, and economic challenges. However, they come with significant data management challenges. According to IDC, the total amount of data generated only by connected devices will exceed 40 trillion gigabytes by 2025. In most of the current systems, data storage and analysis happen on centralized locations on the cloud. This is pushing network capacity to its limits. Furthermore, centralized storage and processing lead to single point of failure situations, which are critically inefficient in case of disasters and crisis. Our world is continuously living natural disasters, health crisis, climate change and security threats that show the importance of resilient and energy-efficient information systems. COGNIFOG targets those challenges and proposes to build a Cognitive Fog Framework to: (i) reduce energy consumption and latency in next generation IT systems by reducing the network traffic, by analysing data at the edge in a distributed manner, closer to where they are generated, rather than routing them through the communication networks to a data center; (ii) reduce OPEX and faster service provisioning by providing a cognitive, self-adaptive framework with minimum or no human intervention, with dynamic provisioning of computing, storage and networking resources along the far-edge-to-edge-to-cloud path; (iii) ensure European leadership by providing an open interoperable framework with open APIs for application developers to rapidly create and deploy applications benefiting the edge-cloud continuum on top of heterogenous IoT/IT systems. COGNIFOG will validate project results in three representative application domains: critical collaboration missions, smart health and smart industry. With a consortium of 12 European partners, leaders in their domains, COGNIFOG will be a cornerstone in the cognitive fog computing domain

Metropolitan Inclusivity in Climate and Digital Transitions (MICAD), is an innovative project dedicated the creation of a framework for inclusive metropolitan planning focusing on climate and digital transitions. The primary objective is to advance inclusive metropolitan planning, a goal that will be realized through the creation of a toolkit for local and regional authorities. The effectiveness of this toolkit will be demonstrated with the elaboration of five roadmaps for digital or climate transition in different cities with diverse backgrounds, accompanied by the formulation of policy recommendations to amplify its impact. To achieve these ambitious objectives, a robust consortium, boasting diverse expertise in urban planning, co-creation, and living lab methodologies, has been assembled. Partners will collaborate closely to empower local and regional authorities with the necessary skills to implement these methodologies effectively. Capacity building efforts will extend to replication and exploitation partners, leveraging their extensive networks to disseminate these methodologies globally and assist other international actors in navigating similar transitions. The project will also contribute to the academic discourse by publishing a set of recommendations and articles, further expanding its impact. MICAD's significant contribution lies in fostering international cooperation among local, regional, and international actors. Through this collaboration, the project aims to identify the risks and opportunities associated with implementing inclusive and participatory planning processes. The study and application of community-held innovative processes will provide insights into the most effective and engaging participatory policy-making strategies. The results of these studies will be shared, leading to the proposal of solution models that can be adapted to various contexts.