Call topic MG3.5-2014 notes that the deployment of C-ITS has not kept pace with the technological development, implying that deployment is being restrained by non-technical factors. CIMEC, as a proposed CSA for this topic, aims to support the accelerated take-up of C-ITS by increasing the alignment of technological solutions with user needs, thereby removing perceived barriers and risks in deployment. European highways authorities are relatively well educated, prepared and supported regarding C-ITS, including through a series of EC- and national funded R&D projects. However the greatest benefits are expected through the more complex and fragmented city context, which up to now is much less understood. CIMEC focuses especially on this urban C-ITS context. CIMEC brings together key collaborative institutions, supported by a panel of core cities and by the European city network Polis. This meta-network has extensive experience in bringing together cities and suppliers to optimise ITS, and has specific expertise in a range of C-ITS at national and European level. The objectives of CIMEC are to •capture and document a set of realistic use cases for C-ITS in cities, supported by robust business cases •identify practical project structures which enable the deployment of these use cases •identify how emerging standards for C-ITS will affect, and should respond to, urban systems and processes •show possible system architecture and workflow of C-ITS support systems •promote multi-sector stakeholder dialogue, engagement and collaboration The principal output will be a roadmap for city deployment of C-ITS which has been validated against user needs and technology maturity, captured in meaningful project descriptions. By developing a single, coherent narrative and communicating it effectively to all relevant stakeholder groups, this will ensure that standards, product development, project management, and policy goals are fully aligned across the European urban C-ITS context.

GALATEA is not just one of Neptune’s satellites or a marine nymph in Greek mythology, it is also the continuation of the ‘NEPTUNE, INNOSUP-1, the Blue Growth Accelerator’ which has successfully proven both its concept and method by achieving significant results in terms of SMEs supported, cross sectoral and cross border projects implemented and new value chains created. GALATEA aims at promoting cross-border and cross-sectoral collaborations between innovation actors, notably SMEs, in 4 key domains of Blue Growth with great potential of development and uptake of innovative solutions by businesses: Smart port, Smart ship, Smart shipyard, maritime surveillance. The construction of new value chains by the integration of technologies and know-how from ICT and aerospace communities is essential for the modernisation of those key economic sectors to be more efficient, greener and safer and to enhance their competitiveness at a global level. The EC has established ‘Blue Growth’ as the long-term strategy to support sustainable growth in the maritime sectors and as a means for achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. This strategy focuses on both emerging and traditional maritime activities including those addressed by GALATEA. GALATEA brings together a strong network of clusters from 9 regions, representing ICT, aerospace and maritime industries, experienced in promoting and implementing cascade funding schemes. They cover 3 sea basins: Atlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. GALATEA will implement an open innovation environment to facilitate the emergence of ideas based on the identification of customer’s needs and will provide direct support for SMEs developing innovative projects addressing identified challenges, through targeted financial mechanisms and services. GALATEA will act directly on the industrial competitiveness of those sectors, with positive and sustainable impacts on EU growth and jobs in Blue Growth.

