AID4SME will facilitate SMEs in developing combined AI and data solutions for large scale resource optimisation challenges for industries that have significant impact on the objectives of the Green Deal. Minimum 20 SMEs, selected through 2 open calls, will receive FSTP to develop these solutions with the support of a Community of Practice (COP). The ambition is to create a COP that will continue after the project lifetime. AID4SME brings together 9 technology blocks and low-TRL playgrounds from 4 scientific partners, to educate and support the SMEs. Additionally, 4 large industry partners (from automotive, whitegoods, battery and energy sector) provide real-life large scale resource optimization challenges that require combined AI and data solutions, and high-TRL playgrounds to integrate and demonstrate the solutions.AID4SME offers an open platform that is flexible to bring in challenges from outside the consortium. AID4SME provides the infrastructure and learning environment that enable the SMEs to solve the challenges, demonstrate solutions and grow into impactful enterprises. The technology blocks cover a wide area of AI & data technologies for the full cycle of data collection, creation of insights, decision support and automation. These technologies have the potential to have significant impact on the Green Transition and boost EU competitiveness for industries. AID4SME will collaborate with the AI-on-Demand platform to enrich its repository with the AID4SME tools and framework, while it is open to deploy the tools/frameworks already available on the AI-on-Demand platform for new use cases. AID4SME will assess the impact of the developed technologies on Green Deal objectives and on social and human aspects. AID4SME brings along partners who are experienced in re-skilling and up-skilling of SMEs and applying standardization as enabler for exploitation. The wide geographical coverage, with partners and DIHs from all across Europe, ensures maximum impact.

The PROSPECTS 5.0 project aims to promote the adoption of Industry 5.0 principles, such as human centricity, sustainability, and resiliency, and facilitate the transition to Industry 5.0 for SMEs, start-ups, and scale-ups in various industries. The project intends to achieve its objectives by providing reports, guidelines, measurement tools, and a collaborative platform. To provide real-world examples, the project will analyse 14 use cases from different European Union countries and 6 different industries, covering various types of manufacturing, service providing, education, energy, aviation transport, and automotive. The selected industrial sectors are significant drivers for the adoption of Industry 5.0 and are crucial to the European economy. The use cases from these sectors will ensure a focused and effective transition to Industry 5.0 in Europe. PROSPECTS 5.0 results are expected to encourage collaboration between different entities, including companies, universities, research centres, and government agencies, to co-create new solutions and innovations, improve the skills and mindsets of individuals regarding Industry 5.0, and study pilot projects to test, validate, and measure the impact of Industry 5.0 on various operations, employees, customers, and the environment. Additionally, PROSPECTS 5.0 will raise awareness of Industry 5.0 through workshops, seminars/webinars, and collaborative online platforms and web applications showcasing successful case studies, best practices, challenges, and the latest trends and opportunities of this transition. PROSPECTS5.0 is relevant to the worker Horizon Europe Cluster 4 (Digital, Industry, Space) specifically to destination 6 “A human-centred and ethical development of digital and industrial technologies since the project results will lead to a more inclusive and sustainable EU Industry, and indirectly, the project findings will facilitate the understanding of the required skills needed to support the twin transition.

A multi-KET (key enabling technologies) approach is most beneficiary for SME in regard to increase in productivitiy, efficiency and market shares. To enable a Pan-European Access for SME on technology services for clean production, a network of premier KET Technology Centres with facilitated one stop shop access, offering SME multi-ket infrastructures and services across borders on pan-european level is generated, involving innovation consultants from the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) being local = at the doorstep of EU`s manufacturing SMEs. Due to the disparity of KET TC in EU28, KET4CleanProduction (KET4CP) enables also a discourse with policy makers on RIS3 and the potential of cross-border collaboration to cover specific SME needs for clean production technologies. KET4CP starts with 12-premier KET TC and 7 EEN as an open innovation ecosystem, with a one stop shop access. KET facilitators support the SME in identifying their specific technology challenge for clean production, propose services and technologies based on innovation potential + need analysis. The fast, flexible services focus on the SME´s business case. After a pilot phase with 20 SME innovation projects/micro grants, the network is scaled up adding 17 KET TC and 21 EEN members, to reach a critical mass of CP technology deployment in SME. Targeted actions stimulate initial requests of >120 SME from > 10 EU MS and a total of 70 SME micro grant projects with min. 140 KET TC. 2 MEUR third party financing go to SME in total. 50 % are targeted for low to modest innovator regions. KET4CP delivers standard procedures / tools for KET TC transnational collaboration and joint service/shared infrastructure, based on business model scenarios stimulating KET TC to collaborate and share clients. KET4CP creates a sustainable platform, a win-win situation for all stakeholders with a high potential for scale up. The aim for 2022 is to have 100 KET TC and 180 EEN members with 1000 SME inquiries p.a.

FIT-4-NMP’s overall objective is to increase the participation of talented newcomers from underrepresented regions in NMP projects in Horizon Europe, as compared to Horizon 2020. Talented newcomers are promising innovation organisations – especially SMEs – that have not participated in H2020 NMP. Meanwhile, underrepresented regions are regions in EU-13, EU-15 and Associated Countries with a low participation in H2020 NMBP. The increase in participation of the talented newcomers will be brought about by connecting them with NMP hotspots, where important NMP innovations are demonstrated, as well as networking them with NMP Top Innovators. FIT-4-NMP will take strategic and targeted approaches to achieve this overall objective. From a strategic perspective, FIT-4-NMP will survey talented newcomers and experts responsible for regional and national R&I policy, in order to understand the precise reasons for non-participation of newcomers in NMP projects. In turn, best practices will be identified and policy measures formulated and communicated to relevant stakeholders: talented newcomers; regional/national authorities responsible for R&I policy; local innovation and technology transfer nodes; and the EC. From a targeted perspective, the FIT-4-NMP will: • Organise innovation workshops between talented newcomers and NMP Top Innovators; • Provide hands-on support to talented newcomers to prepare NMP proposals for Horizon Europe; • Facilitate networking for talented newcomers at major European conferences and regional brokerage events; • Provide training to talented newcomers on technology-transfer, proposal writing, and use of European networking portals. FIT-4-NMP will be undertaken by a strong consortium with partners located among many of the EU member states with the lowest participation in H2020 NMBP. Also, these partners represent “umbrella” organisations with extensive networks to innovative NMP organisations and talented newcomers in their regions.