Advanced direct biogas fuel processor for robust and cost-effective decentralised hydrogen production

BioROBURplus builds upon the closing FCH JU BioROBUR project (direct biogas oxidative steam reformer) to develop an entire pre-commercial fuel processor delivering 50 Nm3/h (i.e. 107 kg/d) of 99.9% hydrogen from different biogas types (landfill gas, anaerobic digestion of organic wastes, anaerobic digestion of wastewater-treatment sludges) in a cost-effective manner. The energy efficiency of biogas conversion into H2 will exceed 80% on a HHV basis, due to the following main innovations: 1) increased internal heat recovery enabling minimisation of air feed to the reformer based on structured cellular ceramics coated with stable and easily recyclable noble metal catalysts with enhanced coking resistance; 2) a tailored pressure-temperature-swing adsorption (PTSA) capable of exploiting both pressure and low T heat recovery from the processor to drive H2 separation from CO2 and N2; 3) a recuperative burner based on cellular ceramics capable of exploiting the low enthalpy PTSA-off-gas to provide the heat needed at points 1 and 2 above.  The complementary innovations already developed in BioROBUR (advanced modulating air-steam feed control system for coke growth control; catalytic trap hosting WGS functionality and allowing decomposition of incomplete reforming products; etc.) will allow to fully achieve the project objectives within the stringent budget and time constraints set by the call. Prof. Debora Fino, the coordinator of the former BioROBUR project, will manage, in an industrially-oriented perspective, the work of 11 partners with complementary expertise: 3 universities (POLITO, KIT, SUPSI), 3 research centres (IRCE, CPERI, DBI), 3 SMEs (ENGICER, HST, MET) and 2 large companies (ACEA, JM) from 7 different European Countries. A final test campaign is foreseen at TRL 6 to prove targets achievement, catching the unique opportunity offered by ACEA to exploit three different biogas types and heat integration with an anaerobic digester generating the biogas itself.


VIESOJI ISTAIGA LIETUVOS INOVACIJU CENTRAS

Providing  Key Account Management  services for the SME Instrument beneficiaries and enhancing innovation management capacity services to Lithuanian SMEs in 2017-2018

The overall aim of SME Coach LT 2017 is to increase effectiveness and efficiency of investment in R&D and Innovation by enhancing innovation management capacity of Lithuanian SMEs -beneficiaries of the new dedicated SME instrument under Horizon 2020, and SMEs with significant innovation activities and a high potential for internationalization.  Specifically, the project will support SMEs - beneficiaries of the SME instrument- in identifying project-specific barriers and weaknesses and gaps in their innovation capacities that hinder realization of growth opportunities, and pointing to suitable coaches to address the identified weaknesses. The Key Account Manager will support SMEs SME Instrument beneficiaries in identifying critical issues and gaps with regards to their innovation idea and guide them to relevant lead coach who will support the company throughout their innovation journey. The Key account Manager will use a holistic and dynamic business innovation model, supported by Business Innovation Roadmap Tool, available under Creative Commons License from smE-MPOWER network. The second specific objective is supporting  SMEs with significant innovation activities and a high potential internationalization in enhancing their innovation management capacities. When supporting companies having innovation and internationalization potential, but not part of SME instrument, we will use IMP3rove Academy’s diagnostic tool which measures the performance of the company’s innovation management system. However taking into account the SME context, we intend to use action- based (and case-driven) learning approach to addressing identified gaps in the innovation system. smE-MPOWER tools can support the coaching process.


Servo drives are small devices that have an output shaft, which can be positioned to specific angular positions by sending the servo a coded signal. Development of autonomous vehicles, drones, advanced robotic manipulators, camera stabilizers and other innovations require servo drives that are able to react and imitate the force of a living being. Absence of such solution creates a market gap in these industries and stagnate revolution of autonomous devices. Currently, there are no commercially available servo drives on the market that can fulfil the performance requirements needed for development of new generation autonomous devices. Force Servo (TRL 7), developed and patented by My Research is a new type of servo drive with controllable action force. The value of force is proportionate to the control signal and does not depend on the position of the arm, while the force is controlled with a force sensor. Force Servo improves technical characteristics of many autonomous devices, by providing simplicity, accuracy, lightness, energy efficiency, and replicating the force of a living being. To demonstrate advantages of Force Servo, the company will first commercialize a video camera stabilizer integrated with Force Servo drives. Such stabilizer is smaller, lighter and better performing than any alternative on the market. In the future, My Research will standardize and commercialize Force Servo drives in all relevant market segments – video stabilization, robotics, bionics, remote controlled vehicles, interactive interface, etc. To ensure successful commercialization, in Phase 1 of SME Instrument, Nord Robos Holding intends to develop an elaborate feasibility study for My Research Force Servo drive commercialization that would include: identification and contacting target users, verification of technological and economic viability, redesign of the product, and a business plan with an extensive financial, pricing, and IPR strategy.

Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies (LEIT)


Up to University - Bridging the gap between schools and universities through informal education

The key objective of our project is to bridge the gap between secondary schools and higher education and research by better integrating formal and informal learning scenarios and adapting both the technology and the methodology that students will most likely be facing in universities.  We are focusing on the context of secondary schools, often referred to as high schools, which provide secondary education between the ages of 11 and 19 depending on the country, after primary school and before higher education. The learning context from the perspective of the students is the intersection of formal and informal spaces, a dynamic hybrid learning environment where synchronous activities meet in both virtual and real dimensions. For this, we propose to develop an innovative Up to University (Up2U) ecosystem – based on proven experiences in higher education and big research – that facilitates open, more effective and efficient co-design, co-creation, and use of digital content, tools and services adapted for personalised learning and teaching of high school students preparing for university. We will address project based learning and peer-to-peer learning scenarios.   We strongly believe that all the tools and services the project is going to use and/or make available (i.e. incorporate, design, develop and test) must be sustainable after the lifetime of the project. Therefore, the project is going to develop business plans and investigate appropriate business models using the expertise of the Small Medium Enterprise and National Research and Education Network partners and their contacts with third-party business actors. Our plan is to make it easy for new schools to join the Up2U infrastructure and ecosystem that will form a federated market-place for the learning community.


Lietuvos geologijos tarnyba prie Aplinkos ministerijos

Establishing the European Geological Surveys Research Area to deliver a Geological Service for Europe

The GeoERA proposal is put forward by the national and regional Geological Survey Organisations (GSO) of Europe. Its overall goal is to integrate the GSO’s information and knowledge on subsurface energy, water and raw material resources, to support sustainable use of the subsurface in addressing Europe’s grand challenges. The GeoERA consortium will organise and co-fund together with the EC a joint call for transnational research projects that address the development of 1) interoperable, pan-European data and information services on the distribution of geo-energy, groundwater and raw material resources; 2) common assessment frameworks and methodologies supporting better understanding and management of the water-energy-raw materials nexus and potential impacts and risks of subsurface use; 3) knowledge and services aimed at European, national and regional policy makers, industry and other stakeholders to support a more integrated and efficient management and more responsible and publicly accepted exploitation and use of the subsurface. The transnational projects selected in the call will be implemented by the consortium partners themselves, who provide their co-funding in-kind. GeoERA will contribute to the overall EU objective of building the ERA through enhanced cooperation and coordination of national and regional Geological Survey research programmes. GeoERA will also include forward looking activities, including the creation of opportunities for future collaborative research, and the feasibility assessment of an Article 185 initiative in Applied Geoscience as follow-up to the GeoERA ERA-NET towards the development of the ultimate goal of delivering a Geological Service for Europe.

Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials


Main idea is to allow individual users and urban communities in remote (isolated) areas to benefit from a local low carbon economy. The project will enable the communities and individual users to participate in the smart grid context, it will develop an intelligent storage solution optimizing the communities demand and supply. The solution will be scalable towards size of the community (30-10.000 households) and their capacity of renewable energy generation and available storage capacity (i.e. number of EV´s). It will:  Scale up of cheap and more environmental friendly storage solution for medium/ low voltages  It will mitigate on electricity poverty related to the intermittent generation of renewable electricity  Development of the business model between community and local and national renewable energy generation.   Flatten the peak demands to Distribution System Operators (DSO´s)/ Energy Service Companies (ESCo´s) network  Development of the local smart charging model (for the EV´s) for the community to reduce peak demands  (optional) Research on new needs of communication protocols between end users (smart meters, EV) with storage solution and / or retailer in line with Expert Group of the SMGT


Photoacoustic/Ultrasound Mammoscopy for evaluating screening-detected abnormalities in the breast

X-ray mammography is the mainstay of breast cancer screening programs. It is estimated that between 20 - 50% of abnormal screening mammograms will prove to be negative. The paradigm in diagnosis is to establish whether a lesion is benign or malignant. All the imaging techniques conventionally used today – diagnostic x-ray, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging have many limitations, leading to multiple and/or repeat imaging and often unnecessary biopsy. This leads to physical, psychological and economic burdens felt at individual, familial and societal levels.    With an aging population, high incidence of breast cancer and tightening health-care budgets, there is an urgent  requirement for a non-invasive method for in-depth assessment of the screening-detected lesion. In PAMMOTH we will showcase such an imager, combining photoacoustic  and ultrasound imaging. With the use of quantitative image reconstruction of multi-wavelength photoacoustic data, information is gained of the vascular and oxygen status of the lesion relating to tumor physiology and function. From the ultrasound part, we derive ultrasound reflection from the lesion in a manner superior to conventional breast ultrasonography, relating to anatomic features and extent of a tumor. This information will enable the radiologist to come to a diagnosis accurately and rapidly without the use of contrast agents, without pain and  discomfort to the patient, while being cost-effective and not requiring complex infrastructure.   Four excellent academic groups, three dynamic SMEs, and a hospital come together with support from key stakeholders in an Advisory group, to push beyond the state-of-the-art in science and technology to achieve the PAMMOTH imager. For the SMEs, in addition to tremendous improvements in individual product lines, the new integrated diagnostic imaging instrument opens up completely new market opportunities.   We expect PAMMOTH to have a strong economic and clinical impact.


