'TOKEN' aims at developing an experimental ecosystem to enable the adoption of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) as a driver for the transformation of public services towards an open and collaborative government approach. During 32 months, a multidisciplinary consortium of 11 partners comprising (a) IT developers/RTOs with experience in development of blockchain components/IoT & Big data platforms (FBA, IMEC, VIL, CERTH, FIWARE), (b) blockchain associations (INF), (c) public administrations (AYTOSAN, KATERINI); (d) SSH experts in public management (UC) and (e) think tanks specialised in digital transformation & policy-making (DEMOS) and Open Commons business models (FBR) will develop a Blockchain Platform as a Service Solution (BCPaaS) to be tested in 4 highly replicable application areas that are common to many Public Governments across Europe: public funding distribution; management of public accounts; urban logistics; valorisation of data. BCPaaS implementation will be assessed from a multidimensional perspective (technological, cultural, socio-economic and legal impacts), paying special attention to attitudes shown by public servants, as key individuals in public service provision. BCPaaS architecture will endorse the Next Generation Internet values of trustworthiness, resilience and sustainability and keep the compliance of the privacy-by-design regulation principles as core driver. It will maximise interoperability potential with IoT & Big Data platforms as well as other blockchains. A specific business model, based on Open Commons principles and Distributed Governance, will be elaborated during the second half of the project, and project dissemination will pay specific attention to meaningfully engagement of +30 early adopters, firstly as members of TOKEN Observatory contributing to TOKEN policy learning co-creation, and, secondly, to be invited to join BCPaaS platform after the project ends, and launch roadmaps to bring DLT to other public services.

The Conveyor System market and, in particular, robot segment for the automated material handling are experiencing double-digit growth at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR). EU manufacturers in this sector plays an important role, covering 23% of the market but this technological edge is being challenged due to the astonishing growth of China, Japan and Korea. In real world, many objects to be handled, including food, clothes, bottles, or plastic items, are soft or deformable and robots are not yet efficient and effective in handling these objects. In this context, AGILEHAND aims at developing advanced technologies for grading, handling and packaging autonomously soft and deformable products, as a strategic instrument to improve flexibility, agility and reconfigurability of production and logistic systems of the European manufacturing companies. AGILEHAND will deploy 3 integrated Suites: 1) SMART SENSING SUITE, self-calibrating sensing solutions to grade the quality (both interior and exterior) of delicate objects and to produce a mesh of integrated and overlapping sensors that will improve production-line traceability, agility and reconfigurability; 2) SELF-ADAPTIVE HANDLING, SORTING AND PACKAGING SUITE, robotic manipulation systems that reacts to product quality and that can Pick-Up and Re-Orientated Different Soft and Deformable Products without causing product damage considering collaborative (human-in-the-middle) approaches; 3) AGILE, FLEXIBLE AND RAPID RECONFIGURABLE SUITE, a set of AI based solutions that will allow for monitoring, adaptive control and synchronisation of production and logistics flows in a factory, even when faced with a variability of products, production mix or fresh market, guaranteeing high performance in customer response time, and an efficient use of resources. The AGILEHAND Solutions will be demonstrated in 4 industrial pilots that differ in characteristics of the surface, deformability, and consistency of the products to be handle.