The idea of SUSMILE (Successful online learning for sustainable last mile logistics) is grounded on the recognition that there is a lack of training materials and tools for distance VET teaching of topics covering sustainable last mile logistics.VET teachers and trainers are facing many challenges in their efforts to respond to the current COVID-19 crisis. This period of distance learning, has surfaced a lack of adapted means, training materials and tools throughout Europe and across all VET qualifications. The transport and logistics sector is also sensitive to these challenges of the VET system that have arisen with the pandemic. In France, for example, a Carif-Oref survey on training during lockdown shows that 75% of transport and logistics training was cancelled, one of the highest rates compared to other economic sectors.The SUSMILE project will contribute to building digital education readiness by addressing this challenge through the provision of effective and inclusive teaching tools, materials, resources and methods to ensure distance learning in the area of sustainable last mile logistics.The environmental impact and high costs associated to the last mile delivery are but only increasing, especially since the uptake of ecommerce driven by the pandemic. The new habits together with the social and environmental concerns require innovative training practices for the digital era, which help train logistic professionals to reduce the negative impacts of the digital era itself.The aim of the SUSMILE project is to develop a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and related high quality digital elearning resources for VET providers to be able to train their students online on fresh, practical and innovative concepts related to sustainable last mile logistics. The SUSMILE open educational resource will contain the following innovative online resources and tools:• elearning modules to address initial and continuing education, including theory and evaluation materials, to help the user acquire key knowledge in areas such as routing systems, technologies, marketing, warehouse/ consolidation centres/ picking stations, environmental impact and processes and product care.• A serious game that through the aerial/isometric visualization of a city, the player will apply the knowledge gained through the elearning and put into practice the acquired skills.• An adaptive learning kit to provide varied learning materials for the students and help them understand last mile logistics in a dynamic way, with verbal and interpersonal sessions.The target group is represented mainly by VET providers (teachers and trainers) and their students (EQF level 4, 5 or 6), as well as logistics companies, professional organisations, social partners, public authorities, and other institutions.The most relevant expected impact is on the SUSMILE users themselves, logistics VET teachers and trainers will have at their disposal brand new learning resources that will support them on their online teaching processes. These teaching materials will not only be innovative for their online accessibility nature but also for the subject they are based on, sustainable last mile logistics, a topic for which teachers and trainers did not have contents about until now. SUSMILE will support the VET provider in the process of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and will help strengthen their ability to provide high quality and inclusive digital education.Learners will be able to access cutting-edge learning from anywhere they like, from their PC’s, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Furthermore, they will gain focused and market and environmental oriented knowledge and expertise in the last mile logistics field, increasing their future employability in green professions. In the long term, logistics companies or industrial companies in need of logistic professionals will be able to hire eco-friendly and high skilled professionals who have been trained on the basis of sustainability.The consortium covers a wide geographical area including Spain, France, Italy and the Czech Republic, it takes advantage of a range of expertise and it has a close relation with the logistic industry. Eight partners are formally involved in SUSMILE: AFT (FR) and NVF (CZ) are organisations for the development of VET; CISITA (IT) is a VET provider, MLC (ES), ITL(IT) and ČLA (CZ), are transport and logistics associations, IKASPLAY (ES) is a serious game developer and Prospektiker (ES) is a research organisation with environmental expertise. There are also 9 associated partners, not formally participating in the project, but contributing to the success of the project. These are vocational training providers and institutional bodies from the 4 partner countries who have agreed to collaborate with the consortium especially in the piloting and in the dissemination activities.

Cities are facing a revolution in urban mobility. Emerging start-ups are offering innovative mobility solutions to satisfy the demand of the growing population, both living or moving into the cities every day. We are moving from the concept of owning to sharing a vehicle; from using public transport services to moving around with a hop on/off bike or electric scooter; disruptive start-ups (Uber, Cabify) are shaking up traditionally established business models... But this innovation is also bringing up unforeseen consequences that public administrations need to manage. Electric scooters driven in pedestrian areas are posing safety risks and even pedestrian kills; piles of broken bikes are laying around in streets; protests and strikes by taxi drivers; electric charge points need to coexist with the growing demand for public parking spaces. It is in this new context that public administrations need means to help them understand this new scenario, supporting them in making policy–related decisions and predicting eventualities. There is a need of a platform that can harvest, fuse and curate data from heterogeneous sources, that can extract knowledge to help in the decision-making processes and simulation of solutions to anticipate behaviours and delimit unforeseen consequences. Besides, such intelligent platform can foster cross-departmental collaboration by eradicating internal silos. URBANITE will analyse the impact, trust and attitudes of civil servants, citizens and other stakeholders with respect to the integration of disruptive technologies such as AI, DSS, big data analytics and predictive algorithms in a data–driven decision-making process. To this end, URBANITE will provide recommendations, pathways and toolkits (both ICT-based such as data management platform and DSS, and non-ICT such as co-creation activities and a repository of social-related assets) for city managers. Results will be validated in 4 real use cases: Amsterdam, Bilbao, Helsinki and Messina.

BONVOYAGE will design, develop and test a platform optimizing multimodal door-to-door transport of passengers and goods. The platform integrates travel information, planning and ticketing services, by automatically analysing non-real-time data from heterogeneous databases (on road, railway and urban transport systems); real-time measured data (traffic, weather forecasts); user profiles; user feedback. The platform is supported by an innovative information-centric communication network that collects and distributes all the data required. The highly heterogeneous, distributed and mobile nature of data, coming from data-centers, sensors, vehicles, goods and people on the move, calls for an innovative networking paradigm. Current networks (e.g. Internet) limit themselves to “just” providing communication channels between hosts. Our paradigm, called Internames, allows communications among entities identified by names, without the constraint of a static binding to a particular location. The request of a “user” (be it a person or a parcel) to travel from source to destination is managed by the platform with several tools: Metadata Handler collects and elaborates data related to the request and generates a corresponding Context; User Profiler creates a personalized profile, conveying requirements including Quality of Experience parameters and special needs; Multi-Objective Optimizer develops personalized travel instructions, optimal for the Context and User Profile. The user may give feedback, before accepting the travel itinerary. If a trip is not available at request time, the user is notified if it becomes available later on. An Actuator triggers the necessary services. A Tariff Scheme Designer exploits platform data to define multi-part tariff schemes. BONVOYAGE will trial and demonstrate the platform and communication network in integrated, large-scale, real life application scenarios, incorporated into the normal business operations of our transport operator partners.