In context of the transition to low-carbon, green and sustainable steel production in Europe, disruptive technologies to reduce the environmental footprint as close to zero as possible, seamless digitalisation of production processes, and skilled people to co-design and understand the transformation process are necessary. DiGreeS will address these needs by implementing an integrated digitalisation approach across the steel value chain, enabling better use of process data collected and ensuring the involvement of human experience for easier industrial integration. The aim of DiGreeS is to develop a user-friendly digital platform for networked production based on novel and soft sensors and related approaches and models to support efficient feedstock verification and real-time control of electric arc furnace crude steel production, increasing process yield while improving the quality of intermediate and final steel products. In this context, the potential of artificial intelligence techniques will be fully exploited to support the optimal use of industrial data, and different scenarios specific to each use case will be modelled. The digital platform will be implemented and verified in industrial process lines of the three use cases: scrap/secondary raw material verification, optimisation of the electric arc furnace processes and optimisation of the levelling of steel sheets. DiGreeS aims to improve the quality of crude steel and finished products, optimize scrap usage, and improve energy efficiency in the steel production process. DiGreeS has the potential to save up to €800 million in costs annually and reduce CO2 emissions from the steelmaking industry by up to 6 million tonnes per year.

On March 10th 2016, the Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship stated very clear - digital transformation is not an option – it is a must! The European SME needs to explore the future potential of ICT, automation, sustainable and clean as well as human-centered work systems and processing technologies. According to Gunther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society (2016) and European business leaders areas like big data, the internet of things, cyber-physical systems and robotics offer great opportunities for industry. At a recent roundtable in Brussels on the Digital Transformation of Industry, ways to energize the digital transformation of Europe’s industrial sector across Europe were discussed, to raise the potential for increasing flexibility, efficiency, productivity, competitiveness – all helping to create jobs and growth transnationally - especially within SMEs. After all, Europe is a continent of SMEs - where nine out of ten companies are SMEs and, two out of three jobs are in SMEs. They have to be part of the digital journey; they are crucial to Europe´s growth and competitiveness. Together, sectors (C) Manufacturing 9,33%; (H) Transport and Storage 5,09%; (J) Information and Communication 4,44% and (M) Professionals Science and Technical Administration 18,13% comprise 37% of the 22,3 million SME. Most of the 8,25 million SME are not aware of the implications of being not prepared for this Business Transformation in order to emphasize on improvements, growth and competitiveness, yet.Increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship of owners, managers and staff can only be expected if sensitization and tailored measures are applied within these companies. However, to create value through the “Internet of things” and seize the opportunity for technological and process change, the commitment of each enterprise to identify and quantify its individual potential is required. The new approaches of digitalization and smart systems are often barely validated and potential impact is mostly not proven. Transformation towards digitized, smart systems is not a one-off activity but rather an ongoing process and could be describe as a lifelong learning process for an enterprise.In comparison to big companies with the financial strength to either hire consulting companies or to run own departments with a number of experts working on digitization and smart systems, especially SMEs do not have the same financial possibilities andtherefore are facing a lack of expertise, overview, knowledge with regard to technologies, methods, approaches their mutualinteraction as well as potential and risks. SMEs run the risk of waiting too long with the migration towards smart systems and their digitization, or pursue no holistic approach for operational improvements or possible impacts on their business model. For exactly this purpose BITTMAS project consortium including experts from Germany (Reutlingen University, project leader; IBK – Management Solutions GmbH, International Industrial Consult AG), Austria (Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH), Turkey (Sabanci University), Spain (GAIA - Association of Electronic and Information Technologies in the Basque Country), Ireland (Waterford Chamber of Commerce) and Romania (SC IPA SA Craiova) developed the BITTMAS solution.For easing the business transformation and to keep pace with the rapid developments BITTMAS solution supports training and self-driven processes for the required business transformation through employees and managers of SME by providing:- a video library and glossary to inform and sensitize the users with regard to digitalisation and smart systems,- the self-assessment DITRASS (working title within BITTMAS project: DigiPotAS) to determine the potentials for process enhancements and new business solutions based on a tailored maturity model,- online coaching and training modules to learn or to enhance knowledge regarding to 16 digitalisation concepts,- the self-assessment IMTRASS (working title within BITTMAS project: DigiSuRA) to determine further supporting requirements for digital transformation and- references and use cases of BITTMAS solution,- a free entry version of the developed BITTMAS Platform (Release Candidate).The BITTMAS Release Candidate, consisting of the learning platform, coaching and training modules, a self-assessment to analyse digitalisation potentials and a self-assessment to consider further requirements focused on nine criteria based on the EFQM Model, improves and extends the range of high quality learning offerings for adults and strengthen the key competences in VET curricula. Digitalisation and smart systems do not only appear in the industrial and economic environment but also in the daily social life and the respectively required competencies can therefore be referred to as transversal. The funded 3-year project was successfully completed by public launch of the BITTMAS platform in August 2019.

