IoT systems today tend to be built around the concept of IoT/cloud convergence, integrating heterogeneous data streams within cloud infrastructures, and thus benefiting from the scalability, performance and capacity of the cloud. This approach is very efficient for some IoT applications such as big data processing problems. However, these architectures promote a centralized data collection and processing approach, which introduces several limitations in terms of supported applications and business models that they enable. The main goal of M-Sec project is to empower IoT stakeholders to develop, deploy and operate novel IoT applications based on a scalable highly decentralized paradigm, which facilitates incentivized peer-to-peer interactions between objects and people. The project will explore semantically interoperable interactions between people/objects according to a given social context, beyond their simple peer-to-peer information exchange and internetworking. Overall, the M-Sec paradigm will enable the introduction and implementation of specific classes of applications and services that are not efficiently supported by state-of-the-art architectures. The M-Sec project will deliver a set of concrete and added value main results: 1. M-Sec distributed, self-organized, robust and trusted IoT infrastructure that empowers IoT stakeholders to develop, deploy and operate novel multipurpose IoT applications for smart cities on top of smart objects. 2. An open IoT market of applications, data and services that provides the framework upon which objects and people can exchange value and defines the motivation incentives for humans and smart objects to interact. 3. A sustainable ecosystem of stakeholders, roles, tools and infrastructures upon which new entrants and other players can build and experiment with the future application services. 4. A parameterized model on how to replicate the M-Sec approach further and guarantee its return of investment and benefits.

Trust is essential to societies, and blockchain has the potential to shift trust in people and institutions to trust in technology. This view is in line with the recent emergence of less centralised paradigms for trust, that can offer concepts and techniques for efficiently operating large volumes of socially connected subjects, for example, peer-to-peer networking and the move from institutional and intermediary trust to modern era decentralised trust relying on technology. Decentralised architectures are much more appropriate for clustering subjects (users) and objects (e.g. media items) into communities and for maintaining social relationships. It is the main vision of the TreBlo project to nurture and facilitate beyond the state-of-the-art research on blockchain technology which will lead to more scalable blockchain based solutions and applications. The latter will contribute to ensuring the exchange of trustworthy and reliable content on social networks and media. To achieve this, the project will implement a series of open calls that will target academic and R&D companies research teams. They are invited to define and implement small scale research projects on two related use cases, obtaining technical and business support services from TreBlo: - Use case 1: Trust and reputation models on blockchains. This targets innovative applications, technologies, technical approaches and methodologies that increase the levels of trust in blockchain-based information exchange, with emphasis on user generated content on the Internet and social media, considering also data from IoT infrastructures. - Use case 2: Proof-of-validity and proof-of-location. The focus is on innovative mechanisms to increase transparency and trustworthiness of user generated genuine content. The users, as being part of a blockchain, can apply additional verification mechanisms to increase transparency, validity and high level of trustworthiness, such as Proof- of-Location and Proof-of Validity.

Digital technologies have transformed media content production and distribution in the global entertainment and media industry over the last two decades. The market is forecast to continue to grow over the next five years, and is currently estimated to be worth just over $2 trillion . Acute challenges remain, though, especially relating to the way in which digital content can be copied and freely distributed on the Internet, and how content contributors are compensated when their materials are used or bought through legitimate channels. The blockchain technology and the virtual currencies can provide the ideal, cost effective framework for payments, preserving privacy, low commission fees, instant financial transactions, without intermediaries. The main goal of the Bloomen proposal is to extend the use of the blockchain technology to handle different online user transactions, provide an innovative way of content creation, sharing, personalized consumption, monetization and copyrighting. In particular within the Bloomen project, blockchains will be used as a distributed database for media copyright information, for fast micropayments of media content, and for transparency in copyright management and monetization. The project will deliver among others innovative services for the media industry and its results will be validated in three pilot use cases: i) User generated content and news, sharing, copyrighting and monetizing through social media and blockchains, ii) Music industry digital content broadcasting in open, blockchain enabled markets, iii) Media content delivery through WebTV and cyrptocurrency paywalls. All three use cases will be operated by well established stakeholders in the broader media industry.

COPA EUROPE aims to address the exploding demand for non-linear sports consumption (live and eSports) by leveraging OTT and combining it with new set of media technologies that will democratise the consumer experience, enable cost-sensitive live video from anywhere, and personalize the distribution to change the experience of each viewer individually. COPA EUROPE will deliver a cloud-based infrastructure for harvesting, accommodating, transmitting and distributing digital media with regard to sport and competitive events, including the infrastructure needed to allow content creators and producers of live coverage to react to live outcomes, via innovative workflows. COPA EUROPE vision is founded on four main pillars, ripe with potential for future media industry innovation: Media AI, which implements a secure recommender system fuelled by FL, specifically tailored to support the launching of personalized OTT channels, incorporating a variety of data (video, audio, statistical data etc.) harmoniously blended with commercial offerings in order to provide an enriched experience, to promote the personalisation of the provided services. Transmedia Storytelling, which aims to aid both connected subscribers and media professionals in indexing, searching, navigating, synchronizing and editing compelling productions from heterogeneous media sources and a variety of social media channels. Semi professional cloud-based live content workflow, from live video contribution and transmission from anywhere, through basic tools for semi-professional content production leveraging on context-tailored transcoding and bonding transmission using multiple 5G links, and/or 4G together, to ensure reliability, video continuity, high resolution and user experience. Blockchain, which provides support for P2P network infrastructure necessary to deliver an efficient smart contract transaction ecosystem, and subsequently deliver a decentralized live stream to individual paying subscribers.