The project PJ.03a is part of the SESAR 2020 Multi Annual Program for the period 2016-2019. It is allocated to the Industrial Research & Validation phase, developed under the SJU Private Public Partnership and will contribute to the key feature High Performing Airport Operations. The future European ATM system relies on full integration of airports as nodes into the network. In this context, PJ.03a is intended to identify and validate operational and technological solutions aiming at enhancing airport operations.  One of the main objectives is to improve the predictability of ground operations in all weather conditions. The implementation of collaborative decision making process involving all relevant stakeholders will ensure an optimization of airport resources allocation. This feature will rely on enhanced integration between aircraft and ground systems which is expected to be achieved through the full implementation of the SWIM concept.  It is also important to increase the efficiency and safety of airport operations by improving the current infrastructures and CNS systems. The availability of more accurate navigation information through the use of GNSS (augmented) systems, an automated switching of taxiway lights and (virtual) stop bars according to the AGL service, data link information exchange between controllers and pilots/vehicle and the on-board availability of advanced vision systems will result in an increased situational awareness with an impact on safety.  PJ.03a will also focus on the integration of RPAS surface operations into airport operations to ensure, to the maximum extent possible, their compliance with the existing rules and regulations defined for an environment dominated by manned aviation.  All those aspects will be assessed through ad hoc validation activities (both FTS and RTS) in different airport environments with different validation platforms to increase the significance of the results based on a broad range of representative layouts.


FLAG-ERA, the Flagship ERA-NET, gathers national and regional funding organisation with the goal of supporting, together with the European Commission, the FET Flagship initiatives and more generally the FET Flagship programme. Most funding organisations in Europe participate, either directly or as associated members. FLAG-ERA contributes to the construction of the two Flagship initiatives on Graphene and Human Brain research, through a range of activities such as the launch of joint calls supporting transnational projects in synergy with the Flagships, contribution to the Flagship partnering framework, identification of potential partnering projects, information on funding opportunities for the Flagships, and networking events. The activities in FLAG-ERA are organised around periodic events gathering all stakeholders and structured in sessions dedicated to the various objectives and related tasks of the project. FLAG-ERA II is the second ERA-NET project, implemented as an ERA-NET Cofund, starting in December 2016 for a period of 6 years, following the first FLA-ERA ERA-NET project which lasted from October 2013 to November 2016.


VALSTYBINIS MOKSLINIU TYRIMU INSTITUTAS FIZINIU IR TECHNOLOGIJOS MOKSLU CENTRAS

PHotonics enhanced fAB LABS supporting the next revolution in digitalization

PHABLABS 4.0 aims to integrate photonics in a durable way into the rapidly expanding ecosystem of European Fab Labs and Makerslabs, resulting in a larger and better skilled photonics workforce with superior innovation capacity to achieve a lasting, positive impact on the next revolution in digitization. Combining the forces of top experts from 13 European photonics institutes and STEM-oriented organizations with the Fab Lab stakeholders, PHABLABS 4.0 will devise and deliver a comprehensive suite of 33 Photonics Workshops, 11 Photonics Challenger projects and Photonics Toolkits to enhance Fab Labs and Makerslab with photonics activities aimed at 3 specific target groups: young minds (age 10-14), students (age 15-18) and young professionals and technicians (age 18+). These activities will be extensively tested in 14 existing Fab Labs with the purpose of rolling them out to the entire growing network of European Fab Labs as a proven model at the end of the project.  They will stimulate hands-on design, fabrication, experiments, and the building of innovative systems with photonics, and in this way nurture the 21st Century skills of the participants.  In that sense the PHABLABS 4.0 project will harness the power of the growing innovation ecosystem of the Fab Labs and equip it with sufficient material to really engage, excite and educate youngsters, students, technicians and young professionals alike in the skills of working and innovating with light. The ultimate impact of PHABLABS 4.0 will be seen in the emergence of a much larger and better trained workforce with 21st Century skills capable of translating the potential of photonics as a key enabling technology into tangible products for the benefit of society.


This project PJ28 which is part of the SESAR 2020 Multi annual Program (S2020 MAWP) for the period 2016-2019, will demonstrate the benefits that specific promising SESAR solutions will bring in a large and two mid-size airports, where traffic congestion daily takes place during the peak season and where new SESAR solutions are expected to assist controllers in their duty. PJ28 proposal addresses the topic “Integrated Airport Operations” with the topic identifier “SESAR.IR-VLD.Wave1-28-2015” as stated in the 2020 MAWP Cluster D.1 High Performing Airport Operations (pages 500-507).   As being part of the Very Large Scale Demonstrations in the Industrial Research & Validation phase, developed under the SJU Private Public Partnership SESAR2020) the objective of PJ28 is perform Very Large Scale Demonstrations (VLD) addressing airport related topics with V3 maturity in SESAR1. In detail, this PJ28 proposal focusses on four Air Traffic Management (ATM) sub-functionalities requested by the Pilot Common Project (PCP Commission Implementation Regulation IR N° 716/2014), all part of ATM Functionality #2 – Airport Integration and Throughput (AF#2) and it will conduct these in a close to operational environment. Doing so, PJ28 will play an active role in the de-risking of the later deployment phase by demonstrating the operational and technical readiness of the SESAR solutions covered in this project and thus ensure trust in the SESAR results.  Those four functionalities aim at: • Improving airport safety; • Improving runway throughput; • Reducing fuel consumption; • Reducing overall delays on the airport; and • Improving airport capacity.  The following sub-functionalities will be implemented in dedicated demonstration platforms: • Departure Management Synchronised with Pre-departure sequencing. • Departure Management integrating Surface Management Constraints. • Automated Assistance to Controller for Surface Movement Planning and Routing. • Airport Safety Nets.


EUROCONTROL’s 2013 Challenges of Growth Report “by 2035 more than 20 airports are operating at 80% or more of capacity for 6 or more hours per day … drives ATFCM airport delay up from around 1 minute/flight in 2012 to 5-6 minutes in 2035.” Whereas social, economic and environmental constraints impede building new runways, secondary airports are hindered by technical, infrastructure and meteorological limitations from absorbing additional traffic. EARTH unites key European aviation partners combining the right expertise and investment to address issues and drive deployment of operational and technical improvements to enhance infrastructure, increase traffic throughput whilst preserving safety and environment. Aligned with the ATM-Masterplan, EARTH focuses on separation and procedures to improve runway and airport throughput considering wake-vortex, weather, environment and noise whilst taking account of different traffic demand, future aircraft capability and airport configurations. Partners validate reduction of arrival/departure separations delivered through optimised runway delivery support tools and study new procedures designed to reduce environmental and noise impact whilst confirming increased runway throughput enabled by ground and on-board space-based augmented navigation systems including GBAS and SBAS. Partners investigate independent rotorcraft operations, fixed-wing and helicopter non-interfering simultaneous approaches, on-board and low-cost ground technology improving access to secondary airports in low visibility, optimising single and multi-runway operations in mixed-mode and dependent runway configurations and enhanced terminal airspace operations through curved approaches. EARTH supports the SESAR Deployment regulation and addresses European concerns on environmental sustainability, reduction of noise and fuel consumption and brings low cost improved access to regional airports making regions economically attractive with potential for new jobs.


Earth Observation based services for Monitoring and Reporting of Ecological Status

EOMORES (Earth Observation-based Services for Monitoring and Reporting of Ecological Status) aims to develop new highly efficient commercial services for operational inland and coastal ecological water quality monitoring.  Inland and coastal water bodies constitute essential components of ecology and biodiversity, they buffer climate change and influence many aspects of economy (recreation, fisheries) and human welfare (e.g. drinking water supply). Knowledge about the state of these waters is therefore of great importance. This is recognized by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) requiring the EU member states to monitor and improve the status of these water bodies.  EOMORES will develop fully-automated commercial, reliable and sustainable services based on the integration of Earth observation (Sentinel 1, 2 and 3), in situ monitoring using optical in situ sensors with integrated GNSS positioning, and ecological modeling. The validated data from these components will be flexibly combined into higher-level products to fit the users’ information needs. Three service concepts are envisaged: 1) operational water quality monitoring and forecasting for operational water management, 2) implementation of validated EO-based water quality indicators for WFD and other reporting and 3) historic compilation of data for specific ecological analysis.  The target users of EOMORES are international, national and regional authorities responsible for monitoring and management of water quality and for WFD reporting. Additional targeted users are private entities dealing with water quality. Thirteen users from six countries have committed to collaborate with the consortium to define and evaluate the EOMORES services. The services are expected to result in lower operational costs, more reliable and more timely water quality datasets for water managers. By introducing these services into the worldwide market, an increase in annual turnover of €3.000.000 by 2020 is expected.


