The EXCESS project builds up on nearly-zero energy multi-storey building (consumption below primary energy threshold) residential concepts of the main 4 EU climatic zones towards Energy fleXible user-CEntric poSitive houseS (EXCESS). EXCESS defines a positive energy building (PEB) as a building that produces more energy than they use, with high RES self- consumption rate (instead of using the grid for solving seasonal balancing issues) over a time span of one year. RES and smart technologies exist, but complete packages for different climates do not. Important technical developments for plus energy building materials and other individual technologies are required to address specific climate related needs in order to meet the PEB level; especially in harsh climates. Integration is needed for upgrading single technologies to be part of a large orchestra enabling also user-context-aware energy flexible services between utilities and customers (selling flexibility). These will unlock additional revenue streams that reduce the lifetime cost of the developed PEB solutions, making them affordable also large portion of the society. Thus, EXCESS will advance new materials, technologies and integrated technological systems (TRL5-7) promoting a user centric approach (building tenants), capitalized on new ICT opportunities, for optimizing the interplay of local generation, storage, consumption at the building and district level. The demonstration activities in each of the climatic zones (Austria, Belgium, Finland and Spain) will be accompanied by co-innovation, replication and exploitation activities to maximize the project technical, social and economic impact and to prepare for a future market roll out of the PEB concept by also scouting energy efficiency funding opportunities.

Project FISHY aims at designing, developing, validating and demonstrating a coordinated framework for cyber resilience provisioning to guarantee a trusted supply chain of ICT systems, built upon distributed, dynamic, and often fundamentally insecure and heterogeneous ICT infrastructures. We propose to design a novel FISHY platform able to securely orchestrate a supply chain consisting of complex ICT systems end-to-end, - from the IoT ecosystem and the edge and cloud infrastructure over to the networking infrastructure connecting -, and enabling functionalities related to risks and vulnerabilities management, accountability and mitigation strategies as well as security metrics and evidence-based security assurance. Conceptually, FISHY platform uses intent-based interfaces to orchestrate both existing and beyond state-of-the-art security appliances in composed ICT scenarios leveraging capabilities of programmable network and IT infrastructure through a coordinated management. FISHY implements new strategies to leveraging data analytics, distributed ledger technology, intent-based security service orchestration, artificial intelligence and programmable network infrastructure. The platform is envisioned not only to facilitating adaptive system reconfigurations, but also reacting to and defying the effects of cyber attacks in real time of the ICT supply chain end-to-end, and in particular in the IoT domain. Finally, the FISHY proposes a comprehensive validation and demonstration strategy built upon three use cases from different sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and transportation. The expected project outcome is a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) of the FISHY platform, along with the dissemination and ambitious exploitation strategies.

Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the next big concepts to support societal changes and economic growth, being one of the fastest growing ICT segments. A specific challenge is to leverage existing technology strengths to develop solutions that sustain the European industry and values. To address this, IoT-NGIN introduces novel research and innovation concepts, to establish itself as the “IoT Engine” that will fuel the Next Generation of IoT as a part of the European Next Generation Internet. First, IoT-NGIN uncovers a patterns based meta-architecture that encompasses evolving, legacy, and future IoT architectures. Second, it optimizes IoT/M2M and 5G/MCM communications, including using secure-by-design micro-services to extend the edge cloud paradigm. Thirdly, it enables user and self-aware, autonomous IoT systems through privacy-preserving federated ML and ambient intelligence, with AR support for humans. Finally, IoT-NGIN researches towards distributed IoT cybersecurity and privacy, for example, using Self-Sovereign Identities and interconnected DLTs to implement Meta-Level Digital Twins. IoT-NGIN will be validated via more than 30 types of heterogeneous IoT devices, ranging from tiny resource constrained IoT sensors to intelligent, autonomous buses, drones and robots, deployed in one of the most prestigious IoT/5G lab (OneLab) and five Living Labs: the “Twin Cities” Living Lab in Helsinki/Tallinn, a fully customizable Smart Agri Living Lab in Greece, the BOSCH and the ABB employee-friendly Industry 4.0 facilities in Barcelona and Helsinki, and a hybrid field-lab facility focused on Smart Energy, interconnecting Terni City and EDD Eurolab in Aachen. Beyond partners exploitation plans, to maximize impact and sustainability, IoT-NGIN will push all results via alliances, clusters, SDOs and DIHs, including FIWARE, BDVA, and AIOTI, offer developed software as open source, and organize open Open Calls to engage FGPA/ASIC/fabless and IoT application developers.

