Cloud-Edge-IoT Spheres of Large-Scale Pilots

Project Information

CEI-Sphere

Grant agreement ID: 101189683

DOI

10.3030/101189683

EC signature date 4 October 2024

Start date 1 October 2024

End date 31 March 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 2 001 625,00

EU contribution

€ 2 001 625,00

Coordinated by

BLUSPECS SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CEI-Sphere (Cloud-Edge-IoT Spheres of Large-Scale Pilots)

Reporting period: 2024-10-01 to 2026-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

CEI Sphere aims to support the advancement and consolidation of the Cloud-to-Edge-to-IoT (CEI) computing continuum in Europe by facilitating coordination, knowledge exchange, and stakeholder engagement across relevant Horizon Europe initiatives. The project acts as a key Coordination and Support Action (CSA) focused on reinforcing collaboration among CEI stakeholders, increasing the visibility and uptake of CEI technologies, and supporting the long-term sustainability of CEI ecosystems across Europe. By connecting the broader CEI ecosystem, CEI Sphere fosters synergies between demand and supply-side actors, maximizes the impact of large-scale pilot projects (LSPs), and contributes to the realisation of a strong, open, and sovereign European CEI landscape.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

CEI Sphere places particular emphasis on collaboration with OCEI, as well as with COP-PILOT. During the first seven months of the project, all planned activities have been initiated or completed in accordance with the Grant Agreement (GA), and all corresponding deliverables have been submitted. The activities of this reporting period include: (1) A first assessment of the CEI ecosystem was carried out, mapping key trends, stakeholders, and market dynamics relevant to the CEI continuum (2) Initial collaboration channels were established with O-CEI and COP-PILOT projects and their respective large-scale pilots (LSPs), (3) A series of workshops were conducted with LSPs to deepen understanding of their stakeholders, maturity levels, and use case relevance (4) development of strategy for communication and dissemination to establish the link with the CEI ecosystem and engagement with relevant actors, guiding outreach efforts.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

CEI-Sphere’s approach to securing collaboration is to create “Spheres” that cluster the myriad of use cases in the LSPs. This cluster approach will help identify the challenges and synergies, in a way that is driven by market needs. Around the Spheres, some of the Task Forces (TFs) created under the current CSAs of the EUCloudEdgeIoT1 initiative
will deal with more horizontal issues (see 1.3 below). Underpinning all of CEI-Sphere’s activity will be an extensive dissemination and community engagement to provide the connection with the full range of Cloud to Edge IoT stakeholders, through online and in-person mechanisms that encourage openness, connectivity, networking and serendipity. These include a hackathon to test the robustness and value of the open-source components and encourage the reusability of the assets developed.