DIH^2 is a network of 26 DIHs, with a target to reach over 170 DIHs. The sole aim of the network is to spark incremental (cut 50% cost of advance robotics solutions, double the growth of robotics market) and disruptive (maximum productivity & optimum agility) innovations in over 300,000 Manufacturing SMEs and Mid-Caps. It will support SMEs in their Agile Production challenge (50% increase in productivity) and unleash their digitalization potential by enabling robot solutions that are more cost effective at lower lot sizes. DIH^2 relies on: • A Common Open Platform Reference Architecture for Agile Production (COPRA-AP) -based on Industrial Data Space Reference Architecture Model and FIWARE technologies- to serve the needs of SMEs by means of a continuously growing set of Robotic-based Open Standard Enablers (ROSE-AP). • A marketplace as one-stop-shop for SMEs to access essential services for digital transformation including business modelling, technical support, access to skills and finance. • 2 competitive Open Calls to launch an ambitious Technology Transfer Program with 260 Agility Audits, 26 cross-border Technology Transfer Experiments and 26 ROSE-AP, leveraging over 26M€ of public & private funding in advance robotics solutions for Agile Production. • Members deeply rooted in their regional Smart Specialization Strategy (bringing €5M additional funding on top of EU funds), ensuring ‘working distance’ services for every SME in Europe - whichever the sector, wherever the location, whatever the size. • A Corporate Sponsorship Program from equipment and automation suppliers committed with the network to get access to wider market and latest research in robotics. DIH^2 will transform this network into a self-sustainable non-profit association with members all over Europe. DIH^2 will demonstrate that public funded research can help SMEs & Mid-Caps achieve digital excellence and global competitiveness through adopting advanced robotics solutions in Agile Production.

SHOP4CF aims to find the right balance between cost-effective automation, repetitive tasks and involve the human workers in areas such as adaptability, creativity and agility where they create the biggest added value. Also to pursue the highly-connected factory model to reap the benefits of all the data generated within the factory. Tapping into those data streams and human capital requires creating favorable technological, economical and societal conditions. SHOP4CF will do so by relying on the following: • A platform developed on an open architecture encompassing technologies based on RAMI 4.0 and FIWARE Technologies which can support humans in production activities and providing basic implementation as a free, open-source solution. Including 30 components developed within SHOP4CF project by top RTOs from all over Europe. • Implementing pilots acting as the testing facilities and seeds for adoption of the platform. 4 large scale pilots lead by industrial leaders in Europe and 30 FSTP Pilots selected through 5 competitive open calls that will receive technical, business and access to investment support. • A marketplace as one-stop-shop for SMEs (developers and end users) to access essential services for digital transformation including business modelling, technical support, access to skills and finance. • Building a vibrant and growing community around the platform necessary to create the adoption critical mass. • Leading pre-standardization activities in the areas of collaborative robotics, AGVs and use of IoT devices on the shopfloor. SHOP4CF will continue its operations with a self-sustainable non-profit association with members all over Europe that could be integrated with the one created by DIH2 project. SHOP4CF will demonstrate that public funded research can help SMEs & Mid-Caps achieve digital excellence and global competitiveness through adopting advanced robotics solutions in human-centric digitalization

BEYOND aims to achieve a more interconnected European business acceleration industry in between ‘modest’ or ‘moderate’ and ‘strong’ or ‘leading’ acceleration ecosystems in Europe, and therefore directly contribute to foster the rise of investment flows from net contributor regions (leaders) towards ‘modest’ and ‘moderate’ regions as net beneficiaries, which might provide one effective solution against the above referred undesired geographical gap. BEYOND project will focus on: 1.- Testing a Self-Sovereign Digital Identity scheme (funding passport) that start-ups get no matter what accelerator they join. Through the funding passport start-ups can document their journey and get access to additional funding; 2.- Building a joint platform for the core acceleration enabling online acceleration and a joint framework for how start-ups are most efficiently developed; 3.- Sharing specific offers from the different project participants and resources to increase the value for start-ups; 4.- Developing an incentive structure where all partners benefit from providing high quality start-ups and develop their services; 5.- Creating a cross-region marketplace for raising funding to start-ups so start-ups are not as dependent on the local investor landscape. These 5 elements constitute the backbone of BEYOND’s Virtual Accelerator Marketplace (VAM) a trust framework to support joint business acceleration activities that will contribute in a sustainable manner to enhance a balanced interconnectedness of private investment flows and thus, contribute to dramatically improve quality and outreach of business acceleration services in developing innovation ecosystems. The VAM will be tested through 2 editions of a joint acceleration program co-designed by 5 business accelerators backed on their own VC Funds, representing moderate (BG, LT, PL) and leading regions (DK, ES), that will select and support 2 cohorts of 20 Startups that will receive access to mentoring and VC investors.