STAR*track aims at expanding the Built4People Innovation Cluster (B4PIC) network developed in the HE project NEBULA and strengthening and supporting B4PICs and their members to deliver sustainable and people-centric innovation and accelerate uptake by regional value and supply chains. This overarching objective will be achieved by: - Integrating new B4PICS: 6 new B4PICs will be set-up in regions so far not covered by the B4PIC network and receive direct support. Outreach activities to innovation clusters will be made in order to reach the B4P contractual target of 10-15 fully mature B4PICs by 2028. - Creating enabling conditions and providing tools and training for B4PICs and their members for increased development and market transfer of sustainable construction and renovation innovation. - Accelerating the demonstration of holistic and inclusive solutions with high market potential through tailored support mechanisms (incl. access to demo sites) - Facilitating access to funding for demonstration, scale-up and implementation of sustainable innovation by local/regional construction value chains - Paving the way for replication, wide-spread use of the supporting tools and services, and continuous expansion of the Built4People network based on a UE27 replication plan with a long-term vision and business model. In order to make B4PICs attractive for different target groups of the innovation value chain, concrete value propositions will be defined to highlight the impact of B4PIC with respect to improvement of innovation capacities and development of sustainable business opportunities. The impact of the B4PIC network and the B4PICs themselves will be measured to show their significance for the green, digital, and people-centric transition of the Built Environment sector, the up-skilling of innovation actors, and the acceleration of construction and renovation products and solutions towards climate neutrality, in line with the impacts laid out in the Work Programme.

Over the last years, the importance and need for broadband and high-speed connectivity has constantly increased. The Covid-19 pandemic has even accelerated this process towards a more connected society. But this holds mainly true for urban communities. In Europe a 13% lack access still persists, and mainly concerns the most rural and remote areas. Those are the most challenging to address since they are the least commercially attractive. COMMECT aims at bridging the digital divide, by providing quality, reliable, and secure access for all in rural and remote areas. The goal of extending broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas will be achieved by integrating Non-Terrestrial Networks with terrestrial cellular XG networks, and low-cost Internet of Things (IoT). Artificial Intelligence, Edge and Network Automation will reduce energy consumption both at connectivity and computing level. Participatory approach with end-users and ICT experts working together on development challenges will be the key for the digitalization of the sector. To ensure the rich exchange of best-practice and technical knowledge among the actors of the agro-forest value chain, COMMECT will set up five Living Labs across and outside Europe, where end-users “pain” and (connectivity) “gains” will be largely discussed, from different perspectives. COMMECT aims at contributing to a balanced territorial development of the EU’s rural areas and their communities by making smart agriculture and forest services accessible to all. COMMECT will facilitate that, by developing a decision-making support tool able to advise on the best connectivity solution, according to technical, socio-economic, and environmental considerations. This tool, incorporating collaborative business models, will be a key enabler for jobs, business, and investment in rural areas, as well as for improving the quality of life in areas such as healthcare, education, e-government, among others.

The npSCOPE project aims at developing a new integrated instrument (the nanoparticle-scope) optimised for providing a complete physico-chemical characterisation of nanoparticles both in their pristine form or embedded in complex matrices such as biological tissues. Using sophisticated correlative data processing methodologies and algorithms based on statistical methods in conjunction with appropriate visualisation methods of the results, the npSCOPE instrument will allow rapid, accurate and reproducible measurements. The instrument will be based on the Gas Field Ion Source as a key enabling technology, which we will combine with a number of new developments in the field of electron and ion microscopy. We will progressively ramp up the TRL of the instrument and associated methodologies to reach TRL 7 by the end of the project. The new technology, and all related processes and methodologies, will be validated via round-robin studies performed independently by several partner institutions, crosschecked with conventional analysis technologies to demonstrate the advancements and capabilities of the npSCOPE technology and benchmarked in representative case studies. Given the low sample quantities needed and the strong potential of the instrument to generate high-quality physico-chemical data on nanomaterials, both ex situ and in situ, npSCOPE will allow a major step forward in defining key descriptors for read-across, grouping, in silico modelling and creating meaningful relationships with biological activity data for QSAR purposes. To reach these objectives, the project consortium will be composed of research centres internationally recognised for innovative instrument developments, well-established instrument manufacturers and experts in nanotoxicology in various fields of application to demonstrate and validate the applicability of npSCOPE for the risk assessment of nanomaterials in consumer products.

Over 25 million European SMEs/MEs, central within EU enterprise policy, face multiple challenges related to personal data protection; ranging from awareness, to a clear and practical roadmap to compliance, the most prominent one is the fact that, unlike larger enterprises, SMEs/MEs lack access to enterprise-grade cybersecurity technology and capacity-building for compliance, making them increasingly often victims of costly data breaches. Although, according to studies, small and micro businesses declare openness to invest in regulatory compliance, including for consultants and technology, millions of European SMEs/MEs still fail to comply with GDPR while their managers are confused about basic data security concepts, like data stewardship, encryption and secure communication. This presents a clear gap between cybersecurity- and privacy-related spending and its actual effect in personal data protection compliance. SENTINEL aspires to bridge this gap by boosting SMEs/MEs capabilities in this domain through innovation, at a cost-effective level. SENTINEL will integrate tried-and-tested modular cybersecurity technologies with fresh, ambitious ones, such as a novel Identity Management System for human-centric data portability, enabling a unified “European Data Space” and an end-to-end digital personal data protection compliance self-assessment framework for SMEs, into a unified digital architecture. The data from these modules will then undergo disruptive Intelligence for Compliance through SENTINEL’s digital core, featuring machine learning-powered recommendations, policy drafting & enforcement for compliance and a ‘one-stop-shop’ incident response centre. Combined with a well-researched methodology for application, an open knowledge sharing hub and a wide-reaching plan for experimentation, SENTINEL will catalyse adoption of market-leading security tech among SMEs/MEs and help safeguard their and their customers’ assets.

The mission of the Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA) is to build a global Quantum Internet made in Europe – by developing a full-stack prototype network, and by driving an innovative European Quantum Internet ecosystem capable of scaling the network to worldleading European technology. Building on its proven track record in teamwork, which has already resulted in world first Quantum Internet technology, QIA advances this mission in two complementary objectives: The first is the realization of a full-stack prototype network able to distribute entanglement between two metropolitan-scale networks via a long-distance backbone (>500 km) using quantum repeaters. The second is the establishment of a European platform for Quantum Internet development, which will act as a catalyst for a European Quantum Internet Ecosystem including actors all along the value chain. QIA’s network will enable advanced quantum-network applications and prepare the ground for secure quantum computing in the cloud, thanks to our new generation of end nodes including both processing nodes and low-cost photonic client devices. Nodes in the metropolitan network will be interconnected via hubs that allow the scalable connection of hundreds of end nodes, paving the way for early adopters. The long-distance backbone will be realized using fully functional quantum repeaters unlocking Pan-European end-to-end quantum communication. QIA’s prototype network will operate on standard optical fibers and serves to validate all key sub-systems, ready to be scaled by European industry. In this first SGA we will advance towards the long-term objectives set up in the FPA project. Here we present in detail how work will be implemented during this first phase of the SGA.