Why ? : Airport Operations Management in SESAR1 promoted enhanced situational awareness via the Airport Operations Plan (AOP) whilst reinforcing the collaborative decision making process through the Airport Operations Centre (APOC).  Validation activities stressed the need to further develop the Performance Monitoring and Management services promoting the evolution from a reactive (“firefighting”) approach toward one of pro-active collaborative decision making.  Impact : Includes the evolution toward a “performance-driven” airport through holistic monitoring of demand and capacity.  Decision making will be based on more reliable information with enhanced decision impact assessment.  Expected is an increase in the predictability, flexibility and efficiency of airport operations as well as increased resilience through shorter recovery to normal operations.   Focus : PJ04  is articulated around two ‘SESAR Solutions’, emphasising  all of the key airport processes. Integration of airports into the ATM network will be addressed through sharing information in a timely manner between the Network Operations Plan and the individual AOPs using SWIM technology.   Who ?: PJ04 unites key European aviation industry partners combining the right expertise to address these challenges and to drive deployment of  validated improvements.  Benefits : As clients of airport services, airlines will  benefit from enhanced operational efficiency. For passengers, benefits will be tangible. Information available will be of high quality and the more efficient use of airport resources will lead to enhanced service quality.  EU Strategic :  PJ04 will focus on  a range of different airport complexity levels developing scalable and cost-effective solutions, optimising both the local benefits and those for the European network. Societal concerns will be addressed by ensuring that environmental mitigation measures and impact are included in the airport performance "trade off".


The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (EPN-2024-RI) will provide the pan-EU infrastructure needed to address the major scientific and technological challenges facing modern planetary science and strengthen Europe’s position at the forefront of space exploration. EPN-2024-RI builds on the foundations of a series of highly successful EU-funded projects that have created the leading Virtual Observatory for planetary data and the largest, most diverse collection in the world today of field and laboratory facilities capable of simulating and analysing planetary environments. EPN-2024-RI will provide Transnational Access (TA) to an enhanced set of world-leading field and laboratory facilities, Virtual Access (VA) to state-of-the-art data services and tools linked to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and Networking Activities (NA) to widen the user base and draw in new partners from Under Represented States (URS), non-EU countries, industry and interdisciplinary fields, and to train the next generation of RI leaders and users. With 56 beneficiaries, from both industry and academic sectors, providing access to 31 TA facilities on 5 continents and 4 VA services linking over 100 data services and catalogues, EPN-2024-RI represents a step-change in ambition for planetary science worldwide. Innovations include the establishment of a ground based observation network to support space based missions, the launch of an interactive mapping service to provide virtual exploration of planetary surfaces, and the development of machine learning tools for data mining to fully exploit and analyse planetary data sets. EPN-2024-RI will establish global collaborations and an international userbase for the RI through inclusion of partners in Africa, Asia and South America. Ultimately, EPN-2024-RI will support the transition of this unique infrastructure to a sustainable future within the structure of the Europlanet Society.


The Future of European Social Citizenship

EUSOCIALCIT will provide scientific analysis and examine policy scenarios to strengthen European social citizenship. It focuses on three domains that mirror the building blocks of the European Pillar of Social Rights (the empowerment of citizens, fair working conditions and social inclusion) and pursues five objectives:  1.	Bring together long-standing rival approaches to European social citizenship, and develop a resource-based, multi-level concept of social rights (recognizing that the resources supporting social rights can be located at EU, national and local levels). 2.	Understand the current state of social rights and their relationship to outcomes (social and gender inequality, poverty and precariousness). 3.	Diagnose the shortcomings of the institutions that generate undesirable outcomes. 4.	Understand attitudes, preferences and the demand for change among citizens, and the constraints and opportunities these create for the EU social agenda.  5.	Develop alternative policy scenarios to strengthen European social rights, in particular to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights. This promises a more encompassing understanding of European social citizenship than existing literature now offers. We will provide new indicators and implementation studies on social investment, working conditions, minimum income protection and housing. The project is deliberately ambitious in terms of both science and policy because effective policies require in-depth analysis of current realities and alternative policy options, both empirically and conceptually. The consortium has been formed to realise that ambition, by combining academic expertise – in political science, law, sociology, social policy and economics – with practical policy experience. Our emphasis on the plurality of possible policy scenarios, on listening to citizens and co-creation testifies to our conviction that an academic and policy-oriented research project should serve the public debate, not replace it.

Europe in a changing world - inclusive, innovative and reflective Societies


LIETUVOS AGRARINIU IR MISKU MOKSLU CENTRAS

Towards climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soils

The main objective of EJP SOIL is to create an enabling environment to enhance the contribution of agricultural soils to key societal challenges such as climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable agricultural production, ecosystem services provision and prevention and restoration of land and soil degradation. The EJP SOIL will build a sustainable European integrated research community on agricultural soils and will develop and deploy a roadmap on climate-smart sustainable agricultural soil management. The EJP SOIL roadmap is based on a knowledge framework with 4 interacting components. Knowledge development is set out in project calls with internal and external partners. Knowledge sharing & transfer is framed in capacity building for young scientists, enhancing general public awareness and fostering societal understanding and appreciation of agricultural soil management and its contribution to society. Knowledge harmonization, storage & organization supports harmonised soil information and reporting practices. Knowledge application deals with ways to overcome barriers for adoption of novel practices in a European context, co-developing adequate tools and providing evidence-based recommendations for EU policies. EJP SOIL activities in interaction with stakeholders, MSs and DG AGRI will pursue the long-term goal of promoting farmers as stewards of land and soil resources and support policy development and deployment, in particular the CAP and Climate policies. The EJP SOIL addresses 6 expected impacts with targeted activities in response to societal, scientific, policy and operational challenges. A first annual workplan based on the roadmap is provided as part of the proposal. The EJP Soil consortium unites a unique group of 26 leading European research institutes and universities in 24 countries. The consortium has developed this proposal in close collaboration with its programme owners and has secured over 40M€ in co-funding and 10M€ for external calls over 5 years.

Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine and maritime and inland water research


Infrastructure for transnational access and discovery in structural biology

Structural biology reveals the molecular architecture of life; the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules and how they interact to form complex machineries and cells. Structural biology is key to innovations in chemistry, biotechnology and medicine: new drugs, advanced vaccines, novel biomaterials, engineered enzymes for food production, a cleaner environment, and efficient biofuels. iNEXT-Discovery takes on the challenge of proactively supporting the uptake of existing tools, and the innovation of new tools, to promote scientific Discovery and translation in a range of disciplines, building on the success of the H2020 project iNEXT (infrastructure for NMR, EM and X-rays for Translational research).  iNEXT-Discovery brings together a strong network of leading structural biology facilities in partnership with regional experts and ESFRI communities in medicinal chemistry, translational medicine, biological imaging, and food research, to disseminate knowledge and services. We aim to stimulate the wider uptake of structural biology across Europe, across scientific disciplines and research sectors. Significant hardware and software advances allow targeting transnational access to advanced instrumentation also to scientists without previous expertise in structural biology: uptake will be facilitated by training and thematic calls focused on new communities. Access to our instrumentation and expertise will ultimately allow European scientists to gain structural insight that can translate into innovations in the biomedical, food, biotechnological and biomaterials sectors. Our joint research activities will roll-out advances in key technologies for translational research: fragment screening for drug development, EM efficiency and capacity, NMR applications to extend structures beyond three dimensions, and integrative structural biology approaches to look at macromolecules in cells. All our activities support innovative research of both academic and industrial users.


VIESOJI ISTAIGA LIETUVOS ZEMES UKIO KONSULTAVIMO TARNYBA

European Knowledge repository for  best agricultural practices

EUREKA has brought together 21 multi-actors (MA) from 16 member states and 48 supporting organizations, to co-create a stronger and reinforced EU wide agricultural knowledge base by developing an open source e-platform, called the FarmBook. This two-sided market platform, like Facebook, will address the needs and improve the connections between two distinct user groups: MA project partners and MA end users (farmers, foresters, advisors, scientists, policy makers,…). To realize this, EUREKA will first analyze the MA project knowledge supply (outputs, activities, dissemination,…) to get a comprehensive data overview and distinguish do’s and don’ts on how to co-create and transfer knowledge in these projects. From this analysis best practices and recommendations will be formulated into a MA bible for the current MA community and for EIP-AGRI (+ SWG SCAR AKIS) to improve the design of future MA projects. Participatory activities with many MA projects during EUREKA will lay the foundation to build a more engaged MA project community. All available resources that can be used to share amongst the community and to shape and promote the EUREKA outputs will also be mapped. Second, EUREKA will analyze the knowledge demand from potential end users by profiling them and determining their needs, barriers and preferences across four macro-regions in Europe and across the different agricultural sectors. Third, EUREKA will integrate the results of the analysis on the knowledge supply & demand by consulting various expert working groups to co-create a ranking of MA projects and to select the most relevant and high impact agricultural MA project knowledge for the rural and scientific community. Fourth, the FarmBook will be built to present this knowledge in an accessible, standards-based, easily searchable and open source way. Fifth, the FarmBook will be optimized in several iterations with end-user feedback and will be promoted to end users and the MA project community across Europe.


