In order to set directions for the project activity, several analyses have been concluded. These analyses have identified 130+ ICT Networks and Projects in EU, and 300+ in the US, have studied over 35 Policy documents and regulations from EU and US side and covered over 45 EU and US ICT programmes in the overview.
The first major analysis provided the Panorama of the ICT landscape in the EU and the US, including information on policies, regulations, programmes and networks in the EU and US. The document identifies gaps and opportunities, the key challenges in the selected domains and open problems, and the needs for supporting policy measures and strategic EU-US initiatives (both policy and research related).
The second major analysis relating to industrial drivers, societal needs, and priorities for EU-US ICT collaboration was performed on the basis of 70+ interviews with industry representatives from both large and small companies in Europe and the US, covering 18 industry sectors. Overall this produced 61 recommendations, however, there were common themes put forward by different sectors such as standards for interoperability of interconnects, wireless communications, protocols for data exchange, the need for data governance, clarity on data ownership, regulation for privacy and the strong need for security. The most fertile areas for collaboration were identified to be in the areas of Smart Transportation and Smart Cities.
Together with the results stemming from the analysis of opportunities in relevant US programmes for EU organisations and vice versa, all the information has been integrated into a mobile application and online tool, the so-called PICASSO “CROSSROADS – Your EU-US ICT info-hub”, aimed at being the EU-US ICT collaboration info hub. These web pages and mobile app gather valuable information specifically for the three technical focus areas of the project, cover 80+ main ICT open Calls (EU and US) and over 350+ ICT projects and networks’ lists organised by topics, as well as information on numerous other relevant events and documents.
All PICASSO Expert Groups have worked in a core team of at least 6 members from the EU and the US each, but ensured taking into account the insights of the wider community. Public events have been organised for this purpose by each Expert Group, such as the Trans-Atlantic Workshop on Public Private Partnerships for Big Data, which took place in Versailles, France, on November 20th, 2017 in conjunction with the European Big Data Value Forum 2017 and which was organised by National Science Foundation (NSF) Big Data Innovation Hubs, in collaboration with the PICASSO Big Data Expert Group, BDVA and INRIA. In addition, two Symposia have been organised by PICASSO in collaboration with other relevant initiatives and organisations, that brought together technical and policy experts, as the agendas combined key notes and sessions from all PICASSO domains. Co-organisation partners had contributed to the agenda through additional sessions, providing thus an outlook to complementary topics such as transport, cybersecurity, etc. The first Symposium, organised as “Trans-Atlantic Symposium on ICT Technology and Policy - 5G Networks, Big Data, Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems for a smart society” took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 19-20, 2017 and gathered some 90 attendees from industry, governmental agencies, and academia. The second edition co-organised with the Wilson Center as “2nd Annual Transatlantic Symposium on ICT Technology and Policy - Leveraging People, Technology, and Information for a Smart and Connected Society” in Washington, DC, on June 18-19, 2018 and featured on a live webcast, ensuring wider outreach and impact.
All relevant information can be found on the public project website:
http://www.picasso-project.eu/(opens in new window)
