The miniaturisation of sensing, actuating, and computing components together with the increasing number of interacting systems in strongly connected environments, and the growing complexity of such systems have triggered a paradigm shift. CPS concepts address challenges for system implementation such as increasing complexity and flexibility. These challenges and the need to optimise performance and comply with essential requirements like safety and security raise many questions that are partially addressed by current research in areas such as transport, health, production, smart grids and smart cities already. Nevertheless, there is still a huge gap between theoretical concepts, technical developments, and successful application, as well as considerable differences with regard to propagation and maturity of CPS between application domains and along the value chain. Strategic action is needed to bring the relevant stakeholders together and to facilitate mutually beneficial collaborations between them. Road2CPS has been conceived to respond to this situation by • Analysing impact from past and ongoing projects, identifying gaps and bridging efforts towards impact multiplication • Developing technology, application and innovation strategy roadmaps for CPS to serve as a catalyst for early adoption of CPS technologies • Enhancing CPS implementation and exposing exploitation opportunities via case studies • Developing recommendations for future research priorities and implementation strategies • Building a CPS constituency – bringing together key players into targeted task forces to contribute to the Road2CPS action plan This will provide European organisations with the direction required to establish their future visions of CPS environments, supporting their efforts to stay at the forefront of new developments and preparing them for future challenges in the industrial application of CPSs; thus reinforcing the leading position of the European industry in CPS.

ENIGMA shall achieve excellence in the protection of CGs and artefacts from man-made threats by contributing to identification, traceability, and provenance research of CGs as well as by safeguarding and monitoring of endangered heritage sites. ENIGMA objectives are designed to help the involved stakeholders better respond to this complex, and multi-dimensional problem, and leverage active collaboration by fostering and enabling interlinking of databases, and evidence-based deployment of preventative measures.

Τhe strategic objective of SPADE is to develop an Intelligent Ecosystem to address the multiple purposes concept in the light of deploying UAVs to promote sustainable digital services for the benefit of a large scope of various end users in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, and livestock. This includes individual UAV usability, UAV type applicability (e.g., swarm, collaborative, autonomous, tethered), UAV governance models availability and trustworthiness. Multi-purposes will be further determined in the sensing dataspace reusability based on trained AI/Machine Learning (ML) models. These will enable sustainability and resilience of the overall life cycle of developing, setting up, offering, providing, testing, validating, refining as well as enhancing digital transformations and ‘innovation building’ services in Forestry, Cropping and Livestock Farming. Pilot prototypes will contribute towards greater challenges such as deforestation, precision cropping and animal welfare. First, SPADE will create a digital platform that is able to realise the potential benefits to be reaped from the use of drones. This platform is making drone operations better accessible and controllable, as well as providing a service channel for value added services enabled by drones. Second, SPADE is demonstrating three innovative use cases of drones making use of the digital platform. While demonstrating the use cases, the benefits coming from the use of drones are analysed and quantified, on a detailed stakeholder level basis. This will demonstrate the new business opportunities. The demonstrations/pilots will also serve as an analysis platform to investigate the regulatory framework at international and national level. Open calls will provide 12 further use cases.

Depopulation, mostly characterized by emigration of young people, is occurring in rural areas all over Europe. This has brought to an ageing phenomenon, as well as the emergence of several structural problems such as fewer job opportunities, degradation of infrastructures and a decreasing offer of services of general interest. However, the revolution in digitalisation with an increase of remote and location-free work opportunities is offering the chance to redirect some rural migration flows back. Interventions are thus needed to take up this opportunity and build on trends such as multi-local living to promote new greener, smaller, sustainable and innovative growth models. It is there where SMART ERA intervenes. The project will foster resilience in rural areas, by upgrading and co-designing, co-developing and co-validating with local communities a set of smart solutions, integrated within Smart Innovation Packages (SIPs) able to tackle pressing socio-economic and environmental challenges and promote a community-led transition pathway that will empower rural people to act for change. SMART ERA’s main ambitions are: a) building the first large-scale European-wide solution for systematic rural data screening and smartness analysis; b) using co-design methods and techniques to involve residents and stakeholders in the design and validation of SIPs, as well as in the collection of old and creation of new data sources; c) proposing a unified Smartness/Digital Maturity assessment method; d) providing unique and timely evidence-based and performance-focused recommendations to upgrade the new local, national and European policy instruments and enhance their efficiency and efficacy in supporting smart villages across the EU; e) fostering cooperation among pilot regions, as well as among the four EU macro-regional strategies and improve their rural communities’ ability to address socio-economic and environmental challenges.

Movement is at the heart of any city. Urban mobility faces significant challenges from two global megatrends: growing urbanisation and ageing population. Light electric vehicles (EL-Vs) could represent a viable solution to traffic congestion and pollution in cities. However, their successful integration into the urban transport system requires a clear understanding of the individual consumer needs. By involving human science and transportation specialists, the STEVE partners have developed a framework to interpret these forces. Focus will be on mature cities of medium size (Torino: 800.000 inhabitants, Villach 60.000, Calvià 60.000, Venaria 35.000), where STEVE will generate data to support the design of next generation EL Vs, and provoke the mind-shift necessary for swift market penetration of them. The primary idea of STEVE is to implement and test a human-centric approach to electro-Mobility-as-a-Service (eMaaS), according to the “Move2Me” vision of the consortium. This will provide low-cost and financially sustainable EL V solutions and “gamified” services, to enhance users’ awareness, engagement and vehicle energy efficiency. A core item of STEVE is a low-cost electric quadricycle developed by a worldwide OEM in Turin, with start-of-production expected in 2018 at a market price of €8000. The quadricycle will integrate high-technology contents with respect to the current competitors, and will be pilot-tested, together with many other EL-Vs, during extensive demonstration phases in the four STEVE cities STEVE will guarantee a strong impact in terms of business development and jobs, and enhance the European competitiveness in the eMaaS sector while also leveraging Manufacturing. The consortium will also give a primary role to SMEs: while large enterprises will provide the underlying technologies, the services will be mainly designed and operated by SMEs, deeply involved in the local supply chains and adaptable to the specific customers’ needs.