CyberKit4SME aims to democratize a kit of cyber security tools and methods enabling SMEs/MEs to: Increase awareness of cybersecurity risks, vulnerabilities and attacks; Monitor and forecast risks; Manage risks using organisational, human and technical security measures with greater confidence; and Collaborate and share information in a collective security and data protection effort. Tools developed in the project are: Semi-automated ISO 27005 threat identification and risk mitigation analysis, using a knowledge base of technical and human/organisational risk factors; Encryption and isolation tools to protect data being stored, processed or exchanged; Security information and event management, using multiple data sources for threat detection and diagnosis, Blockchain tools for SMEs/MEs to share intelligence and incident reports with supply chain partners and with CERTs. CyberKit4SME will make its tools cheaper and more usable by SME/ME, by 1) Exploiting synergies between tools in the kit to simplify the use of each; 2) Sharing information to increase the data available for threat detection and diagnosis at each SME/ME; 3) Embedding intelligence (e.g. machine reasoning and data analytics), to fill gaps in inputs and automate tasks such as risk analysis and security configuration. The project will also use its tools and cyber range demos to train SMEs/MEs to identify their top threats and recognise and address them with greater confidence. Results will be validated by SME/ME in four critical sectors: Finance, Health Care, Energy and Transport. Outcomes include reducing the time/cost of cyber security awareness and protection, simplifying meeting and demonstrating compliance with NIS Directive and GDPR, protecting distributed assets from cloud services to edge devices, and engaging in secure supply chains with larger organisations. The project will also collaborate with related research projects and disseminate widely in the scientific community and in SME networks.

InterConnect envisages to contribute for the democratization of efficient energy management, through a flexible and interoperable ecosystem where demand side flexibility can be soundly integrated with effective benefits to end-users. In fact, over the last few years several projects and technology providers have come up with solutions that allow every energy user to have awareness and control over his appliances, but there has always been a major issue with interoperability. End-users should be able to choose and change their technology providers, without having to replace their installation, every time they feel this need and still be able to adopt sustainable behaviour and benefit from technological advances. In the energy sector, a steep move towards digital is occurring and becoming tremendously user-centric and market-driven. The system dimension is significant, as the number of energy service providers is increasing thanks to favourable regulatory environment and technology advancements for monitoring and control. This is the reason why this consortium integrates relevant partners from all the representative stakeholders in this new energy paradigm. Specific competences in ICT, IoT, energy, data science, software, were included and the full value chain, from R&D institutions, manufacturers, DSO, retailers, IT providers, and energy users is represented. To guarantee a higher Europe-wide impact, several relevant associations related with ICT and energy are also involved. To achieve a significant dimension, 7 large scale pilots, in different countries and with different end-users, are foreseen to guarantee representativeness and dimension in terms of number of appliances and services. The overarching objective of these pilots is to demonstrate a real digital market environment over electrical systems with significant amounts of DSF, reducing operational and investment costs that will benefit energy end-users and help EU achieve its energy efficiency objectives.

The current EU ‘Clean Energy Package’ aims to place local consumers at the heart of the energy transition. In the context of local energy systems with a weak or non-existing grid connection this implies to give the power of operating a renewable-based energy infrastructure to the local people, energy consumers and producers. Private people and organizations should be involved to establish energy island communities, which are based on self-management and -operation. Simultaneously, those communities will improve social cohesion and technical optimization of all energy vectors existing in the specific energy island. The goal of RENergetic is to integrate and demonstrate solutions that will foster a substantial increase of 1) energy efficiency and 2) the level of renewable energies and energy autarky by integrating three main energy vectors (electricity, heat, waste) in three heterogeneous urban energy islands, with an early involvement of the communities and a long-term economic viability: The New Docks in Ghent, Belgium (energy-aware housing), the Warta Campus in Poznan, Poland (data center heat for a campus) and the Hospital and Research campus in Segrate-Milan, Italy (demand response, including electric vehicles). This transdisciplinary endeavor is supported by innovative activities in all relevant areas. On the technical level, optimization and demand response approaches for cross-sector scenarios are combined in a hierarchical approach. This concept integrates innovative smart control strategies and machine learning based-forecasting methods. A thorough regulation analysis feeds into the creation of novel business models, market strategies and value networks on the economic and legal level. This ensures seamless integration with existing energy management systems and cooperation with external networks. Finally, an iterative approach of empowering the energy island communities with participatory structures will be applied on the social level.