StandICT.eu 2029 builds on the success of the previous three editions [2023-26, 2020-23, & 2018-19], delivered by the original partners who designed the previous editions, considered in Europe as the “go-to project” on ICT Standards in Europe. Its principal goal is to strengthen its global reach in the EU ICT Standardisation Ecosystem, by: a) managing a neutral and efficient facility supporting a Fellowship Programme with € 4.2M funding in 36 months & 6 Open Calls; b) delivering ICT standardisation landscape & gap analysis via Technical Working Groups, empowering contributions from ICT standardisation experts. Timely standards updated in the EUOS EU Observatory for ICT Standardisation; c) delivering a mentoring & coaching programme for the next generation of ICT standardisation experts, SMEs & researchers with SDOs, EU & national funded R&I projects & engage directly with a subcontract signed with the ESOs: ETSI & CEN & CENELEC; d) Providing a forum for foresight analysis to guarantee high-level steering with an authoritative Foresight Committee Board FCB supported by funded fellows active in SDOs, early-warning signals in-synch with the MSP, ICT Rolling Plan & High-level Standardisation Forum; e) Organising and support standardisation meetings of SDOs, global fora & consortia so Europeans, and SMEs, may participate easily. Consortium: Trust-IT Services (IT, coordinator), COMMpla (IT), Dublin City University (IE), Open Forum Europe (BE), AUSTRALO (ES), Digital SME Alliance (BE), Fraunhofer Institute for Systems & Innovation Research ISI (DE). Outputs: Fellowship Programme, 1200+ proposals, 300+ European Experts Funded & 70+ External Evaluators; 4,000+ metadata of ICT Standards in the Observatory; 20+ Webinars, 3 Mentorship Events, Training Lectures, 2 Impact Events & Reports, Policy recommendations, 8 TWGs, 25+ MoUs, 1000+ participants in webinars. Sustainability strategy and an engaged, well represented multi-stakeholder ICT Standardisation Community.

StandICT.eu 2026 builds on the success of the previous two editions [2020-23 & 2018-19 StandICT.eu initiatives], delivered by the original partners who prepared the first proposal back in 2017, obtaining the recognition of the “go-to” project on ICT Standards in Europe. StandICT.eu 2026’s principal goal is to strengthen its global reach in the European ICT Standardisation Ecosystem, by: a) launching & managing a robust and efficient facility supporting the Fellowship Programme with € 2,925,000 funding earmarked over 36 months with 9 Open Calls; b) EUOS (EU Observatory for ICT Standardisation) and Technical Working Groups (TWGs) empowering contributions from ICT standardisation experts; c) Training the next generation of ICT standardisation experts, engaging with National Standardisation Bodies & PPPs through the Standards Education Group (EUOS-SEG); d) ensuring hi-level steering of StandICT.eu 2026 by means of an authoritative Expert Group (the EAG) who tap directly into the WGs & TCs of SDOs, tackling EU priorities, challenges & gaps; e) Creating an engaging & influential Forum on EU Strategy for ICT standards to identify early warnings around sensitive issues in ICT standardisation (FOREST). Trust-IT Srl (IT), coordinates the effort with 5 highly experienced partners: Dublin City University (IE), Open Forum Europe (BE), AUSTRALO (ES), Digital SME Alliance (BE), and Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI (DE). Principal outputs: Fellowship Programme, with Open Calls, 1000+ proposals received, over 400+ funded Experts & 50+ External Evaluators; 4,000+ significant ICT Standards uploaded in the Observatory; 18 Webinars & 5 Workshops, Training Lectures, 2 Impact Events, Impact Reports, Policy recommendations, 10+TWGs, 25+ signed MoUs, 1000+ participants in trainings. Sustainability strategy and a truly engaged, well represented multi-stakeholder ICT Standardisation Community.

cyberwatching,eu addresses the DS-05 call by defining and promoting a pragmatic approach to implement and maintain an EU Observatory to monitor R&I initiatives on cybersecurity & privacy, throughout EU & Associated Countries. These initiatives will be clustered, with a cluster tool, and themes identified, leading to an online catalogue of services for cybersecurity & privacy, showcasing market uptake and advancing EU sustainable competitiveness. A supply & demand marketplace of EU cybersecurity products & services, as well as the inclusion of an end-users’ club, ensures that perspectives of SMEs as well as other relevant stakeholders are properly taken account of. Ultimately, a cybersecurity & privacy ecosystem will be created, offering prime and guided access to the cyberwatching.eu catalogue of services & marketplace & ensuring feedback in terms of effectiveness & usability of research results. The cyberwatching.eu consortium is domain-skilled & complementary. Trust-IT: Expert SME in communicating ICT innovation, developing cybersecurity tools & go-to-market strategies. The University of Oxford: Academic Centre of Excellence in CyberSecurity Research. ICT Legal: Legal expert in the field, Advisor Member & Scientific Director of the European Privacy Association (EPA). DigitalSMEAlliance: An association representing the interests of ICT SMEs in EU. CONCEPTIVITY: SME experts in fighting cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism. AEI Ciberseguridad: A CyberSecurity Innovation Cluster. AON: #1 rated risk services firm, insurance broker, experienced in cyber risk management. An influential External Advisory Group passionate about cybersecurity & privacy supports the consortia. Main Outputs: Continuously updated observatory & R&I online catalogue, cluster tool, 4 concertation meetings, 4 annual workshops, 10 regional SME workshops, 10 webinars, 4 cluster reports, 2 white papers, 2 roadmaps, sustainability through cybersecurity & privacy marketplace.

Flexibility needs to be added to Europe’s power system to accommodate an increasing share of variable power generation from renewable sources. Indeed, service quality issues start to arise on the grid when this share in electricity consumption reaches 10%. To meet the EU’s targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions this share should rise to 30% by 2030 and up to 50% by 2050. The cost of this transition and the necessary measures to guarantee stable and continuous supply are a major political concern. The SABINA project responds to it by targeting the cheapest possible source of flexibility: the existing thermal inertia in buildings and the coupling between heat and electricity networks it enables. This coupling requires accurately estimating the thermal inertia of many buildings. SABINA’s partner the University of Navarra has created a breakthrough, automatic method for this estimation, which shall be scaled up, validated and integrated in a complete management system through this project. This system will operate on two complementary time horizons: • One day: aggregation and management at the district level of the electric and thermal flexibilities, and conversion and storage of the excess electrical energy to thermal energy in the freely available building inertia. • Seconds to minutes: local control of inverters feeding renewable electricity to the grid, with optimal parameters automatically determined at the district level. Research partners will develop novel control and optimization algorithms, and integrate and evaluate the system in lab and operational settings. The SABINA solution is compatible with both new and existing buildings; it is planned to be deployed within five years of the end of the project. Lead users are present in the consortium: Telvent and SMS plc, the coordinator, for the architecture, and Insero for the business model it enables; compliance and contribution to relevant standards will be ensured by the European Digital SME Alliance

FORSEE posits that the advancing technical capabilities of AI applications require a clear understanding of what successful AI means - for society as a whole - together with the conditions of possibility for successful AI. New AI technologies are sites of negotiation and contestation. