The AIRISE project will support European SMEs in the uptake of Artificial Intelligence applied to manufacturing, with a specific focus on the use of AI-enabled applications at the edge. The key objective for applications is a reduction of waste and carbon footprint while ensuring the resilient operation of manufacturing. The consortium will create an eco-system where the project’s AI experts will support experimenting SMEs and connect them to Digital Innovation Hubs and commercial companies to achieve real-world applications. Open Calls will allow SMEs to easily access AI expert competence through first-stage assessments that identify the status and potential and through further proposals that support them in running pilot applications and validation experiments. The ambition of AIRISE is to support more than 500 cases from SMEs and mid-caps on key AI applications at the edge. Support from the consortium will be complemented on security and connectivity by involving external resources in cybersecurity and IoT and on smart working environments by offerings on operator interfaces and collaborative robots.

The I4MS program in H2020 has been and is a great success for the Digital Transformation of European Manufacturing SMEs. Phase IV of the program was focussing on DIHs and on highly innovative technologies like Digital Twins and AI. In particular, the AI REGIO Innovation Action developed a virtuous alliance between Regions, DIHs, AI solution providers and Manufacturing SMEs, which is materialised by a new methodology for DIHs service portfolio and customer journey analysis, an AI4EU -oriented toolkit of Data and AI resources, a network of Didactic Factories and their TEchnology and REgulatory SAndboxes (TERESA) and an ecosystem of SME-driven experiments and their Digital Transformation pathways. It is time now to align such important outcomes to the evolution of Manufacturing towards Industry 5.0, the evolution of cloud AI Technologies to AI-at-the-Edge, the evolution of H2020 to Horizon and Digital Europe programmes e.g. to EDIH, Data Spaces and AI TEFs (Testing and Experimentation Facilities) for Manufacturing. Some of the AI REGIO I4MS Phase IV motivations are now evolved: it is time for AI REDGIO 5.0 for keeping momentum of AI technologies adoption in Manufacturing SMEs. AI REDGIO 5.0 aims at renovating and extending the H2020 I4MS AI REGIO alliance between Vanguard EU regions and DIHs for a competitive AI-at-the-Edge Digital Transformation of Industry 5.0 Manufacturing SMEs. AI REGIO outcomes (methods and tools for DIHs governance and cross-DIH collaboration; Data Space and AI for Manufacturing toolkit; Didactic Factories network and TERESA facilities; SME-driven experimentations in 14 Vanguard regions) will be i) extended to the I5.0 principles; ii) enabled by the newest trusted technologies along the edge-to-cloud continuum; iii) supported by European open source hw/sw reference implementations, preserving EU values and ethical principles; iv) interconnected with the EDIH network in DEP as well as with the AI TEF nodes and the Data Spaces deployment program.

The objective of the project is to improve and enhance the innovation support actions, activities and services addressed to Entrepreneurs and SMEs, by the different entities which aim is creation and support of innovative companies. During 12 months and through the use of Twinning Advance Methodology, the partners seek identify and share best practices based on its experience in entrepreneurship and business development within the social impact framework. The result will be documented in a Design Option Paper (DOP), which will identify and document implementation options, guidelines and implementation alternatives that we have experienced and would recommend to other innovation support service agencies.

"CONNECTINGHEALTH - CONNECTing the dots withIN diGItal HEALTH Innovation Ecosystems" is a two-year preparatory action for setting up joint programme among the actors of the digital health ecosystems in Europe and beyond. The overall aim of the project is fully aligned with the call for proposals, which is to foster interconnected, inclusive innovation ecosystems across Europe and maximising the value of innovation in one of the sectors that provides the future opportunities for growth and increased competitiveness and innovativeness, namely the digital health. CONNECTINGHEALTH will be implemented by the small and agile core group, which consists of the European Connected Health Alliance as a European partner and three organisations that are leaders of the digital health ecosystems in their regions: Scotland, Western Hungary and Southern Ostrobothnia. To reach its goals, CONNECTINGHEALTH will conduct the mapping of the digital health ecosystems in Europe, their initiatives, projects, resources and stakeholders, develop the future scenario for the digital health sector in Europe 2030 and identify the preferable future that will be the base for the multi-year action plan, co-designed together with the stakeholders and ecosystems engaged in the project through the futures and investigative workshops. Besides the investigation on the general level of the digital health, the project will look deeper into the three topic crucial for the further development of the digital health sector in Europe, namely: 1/ health for wealth opportunities, 2/ opportunities of the transition from traditional to digital health industry and 3/ opportunities of engaging the stakeholders from health and social sector in the development and implementation of the solutions. CONNECTINGHEALTH will result with the multi-year action plan and the number of immediately exploitable results, eg. the future scenarios and the focus area papers. They will be disseminated widely to the key stakeholders.