The main, overall objective of the proposal is to establish the Centre of Excellence in Production Informatics and Control (EPIC) as a leading, internationally acknowledged focus point in the field of production informatics, management and control representing excellence in R&D&I. EPIC will be constituted and run through the cooperation of the Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), two faculties of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and four institutions of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) under the coordination of the National Innovation Office (NIH), Hungary as a governmental decision maker. The EPIC project will lead to: 1. The upgrade of MTA SZTAKI as existing Centre of Excellence of the EU. 2. The further development of the Fraunhofer-SZTAKI Project Centre for Production Management and Informatics (PMI), a joint initiative of FhG and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), established in 2010. (The cooperating Fraunhofer institutions have been the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), Stuttgart and Fraunhofer Austria (FhA)). 3. The extension of the present cooperation with two faculties of BME, i.e., the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (GPK) and the Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering (KJK), on the one hand, and with two additional institutes of FhG, i.e., the Institute for Production Technology (IPT), Aachen and the Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK), Berlin. 4. The close cooperation with SMEs as well as with large industrial firms. Due to direct, institutionalized and supported interactions with Fraunhofer, not only the scientific capabilities of the Hungarian partners but also their ability to transfer scientific results to industry-relevant applications will be greatly enhanced. By this way a “high speed lift” to innovation culture and performance in Hungary and the CEE region will be provided.

The objective of the proposal is to establish the Centre of Excellence in Production Informatics and Control (EPIC CoE) as a leading, internationally acknowledged focus point in the field of cyber-physical production systems representing excellence in RDI. The focus is devised both from world-wide tendencies and regional S3 strategies. EPIC CoE will be constituted and run through the cooperation of the Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), two faculties of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and four institutions of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG) under the coordination of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), as a governmental actor. The EPIC project will lead to: 1. The upgrade of MTA SZTAKI as existing Centre of Excellence (CoE) of the EU. 2. The establishment of a new legal entity (EPIC Ltd) of the academic partners relying on the very positive experiences gained by the Fraunhofer-SZTAKI Project Centre for Production Management and Informatics (PMI), a joint initiative of FhG and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), started in 2010. (The cooperating FhG institutions have been the FhG IPA and Fraunhofer Austria). 3. The extension of the FhG-SZTAKI cooperation with two faculties of BME, and with FhG IPT and the FhG IPK. 4. The close cooperation of academia, university and industry, with a special emphasis on SMEs. Due to direct, institutionalized interactions with FhG, not only the scientific capabilities of the Hungarian partners but also their ability to transfer scientific results to industry-relevant applications will be enhanced, and in a sustainable way, providing a “high speed lift” to innovation culture and performance in Hungary and the CEE region. The large expectations towards the EPIC CoE are manifested by 42 Letters of Support received from industrial companies and clusters.

In context of the transition to low-carbon, green and sustainable steel production in Europe, disruptive technologies to reduce the environmental footprint as close to zero as possible, seamless digitalisation of production processes, and skilled people to co-design and understand the transformation process are necessary. DiGreeS will address these needs by implementing an integrated digitalisation approach across the steel value chain, enabling better use of process data collected and ensuring the involvement of human experience for easier industrial integration. The aim of DiGreeS is to develop a user-friendly digital platform for networked production based on novel and soft sensors and related approaches and models to support efficient feedstock verification and real-time control of electric arc furnace crude steel production, increasing process yield while improving the quality of intermediate and final steel products. In this context, the potential of artificial intelligence techniques will be fully exploited to support the optimal use of industrial data, and different scenarios specific to each use case will be modelled. The digital platform will be implemented and verified in industrial process lines of the three use cases: scrap/secondary raw material verification, optimisation of the electric arc furnace processes and optimisation of the levelling of steel sheets. DiGreeS aims to improve the quality of crude steel and finished products, optimize scrap usage, and improve energy efficiency in the steel production process. DiGreeS has the potential to save up to €800 million in costs annually and reduce CO2 emissions from the steelmaking industry by up to 6 million tonnes per year.

On March 10th 2016, the Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship stated very clear - digital transformation is not an option – it is a must! The European SME needs to explore the future potential of ICT, automation, sustainable and clean as well as human-centered work systems and processing technologies. According to Gunther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (2016) and European business leaders areas like big data, the internet of things, cyber-physical systems and robotics offer great opportunities for industry. At a recent roundtable in Brussels on the Digital Transformation of Industry, ways to energize the digital transformation of Europe’s industrial sector across Europe were discussed, to raise the potential for increasing flexibility, efficiency, productivity, competitiveness – all helping to create jobs and growth transnationally - especially within SMEs. After all, Europe is a continent of SMEs - where nine out of ten companies are SMEs and, two out of three jobs are in SMEs. They have to be part of the digital journey; they are crucial to Europe´s growth and competitiveness. Together, sectors (C) Manufacturing 9,33%; (H) Transport and Storage 5,09%; (J) Information and Communication 4,44% and (M) Professionals Science and Technical Administration 18,13% comprise 37% of the 22,3 million SME. Most of the 8,25 million SME are not aware of the implications of being not prepared for this Business Transformation in order to emphasize on improvements, growth and competitiveness, yet.Increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship of owners, managers and staff can only be expected if sensitization and tailored measures are applied within these companies. However, to create value through the “Internet of things” and seize the opportunity for technological and process change, the commitment of each enterprise to identify and quantify its individual potential is required. The new approaches of digitalization and smart systems are often barely validated and potential impact is mostly not proven. Transformation towards digitized, smart systems is not a one-off activity but rather an ongoing process and could be describe as a lifelong learning process for an enterprise.In comparison to big companies with the financial strength to either hire consulting companies or to run own departments with a number of experts working on digitization and smart systems, especially SMEs do not have the same financial possibilities andtherefore are facing a lack of expertise, overview, knowledge with regard to technologies, methods, approaches their mutualinteraction as well as potential and risks. SMEs run the risk of waiting too long with the migration towards smart systems and their digitization, or pursue no holistic approach for operational improvements or possible impacts on their business model. For exactly this purpose BITTMAS project consortium including experts from Germany (Reutlingen University, project leader; IBK – Management Solutions GmbH, International Industrial Consult AG), Austria (Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH), Turkey (Sabanci University), Spain (GAIA - Association of Electronic and Information Technologies in the Basque Country), Ireland (Waterford Chamber of Commerce) and Romania (SC IPA SA Craiova) developed the BITTMAS solution.For easing the business transformation and to keep pace with the rapid developments BITTMAS solution supports training and self-driven processes for the required business transformation through employees and managers of SME by providing:- a video library and glossary to inform and sensitize the users with regard to digitalisation and smart systems,- the self-assessment DITRASS (working title within BITTMAS project: DigiPotAS) to determine the potentials for process enhancements and new business solutions based on a tailored maturity model,- online coaching and training modules to learn or to enhance knowledge regarding to 16 digitalisation concepts,- the self-assessment IMTRASS (working title within BITTMAS project: DigiSuRA) to determine further supporting requirements for digital transformation and- references and use cases of BITTMAS solution,- a free entry version of the developed BITTMAS Platform (Release Candidate).The BITTMAS Release Candidate, consisting of the learning platform, coaching and training modules, a self-assessment to analyse digitalisation potentials and a self-assessment to consider further requirements focused on nine criteria based on the EFQM Model, improves and extends the range of high quality learning offerings for adults and strengthen the key competences in VET curricula. Digitalisation and smart systems do not only appear in the industrial and economic environment but also in the daily social life and the respectively required competencies can therefore be referred to as transversal. The funded 3-year project was successfully completed by public launch of the BITTMAS platform in August 2019.