evaGuide is a Security Management Platform for enhanced situation awareness and real-time adaptive evacuation strategies for large venues for sports and entertainment. evaGuide aims to address the needs of the safety of large facility visitors during complex evacuation processes, following normal and abnormal events (crises) towards the creation of an easily deployable system that will be able to timely identify new threats, designate and sustain a Location based Dynamic Evacuation Route (LDER) that improves all corresponding response times under any circumstances. Moreover it will support the complete lifecycle of evacuation planning, simulating complex scenarios, training of safety personnel and assessment of the performed actions. The results of the market research that has been performed among the 300 member stadia of ESSMA (the European Stadium & Safety Management Association) revealed that there is a clear need for a project like evaGuide that addresses all the phases of the evacuation lifecycle and offers superior situational awareness, while at the same time existing and emerging regulations from FIFA/UEFA need to be met. The business sustainability/exploitation potential has been validated in the Feasibility Study, which is an integral part of this proposal. The project outcome will be a fully functional evaGuide platform demonstrator delivered for operational use to one stadium (one of the ESSMA member stadia, selected on M2). The demonstrator will perform according to the adapted requirements defined by ESSMA and the stakeholders involved (finalized on M12), will be fully integrated (by M28) and tested (M29), ready to be commercially exploited by the joint commercialization entity defined during the last months of the project (M30).

Energy-intensive industries, embedded in many strategic value chains, make up more than half of the energy consumption of the European industry and reducing their CO2 intensity is crucial for meeting the objectives of the Paris agreement. Within EIIs, metallurgy poses a major challenge due to the trade-off that must be found between maintaining economic profitability, while progressively implementing the required transformations for a greener production. While digitalisation is generating a data deluge, Artificial Intelligence cannot be fully adopted due to limitations to share data between several factories and the heterogeneity of systems that hinders the replicability of AI. ALCHIMIA aims to build a platform based on Federated Learning and Continual Learning to help big European metallurgy industries unlock the full potential of AI to support the needed transformations to create high-quality, competitive, efficient and green manufacturing processes. The project will address the challenges of the steel sector, creating an innovative system that automates and optimises the production process dynamically with a holistic approach that includes scrap recycling and steelmaking. ALCHIMIA will find an optimal mix to reduce energy consumption, emissions and waste generation of steelmaking while guaranteeing to obtain high-quality products. The replicability and scalability of ALCHIMIA will be enabled through a complementary use case for the manufacturing of automotive parts. The developed system will be used for prognostic optimisation of the mix of input materials charged in the furnaces to obtain a certain product quality that matches the customers' specifications while reducing the environmental impact and the energy consumption. ALCHIMIA will not only seek the optimal mix for the charge of metallurgy furnace, it will also determine the best combination of learning capacities to enable a smooth green transition for all industries thanks to unprecedented collaboration

Advances in immersive technology are an important driver of the experience economy, enhancing the breadth, depth and intensity of the visiting experience at arts and cultural institutions. Yet, they usually are neither readily available nor broadly accessible. First, they require specific developments that can hardly be carried out by most institutions. Second, the inherent affordance of immersive propositions is questioned by the currently evolving world health situation. The objective of the Artcast4D project is to develop a technological framework and tools that will unleash the potential of EU CCIs for designing and developing cost-effective, non-invasive, immersive and interactive users experiences. Using both academic and industrial approaches, it relies on theoretical and experimental research, open source software and hardware development together with challenging case studies and onsite beta testing implementations. The innovation lies in the ability to create immersive environments in open spaces, with minimally intrusive projection technology, on the capability to design interactive applications with crowd movement and sensing capabilities, and on the open source availability and ability to extend the solutions. Artcast4D will technically and financially promote the implementation of the technology outside the cultural institutions, implementing 4 pilots in cities around the world (Issy-les-Moulineaux, Hounslow, Valencia, Athens), each one with different artistic topics and experiences, and bringing together creative actors and industrial partners with the civil society. All pilots will include training workshops, and open training modules will be designed for developers and artists. The projects outcomes will also help to derive policy guidelines on how to strengthen the competitiveness and innovation potential of CCIs on national level and EU-level.

Advancements in digital transformation have enriched the interactive experience of cultural heritage. The adoption of digital technologies has benefited the development of virtual museum tours, preservation of cultural assets, digitised archives enabling broader and engaging means of access to cultural heritage. Despite critical advances, structural deficiencies remain: lack of accessibility for all; limited opportunities for all members of society to participate in cultural and creative industries on equal basis; and limited interoperable digital repositories for archiving accessible multisensory cultural assets and related archival structures. With one billion people experiencing some form of disability and one-fifth of these experiencing significant disabilities, access or opportunities to engage with cultural assets is not equally available to all. MuseIT aims to co-design, develop, and co-evaluate a multisensory, user-centred platform for enriched engagement with cultural assets with inclusion and equal opportunity for all as core principles. The MuseIT innovation is rooted in multisensory representations of cultural heritage which extend beyond the visual and auditory senses. More specifically, MuseIT will: a) co-design and develop multisensory representations and rendering of cultural assets, b) develop services for inclusive remote co-creation of multi-modal born-digital cultural assets, and c) develop formal specifications and strategies for inclusive archival preservation of cultural heritage. Participatory co-design activities will be integral to enable users with disabilities to be involved in decisions and designs that will affect their lives. Enriched experiences of cultural assets created by MuseIT will not be limited to this group and is likely to enhance the level of participation and enjoyment for all people. Impacts are likely to include the democratization of cultural asset experiences, and tangible growth in creative and cultural industries.

The GuardAI project seeks to enhance the security of edge AI systems, addressing their critical vulnerabilities. Emphasis is placed on high-stakes domains, as outlined in the EU’s AI Act, where these systems, including drones, connected and autonomous vehicles, and network edge infrastructure, are becoming widespread and will play a pivotal role in making crucial decisions. These cutting-edge applications heavily rely on real-time decision-making and the processing of sensitive data, rendering them susceptible to various security threats and adversarial attacks. Therefore, the overarching objective of GuardAI is to develop the next generation of resilient AI algorithms tailored for edge applications. Leveraging cutting-edge technological advancements, the project will develop innovative solutions to ensure the integrity, security, and resilience of these systems, fostering trust, and accelerating the safe adoption of AI-driven technologies. A holistic contextual understanding will be integrated, enabling systems to adapt and make informed decisions in dynamic environments. Through a multi-disciplinary and multifaceted approach, by bringing together researchers, industry experts, government agencies, AI practitioners, and advanced threat analysis methods, and robust AI algorithms, GuardAI aspires to create a paradigm shift in AI security. The development of standardized evaluation criteria forges a path to certification frameworks, and real-world insights facilitate a systematic approach to ensuring security-by-design concepts. Embracing a holistic approach, GuardAI also examines ethical considerations in AI technology development to promote ethically sound digital landscapes. Overall, the project will strive to elevate the standards of secure AI systems through cutting-edge advancements and a comprehensive, collaborative approach.