High Performance Alexandrite Crystals and Coatings for High Power Space Applications

Space-based earth observation missions are an essential building block gaining the data to understand our planet. In particular, space missions which are enhanced by laser-based instruments enable new ways of monitoring the atmosphere or the planet’s surface. The availability of space-qualified TRL 6 high performance coated Alexandrite laser crystals within Europe is a major enabling technology for future earth observation space missions. For this reason, the GALACTIC project aims for the creation of the complete supply chain solely by European industry for high performance, high quality, high power, coated Alexandrite laser crystals. For this goal, two industrial partners and a research institute team up to combine their complementing expertise and reach this ambitious goal. Optomaterials S.r.l. (Italy) as expert in single crystal growth will advance Alexandrite crystal growth and machining techniques to produce high-quality Alexandrite laser crystals. Altechna Coatings (Lithuania) will contribute its expertise on high performance optical coatings and characterization methods to develop space-compliant, highly durable optical coatings specifically tailored for Alexandrite pulsed laser operation. Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (Germany) as a research institute with strong experience in the development of laser sources for space applications will develop demonstrator laser systems based on the newly developed Alexandrite crystals proving their superior lasing performance. The combined forces of these outstanding partners will enable a detailed TRL 6 qualification of the coated Alexandrite crystals within the GALACTIC project making these crystals a new purely European product to be utilized in future space missions by the space industry. The development will by accompanied by strategic dissemination activities promoting the activities of GALACTIC to a broad audience.


Participatory Real Life Experiments in Research and Innovation Funding Organisations on Ethics

The implementation of participatory practices for the development of innovations has gained prominence over the last years. Through introducing open R&I configurations innovators can gather additional knowledge about the needs and desires of citizens, public and semi-public caretakers, NGOs, social entrepreneurs etc. and thus be able to answer those through innovative products and processes. However, the ways how this is done, how it is based on legal and regulatory frameworks and to what extent ethical issues are taken into account differ massively between various countries and contexts. Furthermore, concrete concerns regarding the protection of participating non-traditional stakeholders (e.g. citizens) and their potential exploitation emerge with these new modes of innovation. Therefore, PRO-Ethics elaborates an ethics framework with principles, guidelines, assessment criteria, good practice and proposals on regulatory environments how citizens’ engagement can be properly put in place without disregarding ethical principles of fairness, transparency, gender, privacy and sustainability. This will be done through iterative discourse and learning loops together with eight participating research funding organisations (RFOs), five expert partners and two international organisations. Furthermore, the framework will be applied, tested and validated in real life through 11 practical cases and experimental pilots implemented by the RFOs in three different action fields (i.e. project funding; strategy development and evaluation). PRO-Ethics will have an European-wide outreach, nevertheless, it will incorporate and compare local conditions and other specific and cultural characteristics of the partnering RFOs from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Spain and Brussels implementing the PRO-Ethics cases and pilots.

Develop the governance for the advancement of responsible research and innovation


DIONE: an integrated EO-based toolbox for modernising CAP area-based compliance checks and assessing respective environmental impact

DIONE proposes a close-to-market (TRL7) area-based direct payments monitoring toolbox that will address the forthcoming Modernised CAP regulation of using automated technologies to ensure more frequent, accurate and inexpensive compliance checks. In particular, DIONE will: (i) Capitalise on recent results of ESA’s SEN4CAP project that showcased the capability of Sentinel  data to monitor the crop diversification rules. DIONE shall further integrate generated crop-type maps in a way directly exploitable by the paying agencies; (ii) Include in the analysis the so far neglected EFA types (fallow land of all sizes, buffer strips, hedges, trees), by making use of super-resolution technology that improves the 10-20m Sentinel resolution to an improved resolution range (5-10m). This is enabled through Machine-Learning (ML) based post-processing and data fusion of Copernicus DIAS-sourced data with targeted drone-obtained data. This aims to motivate the use of such EFAs over the –of ambiguous environmental impact- use of productive areas (nitrogen-fixing crops and catch crops).  (iii) Complement the use of EO data with a system of reliable, ground-based geo-tagged photos, captured by the farmers that exploits (a) advances that allow for improved positional accuracy, (ii) low-footprint encryption techniques for improved data security and reliability and (iii) image detecting manipulation techniques (image forensics). The system will allow for an improved LC/LU annotation and ensure the process is untampered. (iv) Implement a Green Compliance toolbox, integrated with the paying agencies’ aforementioned tools. This will benefit from (a) low-cost spectral sensors measuring soil quality and assessing the status of land-degradation in the land parcels and (b) an ML-based inferencing system deployed on a larger scale (regional, national) to quantify the levels of some of the monitored parameters and consequently extract tangible environmental performance metrics for an entire region


Guided Waves for Structural Health Monitoring

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is essential to guarantee the safe and reliable operation of technical appliances and will be a key enabler to exploit emerging technologies such as remaining useful lifetime prognosis, condition-based maintenance, and digital twins. Particularly, SHM using ultrasonic guided waves is a promising approach for monitoring chemical plants, pipelines, transport systems and aeronautical structures. While substantial progress has been made in the development of SHM technology, current techniques are often realised only at lab-scale. Missing quantification of reliability hinders their practical application. The substantial effort for signal processing and of permanent transducer integration as well as the lack of efficient simulation tools to improve understanding of guided wave-structure interaction and to predict the capabilities of the system limit their widespread use. Training of PhD students specialised in SHM is limited and fragmented in Europe. The aim of this project is to combine for the first time efficient simulation and signal processing tools for SHM and to assess the reliability of the monitoring systems. The project will bring together partners from academia and industry and will train a new generation of researchers skilled in all aspects of SHM, enabling them to transform SHM research into practical applications. Focusing on aeronautics, petrochemistry and the automotive sector as initial pilot cases, we will develop SHM concept to assess the integrity of structures and create ready-to-use tools for industry and other SHM users. The strong collaboration between mathematicians, physicists and engineers aims to bring the capabilities and applicability of SHM methods to the next level. Our students will acquire multidisciplinary scientific expertise, complementary skills, and experience working in academia and industry. The outcome of the project will pave the way for integrating SHM into real-world engineering structures.


Key Account Management Services and Enhancing Innovation Management Capacity Services for Lithuanian SMEs in 2020-2021

The aim of SME Coach LT 2019 is to increase effectiveness and efficiency of investment in R&D and Innovation by enhancing innovation management capacity of the Lithuanian SME beneficiaries of the EIC Pilot  schemes EIC Accelerator  pilot ( SME Instrument), Fast Track to Innovation ( FTI) and Future and emerging technologies (FET-Open) under H2020 and SMEs with significant innovation activities and a high potential for internationalisation. Specifically, the project will support beneficiaries of the EIC Pilot in identifying project-specific barriers and weaknesses and gaps in their innovation capacities that hinder realization of growth opportunities and point to suitable coaches to address the identified weaknesses. The Key Account Manager will support SMEs beneficiaries in identifying critical issues and gaps with regards to their innovation idea and guide them to relevant lead coach who will support the company throughout their innovation journey. To identify SMEs challenges, the Key account Manager will use a holistic and dynamic business innovation model, supported by Business Innovation Roadmap Tool, available under Creative Commons License from smE-MPOWER network. The second specific objective aims at SMEs that have significant innovation activities and a high potential but lagging innovation management capacities. To assess the performance of their innovation management system, we will use IMP3rove Academy’s diagnostic tool or similar tools. Further action plan will be developed. In supporting SMEs we will use action- based (and case-driven) learning approach to addressing identified gaps in the innovation system. smE-MPOWER tools will help support the coaching process.


Blockchain HUB FOR EUROPEan startups acceleration and growth

B-HUB FOR EUROPE will target deep tech vertical startups in the blockchain domain. The initiative is aimed at: discovering high-potential innovations, shaping suited proof of concepts and business models, providing specialised acceleration services to overcome current market barriers and assist the go-to-market process, unlocking new market channels with potential private/public customers, scaling up innovative businesses across five startups ecosystems in Europe: IT (Rome), FR (Paris), DE (Berlin), LT (Vilnius) and RO (Cluj-Napoca).The initiative will build on the excellence of European blockchain high-growing innovations and will help startups to shape and offer high-tech solutions to address public challenges and business needs.Public and private actors involved will benefit from a tailormade knowledge transfer process on blockchain technologies and use cases for internal barriers removal and faster adoption.The project will open to follow-up initiatives beyond the project conclusion stimulating the uptake of blockchain solutions in the private/public sector, through procurement processes, joint collaborations and fund rising opportunities.B-HUB FOR EUROPE will provide to blockchain startups, accurately identified and recruited in the five ecosystems through dissemination and engagement initiatives, a set of customised, expert-based services aimed at: accelerating business perspective, providing mentoring and coaching, supporting access to finance, improving cross-border networking with the broad EU blockchain community. Collaboration schemes will be explored for co-creation processes between blockchain startups, public organisations, corporates, and SMEs. Connections and cross-border activities will be promoted to favour exchange among grown-up and less developed ecosystems.The project will contribute to the on-going efforts for a more favourable regulatory framework in the blockchain domain in Europe, with inputs and recommendations collected during the project life.


