The European Commission launches Horizon Europe calls with a budget of over €290 million to promote digital, space and industrial innovation.
LThe European Commission has announced the opening of the new calls of the Horizon Europe programme under the Digital, Industry, and Space Work Programme. This ambitious programme makes available a significant budget of more than EUR 290 million, with the aim of driving innovation and technological progress in areas crucial to Europe’s future.
An investment of EUR 85 million is specifically earmarked to stimulate research in the field of data and information technology, with a special focus on artificial intelligence (AI). It is expected that part of these funds will be used to finance innovations in AI-based data operations, thus supporting progress in this vital area. In addition, large-scale pilot projects will be funded to support industrial platforms based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and next-generation edge computing technologies, which have applications in various key sectors.
Allocation of further Horizon Europe funds
The Horizon Europe calls also include an allocation of EUR 206 million for research projects that aim to strengthen Europe’s digital and technological competitiveness. These projects will also contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal, supporting the continent’s sustainable development and ecological transition.
Of these funds, EUR 60 million will be invested in research projects that explore the use of AI and data-related solutions to support the objectives of the European Green Deal. These include projects that use robotic data and AI solutions to optimise the use of energy and resources in manufacturing value chains.
A further EUR 76 million is allocated to research in areas such as artificial intelligence, data and robotics. This funding will enable the development of research projects that enable robots to perform non-repetitive tasks in everyday contexts, promoting the wider integration of robotics in industry and society. Other projects will focus on using artificial intelligence and data to simplify and speed up software development. Funding will also be provided for research in photonic technologies, aimed at improving the quality of communication networks and the creation of a ‘photonic innovation factory’ to accelerate the uptake of these technologies in European industry.
I rimanenti 70 milioni di euro verranno investiti in progetti come lo sviluppo di server cloud to edge, essenziali per realizzare un’architettura europea aperta di cloud ed edge computing. Un focus specifico sarà posto sull’integrazione dei materiali bidimensionali (2D) nelle tecnologie dei semiconduttori, oltre alla creazione di premi europei annuali per coloro che contribuiscono significativamente allo sviluppo di software e hardware open-source.
Project proposals must be in specific categories and respect certain TRL levels (Technology Readiness Level). The calls include topics such as ‘AI-driven data operations and compliance technologies’, ‘Industrial leadership in AI, Data and Robotics’ and ‘Open Source for Cloud/Edge to support European Digital Autonomy’. These calls, with a deadline of 19 March 2024, require proposals to develop synergies with previous Horizon Europe initiatives and results, such as the European Transformers Initiative and the European RISC-V working group.
The new Horizon Europe calls represent a significant opportunity for the European scientific and industrial community, including Malta’s, to actively contribute to the continent’s innovation and technological growth, with a keen eye on the goals of sustainability and digital competitiveness.
Are you interested in participating in the call? Do you have a project that is eligible for funding and are you looking for partners? Fill in and submit the form, and we will put you in touch with our consultants for an initial feasibility check of your project.