ReMuNet identifies and signals disruptive events and assesses their impact on multimodal transport corridors. It reacts quickly and seamlessly upon disruptive events in real-time. It supports TMS-providers to improve route planning resilience. ReMuNet communicates alternative, pre-defined, multimodal transport routes to logistics operators and subsequently to truck drivers, locomotive drivers and barge captains. Through this, it enables a faster and adaptive multimodal network response. ReMuNet orchestrates route utilization, suggests transshipment points and optimizes capacity allocation, minimizing damage and shortening the recovery time. What is ReMuNets core objective? As trailblazer for the Physical Internet, ReMuNet pursues the vision to enable and incentivize synchro-modal relay-transport on European rail, road, and inland waterways to increase the holistic network resilience. It significantly reduces emissions and boosts freight transport corridor efficiency in case of disruptive events. How will ReMuNet achieve this? 1. A standardized method to describe multimodal transport networks. The proposed standard is derived from existing approaches and developed together with critical stakeholders to ensure Europe-wide practicability and acceptance 2. An algorithm capable of calculating multimodal route alternatives and capacity utilization in the face of disruptive events. It uses real-time data for dynamic synchromodal alternative route planning 3. A collaborative platform connecting relevant freight operators and enables them to manage disruptions. This is done by providing secure and resilient digital logistic and network management tools enabling alternative route planning information and orchestrating event-based synchromodal relay transportation 4. Using Reinforcement Learning to model and evaluate alternative courses of action, providing the basis for a self-learning, adaptive multimodal European freight transport and logistics network

Addressing European Policies for 2020 and beyond the “Power Semiconductor and Electronics Manufacturing 4.0” (SemI40) project responds to the urgent need of increasing the competitiveness of the Semiconductor manufacturing industry in Europe through establishing smart, sustainable, and integrated ECS manufacturing. SemI40 will further pave the way for serving highly innovative electronic markets with products powered by microelectronics “Made in Europe”. Positioned as an Innovation Action it is the high ambition of SemI40 to implement technical solutions on TRL level 4-8 into the pilot lines of the industry partners. Challenging use cases will be implemented in real manufacturing environment considering also their technical, social and economic impact to the society, future working conditions and skills needed. Applying “Industry 4.0”, “Big Data”, and “Industrial Internet” technologies in the electronics field requires holistic and complex actions. The selected main objectives of SemI40 covered by the MASP2015 are: balancing system security and production flexibility, increase information transparency between fields and enterprise resource planning (ERP), manage critical knowledge for improved decision making and maintenance, improve fab digitalization and virtualization, and enable automation systems for agile distributed production. SemI40’s value chain oriented consortium consists of 37 project partners from 5 European countries. SemI40 involves a vertical and horizontal supply chain and spans expertise and partners from raw material research, process and assembly innovation and pilot line, up to various application domains representing enhanced smart systems. Through advancing manufacturing of electronic components and systems, SemI40 contributes to safeguard more than 20.000 jobs of people directly employed in the participating facilities, and in total more than 300.000 jobs of people employed at all industry partners’ facilities worldwide.

The NEO-CYCLE project aims to demonstrate at TRL6 the sustainable upcycling of spent NdFeB magnets comings from hard disks drives (HDDs), reaching high quality end products for 4 case studies: pharmaceutical, ammonia, fertilizers, and polymers industries; and will include necessary paths to reach the market uptake. To reach this aim, NEO-CYCLE involves all the relevant actors in the value chain, from public authorities to WEEE recycler companies, technology developers, associations, NGOs, SMEs and commercial companies in the targeted sectors. A summary of the main activities in provide below: 1) Demonstration of a Solid-State Chlorination, Electrochemical and Purification processes at TRL6 to separate Nd, Fe and B reaching market needed purities. 2) Demonstration of upcycling approaches for Nd, Fe, and B at TRL6 by developing industrial catalysts for the four case studies. 3) Validation of the quality and performance of final products by leading commercial companies 4) Including processes and products digitalisation: mathematical modelling and optimisation, monitoring and digital twins of plants, and digital product passports. 5) Sustainability assessments (LCA, LCC, s-LCA, circularity, risk and energy efficiency, green logistics and TEA) to demonstrate the techno-economic and social viability of solutions, including a guide to consider the gender dimension in the different project stages. 6) Paving the way to the market uptake by a) assessments of current legislations and future development, b) performing a standardisation roadmap, c) plan and develop communication, dissemination and exploitation activities including clustering with other projects and at least 13 stakeholder engagement events, d) creating new business models for at least 11 Key Expected Results, and e) development of 13 training courses targeting soft and technical skills to promote inclusion and new jobs in the value chains.