For a completely working Digital Single Market, effectively enabling the cross-border exercise by citizens and businesses of their Single Market rights, Member States must address several challenges on delivering better services. DE4A is a Member State-driven pilot, aligned with strategic eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 and EIF Implementation Strategy and with full regulatory compliance (SDGR, GDPR, eIDAS, Services Directive…), establishing a culture of co-creation, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness. Its goal is facilitating migration towards European Digital Public Services co-delivered across borders, across sectors and with different participants, reinforcing trust in public institution, and unleashing multiple measurable positive impacts on efficiency gains and reduction of administrative burden and costs. Starting from needs and capacities of Member States, DE4A’s scalable, holistic, flexible approach focuses on high-quality fully online procedures accessible through the SDG by building on an extended interoperability Toolbox and on state-of-the-art. It enables an open and comprehensive environment and platform for collaboration and innovation, leveraging common eGov baseline patterns for secure, privacy-preserving and trustworthy realisation of essential Once-Only and Relevant-Only principles, and with re-use of existing and new building blocks and Digital Service Infrastructures at national and EU-wide levels. Innovative technologies like blockchain, machine learning, self-emerging ontologies and zero-knowledge proofs will be addressed for effective sharing of common services. Pilots involving secure access to key administrative procedures of real life and business events, shall highlight aspects of the technical ecosystem available for the SDG implementation, prove their technical viability and gauge the performance and degree in which non-functional requirements can be accommodated. DE4A includes 27 partners and has a duration of three year


INFORMACINES VISUOMENES PLETROS KOMITETAS PRIE LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS VYRIAUSYBES ISTAIGA


VILNIAUS GEDIMINO TECHNIKOS UNIVERSITETAS

Benchmarking of Wheel Corner Concepts Towards Optimal Comfort by Automated Driving

The project OWHEEL aims at the development and evaluation of new concepts of automotive wheel corners  as crucial elements of future vehicle architecture tailored to provide an optimal comfort during automated driving. The consortium will benchmark four essentially different classes: Passive corner with specific wheel positioning; Passive composite corner; Active corner with ordinary ride dynamics control; Active corner with integrated wheel positioning control.  For each proposed concept, the project will include relevant stages of development design, extensive simulation studies and experimental validation.  The main goal of the OWHEEL project is to perform deep analysis and provide on its basis the recommendations for future vehicle architecture, which could ensure an optimal comfort by automated driving. In this regard, the research and innovation objectives are focused on:  i.	Revisiting the driving comfort criteria with their tuning to automated driving requirements and operational modes; ii.	Development of bencmarking criteria and corresponding analytical tool for comparison of wheel corner concepts in terms of driving comfort quality with simultaneous ensuring of required performance in terms of safety, energy-efficiency and reliability; iii.	Development and validation of active wheel corner concepts; iv.	Development and validation of passive wheel corner concepts;  v.	Producing practical recommendations for automotive system developers based on obtained R&D results  The implementation of the project OWHEEL will be based on intensive staff exchange that leads to collaborative research and training between universities and industrial organizations from EU, Japan and South Africa. The project will also include relevant networking, dissemination and exploitation actions.


Boosting Widening Digital Innovation Hubs

BOWI project addresses the challenge of limited capacities among DIHs to support the uptake of SAE/I4MS technologies during the last 7 years in the European industry at large. The overall aim of the project is to create a DIH widening network that supports the collaboration of new DIHs (proto-hubs) in regions where SAE and I4MS technologies are underrepresented and well-established DIHs that are highly experienced in these technologies (mature hubs). BOWI takes the first step towards creating a fully sustainable post-project network by: 1.	Strengthening proto-hubs by carrying out actual experiments and facilitating the collaboration between proto-hubs and mature hubs; 2.	Ensuring sustainability of BOWI network by developing a blended financing accelerator and membership model; 3.	Creating the BOWI community, initiating the participation of proto-hubs, mature hubs, regional stakeholders, and investors. The mechanism will be first tested by supporting 6 pioneer proto-hubs (pioneer stage), which will be later extended to 9 proto-hubs in the second full-fledged strengthening stage, allowing new members of the EU DIH community to participate, including the proto-hubs and mature hubs that are currently not part of the consortium. The post-project BOWI network business model is to be explored, including service and funding needs. To ensure practical experience, all 15 proto-hubs will be supported to conduct 60 (15x4) SAE/I4MS uptake experiments with SMEs in total. For this purpose, an extensive FSTP approach will be used. The consortium includes experienced partners that participate intensively in the SAE/I4MS strategies (Civitta, FBA, VTT, and RWTH). They are complemented by 6 proto-hubs from various countries that act as pioneer hubs to test and validate approaches (TIT, LITC, UWB, KTP, NTNU, ICT).


SESAR2020 PJ07-W2 OAUO Optimised Airspace Users Operations

The PJ07-W2 Optimised Airspace Users Operations (OAUO) aims at defining and validating improved Airspace Users processes and tools related to their interaction with the ATM Network Operations in SESAR 2020. The current ATM environment based on static flight plans is evolving through SESAR towards Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) in order to improve Airports and ATM Network performance.  PJ07-W2 shall develop and validate the following three SESAR Solutions: •	Solution PJ.07-W2-38 Enhanced integration of AU trajectory definition and network management processes •	Solution PJ.07-W2-39 Collaborative framework managing delay constraints on arrivals •	Solution PJ.07-W2-40 Mission trajectories management with integrated Dynamic Mobile Areas (DMA) Type 1 and Type 2  PJ07-W2 addresses the following objectives: •	develop requirements and validate procedures and workflows for Flight/Wing Operations Centre to interact with ATM stakeholders and especially with the Network Management Function (NMF), with regard to trajectory definition, and to ensure continuity in the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) process throughout the trajectory life-cycle •	smoothly integrate AU Priorities and Preferences in collaborative processes at Airports and in Network Demand Capacity Balancing (DCB) processes, allowing those processes to perform multi-criteria optimization tasks involving many stakeholders •	develop high level of automation to reduce the need for Airspace Users and flow managers to intervene through intensive coordination, which is critical for integrated processes to work on an operational scale •	improve the interoperability between AUs and the NMF Operations •	allow AU Flight Operations to provide the ATM NMF with the most accurate input on the true demand at any time (at planning phase) •	get from NMF an improved, harmonised picture of the ATM constraints for evaluating their impact on operations •	refine and validate the Mission Trajectory and the DMA concepts


Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation

ATHLETE aims to develop a toolbox of advanced, next-generation, exposome tools and a prospective exposome cohort, which will be used to systematically quantify the effects of a wide range of community-level and individual-level environmental risk factors on mental, cardiometabolic, and respiratory health outcomes and associated biological pathways during the first 2 decades of life, to implement acceptable and feasible exposome interventions, and to translate the resulting evidence to policy recommendations and prevention strategies. ATHLETE will establish a prospective exposome cohort, including FAIR data infrastructure, building on Europe’s most comprehensive already existing exposome data (15 cohorts in 10 European countries). ATHLETE will systematically characterise the effects of the exposome on early organ development, health trajectories, and biological pathways (metagenomic, metabolomic, epigenetic, ageing, and stress pathways), longitudinally from early pregnancy through adolescence. Innovative tool development will focus on: 1) complete and accurate measurement of multiple environmental risk factors (external/urban, chemical, physical, behavioural, social) through new targeted and untargeted exposure science approaches, 2) development of advanced statistical and toxicological strategies to analyse complex multi-dimensional exposome data, 3) development of interventions to reduce personal exposures, co-produced with the community, and 4) estimation of the societal impact of the exposome by calculating costs and child health impacts. ATHLETE’s strong focus on the vulnerable early stages of the life course, widespread general population exposures and common non-communicable diseases, its use of a large body of existing exposome data and expertise, its strong emphasis on knowledge translation, its development of an open online toolbox and its close collaboration in the European Human Exposome Network ensure that the objectives are achievable and highly relevant for future research and policy. ATHLETE is part of the European Human Exposome Network comprised of 9 projects selected from this same call.

Health, demographic change and wellbeing


After the primary intervention, most of cancer patients are managed at home, facing long-term treatments or sequelae, making the disease  comparable to a chronic condition. Despite their benefit, strong therapeutic regimens often cause toxicity, severely impairing quality of life. This may decrease adherence to treatment, thus compromising therapeutic efficacy. Also due to age-related multimorbidity, patients and their caregivers develop emotional, educational and social needs. CAPABLE will develop a cancer patient coaching system with the objective of facing these needs/issues. The time is right to fully exploit Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data potentialities for cancer care and bring them to patients’ home. CAPABLE will rely on predictive models based on both retrospective and prospective data (clinical data, data from unobtrusive environmental and wearable sensors, data from social media and questionnaires). Models will be integrated with existing clinical practice guidelines and made available to oncologists. Thanks to the mobile coaching system for patients, CAPABLE will allow identifying unexpected needs, and providing patient-specific decision support. This feature, together with the chance of discovering unknown adverse effects of new treatments, makes CAPABLE more than a personalised tool for improving life quality, an advance for the whole research community.  Our team includes complementary partners with experience in data- and knowledge-driven AI, data integration, telemedicine, decision support. In addition, the involved patients’ association gives a unique opportunity to access thousands of questionnaires on patients’ needs, which will inform the system design. The project addresses EU priorities such as shifting care from hospitals to home to face scarcity of healthcare resources, facilitating patients’ re-integration in the society and in the labour market, and ensuring all EU citizens to benefit from an effective, novel cancer care model.


SENIOR BIOMECHANICAL 3D MODELLING RESEARCHER

Aim of this project is to develop surgeon-friendly 3D biomechanical simulation functionality as integral part of 3D models-based pre-operational planning software for evaluation of implant positioning to the movement axis of the neighbouring joints and the load distribution in the bone / implant contact zones in a risk-free environment. Therefore, Ortho Baltic is looking for a researcher with competence in clinical and computational biomechanics to join the research team in the development of cutting-edge 3D model-based pre-surgery planning software with 3D user interface via Web browser.  Recruited innovation associate would work as part of Ortho Baltic R&D team developing state-of-the-art 3D model-based pre-surgery planning tools by integrating human musculoskeletal simulation and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) functionalities. Innovation associate would be Senior biomechanical researcher, who will work in multidisciplinary team of our R&D unit and in cooperation with Ortho Baltic academic partners, keeping direct contact with leading surgeons to mitigate fundamental research into fieldable technology and deployable products.