NEMO aims to establish itself as the game changer of AIoT-Edge-Cloud Continuum by introducing an open source, flexible, adaptable, cybersecure and multi-technology meta-Operating System, sustainable during and after the end of the project, via the Eclipse foundation (NEMO consortium member). To achieve technology maturity and massive adoption, NEMO will not “reinvent the wheel”, but leverage and interface existing systems, technologies and Open Standards, and introduce novel concepts, tools, testing facilities/Living Labs and engagement campaigns to go beyond today’s state of the art, make breakthrough research and create sustainable innovation, already within the project lifetime. NEMO will introduce innovations at different layers of the protocol stack, enabling on-device Cybersecure Federated ML/DRL, deliver time-triggered (TSN) multipath ad-hoc/hybrid self-organized and zero-delay failback/self-healing multi-cloud clusters, multi-technology Secure Execution Environment and on-Service Level Objectives meta-Orchestrator, Plugin and Apps Lifecycle Management and Intent Based programming tools. Moreover, NEMO will be “by design” and “by innovation” cybersecure and trusted adopting state of the art mechanisms such as Mutual TLS and Digital Identity Attestation. NEMO will be validated in 5 most prominent industrial sectors (i.e. Farming, Energy, Mobility/City, Industry 4.0 and Media/XR) and 8 use cases in 5 +1 Living Labs, utilizing more than 30 heterogenous IoT devices and real 5G infrastructure. The impact will not only safeguard EU position in data economy and applications verticals, but lower energy efficiency, reduce pesticides and CO2 footprint. Beyond Eclipse adoption, NEMO sustainability, wide acceptance and SMEs engagement will be achieved via open source ecosystems, standardization initiatives and 2 Open Calls that will provide financial support of 1,8M€ and access to NEMO Living Labs to SMEs and enlarge NEMO by at least 16 new entities.

SYNERGIES introduces a reference Energy Data Space Implementation that will attempt to unleash the data-driven innovation and sharing potential across the energy data value chain by leveraging on data and intelligence coming from diverse energy actors (prioritizing on consumers and introducing them as data owners/ providers) and coupled sectors (buildings, mobility) and effectively making them reachable and widely accessible. In turn, it will facilitate the transition from siloed data management approaches to collaborative ones which promote the creation of a data and intelligence ecosystem around energy (and other types of) data and enable the realization of data (intelligence)-driven innovative energy services that (i) value the flexibility capacity of consumers in optimizing energy networks’ operation, maximizing RES integration and self-consumption at different levels of the system (community, building), (ii) evidently support network operators in optimally monitoring, operating, maintaining and planning their assets and coordinating between each other (TSO-DSO collaboration) for enhancing system resilience, (iii) create an inclusive pathway towards the energy transition, through consumer empowerment, awareness and informed involvement in flexibility market transactions, (iv) step on real data streams and intelligence to deliver personalized and automated features to increase prosumer acceptance and remove intrusiveness, (v) facilitate the establishment of sustainable LECs by enhancing their role with Aggregator and BSP functions, and (vi) establish solid grounds for the creation of a new economy around energy data produced and shared across a complex value chain, in a secure, trustful, fair and acceptable manner. SYNERGIES will be extensively validated in 3 large-scale demonstration sites in Greece, Spain and Denmark involving complete value chains, diverse data sources, heterogeneous energy systems/assets and spanning different socio-economic characteristics.