PJ.05-W2 Digital technologies for Tower - SESAR-IR-VLD-WAVE2-05-2019 deals with two Solutions: Solution 35: "Multiple Remote Tower and Remote Tower centre" and with solution 97: "HMI Interaction modes for Airport Tower". 14 SESAR members (in sum 31 legal beneficiaries) showed interest in these solutions. For solution 35 cost-effectiveness is the principal key performance area (KPA). It proposes the development of a remotely provided aerodrome air traffic service by a "multiple" and/or "center" setting. Those settings help to combine ATS services from various aerodromes in a centralized control room  independent on airport location in order to make use of the valuable resource ATS provider more efficiently. In the end, the passengers will benefit from by a better passenger comfort in terms of shorter travel times and better point to point connections. PJ05 will bring the multiple/center concept to such a matured level ready for industrialization.  PJ05-Solution 97 aims to validate, in different Airport operating environments, innovative HMI modes and associated technologies. Those solutions are expected to positively contribute to the Safety and HP KPAs with reduced Controllers’ head down time and workload, as well as increased situation awareness and controllers' productivity. The PJ05-W2 DTT attracted plenty of European organisations to participate: ANSPs, industries, R&D and airport stakeholder intends to provide their specific competences to broaden the operational needs and technological expertises. The PJ05 variety of partners and validation activities will help to adequately reflect the variety of operational needs and technical solutions which in the end of the project will consolidate into a harmonized and widely accepted SESAR2020 PJ05 solution. The complete work is structured in a very collaborative way throughout all work packages and will ensure the transfer of knowledge and know-how between all participants and external to SESAR2020 projects.


PJ.19 W2 Content Integration, Performance Management and Business Case Development

PJ19 W2 CI  is a transversal activity of the SESAR 2020 Programme in continuation of the SESAR Wave 1 PJ19 CI Content Integration project. It aims to integrate the SESAR Solutions into the integrated European ATM System in order to achieve the objectives set by the ATM Master Plan (MP). This integrated European ATM System provides the overall European ATM concept, the high-level architecture options, the services, the supporting solutions, and the performance achievements associated with them. As such, PJ.19 W2 does not create any specific ATM concept or solution but produces a set of deliverables which consolidate the SESAR 2020 Programme outcomes and provides yearly integrated reference material – the SESAR 2020 Architecture release (EATMA version) . This is done in close collaboration and coordination with all SESAR 2020 Solutions and the SJU through continuous, rolling and iterative content integration. PJ19-W2 allows the assessment of the overall performance of the SESAR Solutions compared with the performance improvements expected for the European ATM. Whilst the decisions are made by SJU management and SESAR governance, PJ.19 W2 activities support and guide the processes (e.g. safety, security assessment, human performance, performance assessment, cost benefit analysis (CBA), architecture, requirements) to bring the SESAR Solutions together and assess their maturity (completeness, consistency and coherency) from a holistic perspective represented in the SESAR 2020 Concept of Operations.  The PJ.19 W2 activities provide major inputs for the ATM MP production (ATM architecture information (e.g. data set), performance and CBA consolidation, business case production), which are further consolidated at the time of the ATM MP update campaign by the PJ.20 W2 ‘Master Planning’ project). PJ19-W2 provides support for the SJU/SESAR governance decision-making and programme execution monitoring and also contributes to the realisation of the ATM MP.


PJ20 W2 “Master Planning” project is the continuation of the SESAR2020 Wave 1 PJ20 ATM Master Plan Maintenance project (AMPLE).  Within the Single European Sky technological pillar, the European ATM Master Plan (ATM MP) is the long-term roadmap to guide and connect ATM Research and Innovation and Deployment in building the future European ATM System. The ATM MP Editions are approved by the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) Administrative Board and the European Commission.  They set out Performance Ambitions and a Vision for European ATM, aligned with ICAO GANP.  The ATM MP is composed of three Levels; it can be consulted in the ATM MP Public Portal www.atmmasterplan.eu.  By EU Regulation 409/2013, the ATM MP is the essential instrument allowing all European ATM civil and military stakeholders - Airspace users, Air Navigation Service providers, Airports, Network Manager, Airborne and Ground industry, SESAR Deployment Manager, Standardisation bodies and Professional Staff organisations - to share and further develop this common Vision for the future European ATM and setting forth the SESAR solutions which after successful research may be elicited to compose future Common Projects for operationally seamless and cost effective deployment.  The ATM MP needs to be a living plan, kept abreast of evolutions of the European ATM performance, progresses of the SESAR solutions research results and of deployment. The duty of SESAR2020 PJ20 W2 Master Planning like its predecessor in SESAR2020 Wave 1, is to ensure the maintenance, update and alignment of the ATM MP three Levels as a Common Support Activity of the SESAR2020 Programme.  Under the leadership of EUROCONTROL, through facilitated access to information rich performance based civil-military ATM data, PJ20 will bring together contributions of 24 SESAR2020 members, ensuring the broad ATM representativeness required from air navigation service providers, airports, airborne and ground industry and Network Manager.


The need for European airports to become more operationally efficient is fundamental as Airport Council International forecasts that passenger numbers across the continent will rise an average of 3.3% per annum to reach 3.9 billion by 2036. PJ04-W2 will develop concepts, tools and procedures to increase the predictability and resilience of airport operations, improving the punctuality of flights in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.  The aim will be to improve airport/network integration for large and medium/regional airports, improve airport airside/landside integration, reduce the impact of MET aspects on airport operations, make  further investigations about how environmental aspects could be monitored and managed in day-to-day airport operations.     This will be achieved through increasing the coordination between Airport and the Network, validating the concept of regional connected airports. On the airport side, the project will have a focus on the airport hypervision concept, and how airport operations could be better predicted with anticipated impact, managed in a pro-active way and synchronised in various situations. This includes the development of performance and role-based dashboards as well as what-if, prediction and impact assessment tools. Here data-driven airport operations management and digital technologies are required enablers, as connected, data-based, intelligent toolboxes supporting all airport stakeholders must be developed.  To ensure that full benefits are achieved and that the expected performance improvements are realised in the context of overall ATM Network, close coordination will take place with other projects, particularly those addressing network management, airport airside and runway throughput, enhanced arrivals and departures as well as the overall integration within the programme.


learninG, pRocessing, And oPtimising shapES

GRAPES aims at considerably advancing the state of the art in Mathematics, Computer-Aided Design, and Machine Learning in order to promote game changing approaches for generating, optimising, and learning 3D shapes, along with a multisectoral training for young researchers. Recent advances in the above domains have solved numerous tasks concerning multimedia and 2D data. However, automation of 3D geometry processing and analysis lags severely behind, despite their importance in science, technology and everyday life, and the well-understood underlying mathematical principles. The CAD industry, although well established for more than 20 years, urgently requires advanced methods and tools for addressing new challenges.   The scientific goal of GRAPES is to bridge this gap based on a multidisciplinary consortium composed of leaders in their respective fields. Top-notch research is also instrumental in forming the new generation of European scientists and engineers. Their disciplines span the spectrum from Computational Mathematics, Numerical Analysis, and Algorithm Design, up to Geometric Modelling, Shape Optimisation, and Deep Learning. This allows the 15 PhD candidates to follow either a theoretical or an applied track and to gain knowledge from both research and innovation through a nexus of intersectoral secondments and Network-wide workshops.   Horizontally, our results lead to open-source, prototype implementations, software integrated into commercial libraries as well as open benchmark datasets. These are indispensable for dissemination and training but also to promote innovation and technology transfer. Innovation relies on the active participation of SMEs, either as a beneficiary hosting an ESR or as associate partners hosting secondments. Concrete applications include simulation and fabrication, hydrodynamics and marine design, manufacturing and 3D printing, retrieval and mining, reconstruction and visualisation, urban planning and autonomous driving.


Scientists in academia and industry who perform R&D in nature and life sciences are facing problems related with commercially availability of synthetic novel compounds. UAB SynHet novel RoboSynFarm approach addresses the disruptive and innovative solution for broader sustainable synthetic compounds accessibility targeted customer demand with significant impact not only on the final, more affordable synthetic product price but also on lower energy consumption and greener environmental impact.


Enable RPAS Insertion in Controlled Airspace

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) have positively impacted civil and military applications. RPAS access to non-segregated airspace is essential to exploit their full capabilities, offering new services to the community and enabling market opportunities with huge economy benefits. To make insertion of RPAS into the ATM system a success, key challenges have to be addressed: to design a harmonised way to operate in nominal and emergency conditions; that RPAS do not adversely impact operations of existing airspace users; to ensure interoperability with current safety nets; to develop common standards and procedures. ERICA will assess operational and technical capabilities to allow RPAS to safely operate (in nominal and emergency conditions) in controlled airspace (class A to C) and will develop and validate solutions without negative impacts on air traffic. A Detect and Avoid system for the “collision avoidance” and “remain well clear” functions will be developed. A framework for inserting RPAS into the non-segregated airspace will be developed in two streams: “Accommodation”, with platforms, missions and applications to meet the initial demand, exploiting existing capabilities, and “Integration”, to reach the final objective. The benefits expected from the project are: developing recognised European RPAS operations in non-segregated airspace; enabling civil and military RPAS, fixed and rotary wing aircraft, to operate mixed with the manned traffic under a single European sky; increasing RPAS access to the airspace and equity with conventional traffic; contributions to regulatory and standardisation bodies; assuring interoperability with ATM system within and outside Europe; Safety, Human Performance and Cyber Security KPAs will also be investigated. The ERICA partnership, which consists of expert ANSPs, Industry and R&D stakeholders, brings  the essential assets to deliver the RPAS integration with a common European view, the key for the success of the Project.


Integrated Communication, Navigation and Surveillance System

The PJ14-W2 I-CNSS aims to specify and develop the future Technologies coming from the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance domains in order to support and manage the Operational Services, like the 4D Trajectory Management, in the future ATM System. Performance requirements for CNS systems are becoming increasingly complex and demanding and need to be considered as part of an integrated and holistic System of Systems, which includes air and ground CNS solutions considering convergence towards a common infrastructure, and a unified concept of operations, where possible. In parallel, CNS systems and infrastructure for both airborne and ground must take a more business- and performance oriented approach with efficient use of resources delivering the required capability in a cost-effective and spectrum efficient manner. All the activities performed in the PJ14-W2 I-CNSS will be developed at European Level in order to avoid a fragmented approach and to ensure the interoperability as depicted in the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP).  The CNS technologies support the GANP in terms of: • Airport Operations • Globally Interoperable System Data • Optimum capacity and flexible flights The PJ14-W2 I-CNSS aims to develop and improve solution, not already available, from the technological point of view to support the future ATM global system, according the timeframe addressed by the ATM Master Plan, mainly in: • Surface Data Sharing to let a huge data exchange for an effective and efficient airport operations and awareness • New Data Communications infrastructure to reduce the ATCo Workload avoiding misunderstandings and improve the efficiency • Collaborative Air Traffic Management to support the ATCos, pilots, airport operators to improve the situation awareness • Optimisation of Capacity, Flexible Use of Airspace and Turn-around operations to avoid congestion in ATM domain In the PJ14 all the main stakeholders are involved to ensure that all the operational needs.


The Integrated Initiative of European Laser Research Infrastructures

LASERLAB-EUROPE is the European consortium of major national laser research infrastructures, covering advanced laser science and applications in most domains of research and technology, with particular emphasis on areas with high industrial and social impact, such as bio- and nanophotonics, material analyses, biology and medicine.  Recently the field of advanced lasers has experienced remarkable advances and breakthroughs in laser technologies and novel applications. Laser technology is a key innovation driver for highly varied applications and products in many areas of modern society, thereby substantially contributing to economic growth. Through its strategic approach, LASERLAB-EUROPE aims to strengthen Europe’s leading position and competitiveness in this key area. It facilitates the coordination of laser research activities within the European Research Area by integrating major facilities in most European member states with a long-term perspective and providing concerted and efficient services to researchers in science and industry. The main objectives of LASERLAB-EUROPE are to: •	promote, in a coordinated way and on a European scale, the use of advanced lasers and laser-based technologies for research and innovation,  •	serve a cross-disciplinary user community, from academia as well as from industry, by providing access to a comprehensive set of advanced key laser research installations, •	increase the European basis of human resources in the field of lasers by training new users, including users in new domains of science and technology and from geographical regions of Europe where laser user communities are still less developed,   •	improve human and technical resources through technology exchange and sharing of expertise among laser experts and operators across Europe, and through coordinated Joint Research Activities enabling world-class research, innovations and applications beyond the present state-of-the-art.


European Coordinated Research on Long-term ICT and ICT-based Scientific and Technological Challenges

CHIST-ERA is a network of research funding organisations in Europe and beyond with programmes in Information and Communication Science and Technology (ICST), at the intersection of the FET and the ICT and ICT-based domains.  CHIST-ERA IV ERA-NET aims at supporting transnational research projects addressing long-term scientific challenges in the domain of ICT or at the interface between ICT and other domains. It also fosters the maturation of the corresponding research topics and the structuration of the corresponding communities. Another goal is to encourage Open Science best practices, raise awarness about responsible Research and Innovation and support the exploitation of the research projects funded by CHIST-ERA by the industry. In the framework of CHIST-ERA IV, three joint transnational calls are planned (the Calls 2019, 2020 and 2021), each covering two topics. The two topics for the Call 2019 are "Explainable Machine Learning-based Artificial Intelligence" and "Novel Computational Approaches for Environmental Sustainability". The topics for the Calls 2020 and 2021 will be decided in 2019 and 2020 respectively.


VIESOJI ISTAIGA VIESOSIOS POLITIKOSIR VADYBOS INSTITUTAS

Addressing productivity paradox with big data: implications to policy making

The objective of the BIGPROD project is to extend existing econometric approaches to productivity, such as the Crepon-Duguet-Mairesse (CDM) model, with theoretically sound “Big data” measures that are operationalized, validated through pilots and communicated to relevant stakeholders. This is achieved by uncovering the origins of the productivity slowdown in most Western economies. Based on this understanding, we will extend the CDM model to better account for changes in the innovation process and utilize measures enabled by "Big data". The model created will be operationalized using for a random stratified sample of 160,000-200,000 European companies.  The operationalization and theoretical framework will be validated using a multi-criteria impact assessment approach. The validation will include three pilots based on issues arising from the research literature on challenges of existing measures of productivity. These are 1) high-technology and digitalization, 2) low-technology and innovation outcomes and 3) services and incumbent entrant dynamics. To allow for full integration with the policy cycle, the project will incorporate a deep stakeholder consultation mitigating the skills gap, creating transparency, enabling stakeholder influence in sources and tools and enabling policymakers being informed on utilizing tools and pilots.  The BIGPROD project addresses the work program by enabling the exploitation of "Big data" in productivity analysis with a transparent operationalization and pilots addressing key issues in integrating "Big data" to the policy cycle. The rigorous theoretical approach will enable a better understanding of the "quasi-standstill" of productivity. Using a tested data architecture, now being expanded, the project will address data accuracy and security. The impact assessment will allow us to create stakeholder validated results. Finally, outreach to existing indicator sets, such as observatories, will allow findings to be deployed.


Designing the Service to Improve the Investor Readiness of Start-ups

The one of the main challenges for the start-ups is the lack of funding for their business ideas. And this situation forces them to seek funding from private sources and especially venture capital (VC) funds. Thus, start-ups seek to participate in Business to Investor (B2I) matchmaking events where they can meet investors and have the opportunity to present their business ideas and attract funding for their company through great presentation (“pitching”). Since the competition is very high, companies must prepare exhaustively their presence in such meetings. Start-ups tend to forget to present the important parts of the Executive summary, the presentation is missing crucial data, “elevator pitch” focuses on the wrong matters. Moreover, they need guidance from experienced consultants on how to present themselves better. To assist the start-ups, project partners aim to design a new service to facilitate investment readiness utilizing a new webtool for checking the company’s readiness and proposing an action plan for improvements.


To improve the efficiency and resilience of arrival and departure operations at capacity constrained airports and access to secondary airports, the project will addresses human, technical, procedural and performance aspects of the following proposed improvements:  •	Advanced geometric GNSS based procedures in the TMA The project will enhance TMA efficiency using more GNSS and advanced PBN curved for arrival and departure operations. Development of new support tools for ATC and airspace design concepts will enable greater usage of CDO. •	Evolution of separation minima for increased runway throughput The project will refine separation minima as a function of the operational conditions. The most constraining minima (wake, runway occupancy,...) to be applied will be determined and ATCO support tool further developed for better separations delivery including separation delegation to the flight crew. •	Improved access to secondary airports The project will enhance availability and accessibility of airports with limited infrastructure in low visibility conditions. Alternative Ground Surveillance will increase runway safety and will include both ATC and A-FIS requirements as a more cost-efficient and flexible ATS provision. From an airborne perspective, Enhanced Flight Vision System and Synthetic Vision Guidance System, Combined Vision System and LPV-100 capability will enable approach and landing. •	Digital evolution of integrated surface management The extension of the A-SMGCS routing functions will improve tactical conflict management in the taxi phase. Optimised Routing and planning will deliver more accurate taxi times, improve predictability, minimize delays and ATCO's workload. Automation, A-CDM and Datalink will support conflict management. •	Safety support tools for avoiding runway excursions The project will aim to detect, prevent and alert on risks of runway excursions by synchronising air-ground information exchange about runway surface condition.


The PJ18-W2 4D Skyway project aims to continue the research on Trajectory Management (TM) to enable the deployment of the SESAR Trajectory Based Operations (TBO).  PJ18-W2 will deliver mature TM operational improvements to accelerate their deployment and to get the associated benefits and will also work on a longer term on the definition of the consolidated TM solution to drive the coherence and efficiency of the research on TM and on architecture alternatives to address the European ATM fragmentation. In details, PJ18-W2 will: •	Prepare the deployment of improvements to the ground trajectory prediction and separation management/ monitoring tools by using aircraft trajectory data, more precise meteo data, improved algorithms and machine learning techniques. This will decrease trajectory uncertainty and thus will reduce ATCO workload and increase airspace capacity. •	Prepare the deployment of complex CPDLC clearances sent in advance of the horizontal, vertical and longitudinal trajectory change to enhance the synchronisation of the airborne trajectory with the ground trajectory. Automation will keep the flight crew and the ATCO workload to a low level. It will decrease trajectory uncertainty and increase airspace capacity. •	Define the Ground-Ground and Air-Ground TM exchanges between the European ATM actors by consolidating the different initiatives and bridging the gaps. This will drive the current and the future TM research and the ICAO FF-ICE discussions. Also, explore new automation for Trajectory exchanges (big data, machine learning, voice recognition…). •	Define a trajectory common service as an alternative architecture for Trajectory exchanges between ground ATM actors compared to the current European ATM fragmented approach to improve its cost effectiveness. PJ18-W2 will work on the definition and validation of operational TM solutions using prototypes and the expertise of European ANSPs, Ground and airborne industries, Research centres and EUROCONTROL.


VIESOJI ISTAIGA KAUNO MOKSLO IR TECHNOLOGIJU PARKAS

Scale-up Champions: Scale up innovative businesses across the EU

The main challenge that the European start-up ecosystem is facing, is that innovative start-ups fail to scale up at a sufficient rate. Start-up incubators play a significant role in helping start-ups in Europe to scale up. An Incubator is a set-up to reduce the chances of failure of an early stage start-up and they have a deep impact on start-up ecosystem and its stakeholders. Although incubators have an increasingly important role in supporting early stage companies with the basic needs of developing a company, they are consistently failing to provide services that are needed for companies to go global and scale up. The Scale-up Champions project builds on the premise of equalising opportunities of scaling up for start-ups across Europe and connects less and more developed startup ecosystems. Our strategic objective is supported by the following sub-objectives: •	Increase the connectedness among members of deep-tech start-up ecosystems and their companies (start-ups and scale-ups) and to the larger european business ecosystem seeking maximum synergies. •	Increase access to customers, private and public, access to qualified employees, access to the right combination of finance and prospects for scaling up across borders. •	Stimulate European investments in deep-tech digital sectors through increasing the number of cross-border investments. To achieve these objectives, Scale-up Champions’ consortium will implement the following actions: •	Develop a method for experience-sharing among project partners that fosters the collaboration between different European start-up incubators. •	Foster start-up and corporate cooperation in order to build sustainable partnerships through active support of start-ups and corporations. •	Build the fundraising capacity of deep-tech start-ups through an active investment readiness program and create working networks between investors and start-ups. •	Foster cross-border activities for European start-ups in order to support interna


Surface Traffic Alerts Improve Runway Safety

As a result of increasingly busy airports, safe runway operation is one of the highest challenges for aviation safety. All main aviation bodies (e.g. IATA, ICAO, CANSO, ACI, EASA, FAA & EUROCONTROL) identify runway incursion as a major safety threat.  Safety has been improved thanks to airport surface management systems: A-SMGCS is available on many major airports and ground safety nets (e.g. RWSL) start to be deployed. However, these systems are not expected to fully resolve the runway incursion risk and are not envisaged to be deployed at smaller airports.  Incursion rate remains steady (3/100.000 operations) and events continue to occur (28 near-miss collisions last 5 years). Although TCAS has been in use since 1981, there is currently no aircraft system to prevent runway collisions. Within S2020-W1 PJ03B05, ADS-B technology is leveraged to validate on-board SURFace Alerts with possible Indications (SURF-A & SURF-IA). SURF-A/IA is the ultimate safety net against collision when all previous barriers have failed. Solution is reaching V3 in 2019 thanks to fast-time/real-time simulations and flight test validation. During S2020-W2 VLD2, SURF-A/IA airborne platforms will be developed, certified, fitted on airline aircraft and exposed on revenue flights. The objective is to check the performance of the function in real environment, in particular the absence of nuisance alert. Participating ANSPs (DSNA, DFS, ANS-CR(B4), PANSA (B4)) and EUROCONTROL, who are convinced of the need for complementary aircraft safety net for airport operations, will conduct specific studies to ensure the interoperability with ATC procedures & ground safety nets. In addition, this trial will be the largest ground ADS-B IN trial worldwide, paving the way towards large deployment of SURF-A/IA or future ADS-B applications and standards. Demonstration aims at being very large, including: 3 airlines or more,50 aircraft,12 months recording period,50.000 flights collected and 300 airports visited.


Separation Management and Controller Tools

This project is part of the Industrial Research & Validation phase, developed under the SJU Private Public Partnership and will contribute to the SESAR2020 Programme Lifecycle. It will build upon previous work in SESAR2020 Wave 1.  The project will further mature the concept of “Flight Centric ATC” where an air traffic controller is responsible for a certain number of aircraft throughout their entire flight segment within a given airspace whereas other controllers are responsible for different aircraft within the same airspace. Another objective is to enable collaborative control operations, where ATCOs will be able to issue instructions to aircraft that involve out-of-sector manoeuvring, without the coordination required in conventional operations. This will be accompanied by an activity to identify and validate needs that might allow a Controller to operate in any airspace classified as a particular type. That is, the ATCO will be validated on method and tools rather than a geographic specified airspace.  In addition, the project will investigate and develop the Contingency and Delegation of Airspace Operational Use Cases. It will identify the impacts on the services defined in the Virtual Centre concept and validate the concept within a realistic environment based on contingency needs or on organisation needs (either static, on a fixed-time transfer schedule, or dynamic, when the traffic density is below/above a certain level).  In order to reduce the workload and mental strain on the controllers in the ATC centre, especially under high traffic density/complexity situations, the project will investigate new human machine interface interaction modes and technologies. This work will consider modern design and development approaches as well as methodologies such as modularity, service-oriented architecture, adaptive automation. The project will in  particular address Automatic Speech Recognition, Attention Guidance and enhanced User Profile Management Systems.


SMART, SUSTAINABLE & CONVENIENT UNIT DOSE PACKAGING

Of the total plastic demand, approximately 40% is used to make packaging that is discarded within weeks or days. These short-life plastics bottles, containers, unit dose packaging, secondary packaging have important disadvantages regarding their usage and disposal. Traditional plastics are derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, used to produce large quantities of plastics that go to waste (38% go to landfills). Due to the increasing awareness of such environmental impact, there is a growing demand for packaging made from bioplastics (polymers derived from renewable resources or biodegradable polymers). For almost every conventional plastic there is now a bioplastic alternative available on the market that has the same properties with additional advantages. Currently bioplastics represent around 1% of the total plastic produced annually (2M in 2017) but the market is booming (20% growth annually) and many big firms are introducing bio-packaging in an attempt to position their products as green and include the sustainability claim. Moreover, about 80% of European consumers want to buy products which have minimal impact on the environment and will be willing to accept an additional charge in their shopping bag for sustainable packaging. Our project, BIOSNAP aims at taking full advantage of the bioplastics market growth and opportunities towards more sustainable products. We are providing a ready-to market, sustainable unit dose packaging that is 100% bio-based for food applications (olive oil, ketchup, or mayonnaise). Furthermore, it will be made of biodegradable and compostable materials in compliance with UNI EN13432. Our end users (food firms) will benefit from a premium and unique unit dose packaging on the market, and final consumers will benefit from its versatility and ease of use (one hand opening system), being able to safely dispose the packaging with the organic waste. The consortium expects to achieve a ROI of 15.3 from BIOSNAP.


A Cost-Effective Photonics-based Device for Early Prediction, Monitoring and Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Early prediction and management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs) is an important health factor of Europe. Recent clinical trials have concluded that NIR sensing captures oxy(deoxy)haemoglobin (HbO2, Hb) and peripheral/ tissue oxygen saturations (StO2, SpO2), thermal Infrared-IR detects hyperthermia, among Regions of Interest (ROIs) and Mid-IR contains rich information about the proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics (e.g., glucose). All these medical indices are important factors for early prediction of DFU. Current medical approaches are i) invasive (e.g., skin lesion biopsy), ii) requires consumables, and iii) being operated by certified physicians (e.g., ultrasound and/or biopsy). PHOOTONICS aims at developing a non-invasive, reliable and cost-effective photonics-driven device for DFU monitoring and management which can be applied for wide use. The project supports two versions: (i) the PHOOTONICS In-Home, used for DFU monitoring by patients and (ii) the PHOOTONICS PRO operated by physicians. Reliability is achieved by optimizing i) passive Hyperspectral (HIS) NIR photo-detector, with an active tuneable diode illuminator for detecting SpO2/StO2, HbO2 and Hb, ii) a thermal-IR sensor of detecting hyperthermia/hypothermia distributions in ROIs and iii) a passive Mid-IR sensing with a Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) optimized to capture additional tissue attributes such as proteomics (elastin, collagen) and metabolomics (glucose). Cost-effectiveness is achieved by introducing i) targeted photonics technologies for DFU, ii) implementing advanced signal processing/learning algorithms to increase the discrimination accuracy while maintaining hardware cost-benefit, (iii) developing a user-friendly framework operated by non-certified physicians, and even by patients (for the In-Home version), and (iv) minimising operational cost with our non-invasive device.  Clinical studies are performed to validate the reliability of the new cost-effective device in real-life settings.


Connecting advisers to boost interactive innovation in agriculture and forestry

The i2connect project aims to fuel the competencies of advisors who will support and facilitate interactive innovation  processes responding to multiple challenges in European agriculture and forestry. The strategy in i2connect is to use the existing advisor networks and the experiences of success in different contexts to create a broader network and momentum of change enabling a new culture of bottom-up led innovation support. This resource of over 40,000 advisors are critical actors supporting agriculture and forestry on the ground and must be influenced in this project to support interactively innovation with particular emphasis on EIP-AGRI 2020 target of 3,500 operational groups and beyond.  An inventory will be made of the current state of advisory practices in Europe. Best Practices throughout Europe will be analysed in an interactive way to guide the development of approaches and tools, and to be studied as part of the training program for advisors. A pool of trainers will be trained to work with these materials in training and coaching advisors. Some advisors may join cross visit teams for studying interesting cases abroad. Attention will also be given to the ‘enabling environment’: ways in which managers of advisory services, research actors, policy makers and others can create conditions. These activities feed into a professional network with many local branches, supported by the project through a moderated on line platform for mutual coaching, sharing experiences. i2connect brings together 32 organisations (beneficiaries and third parties).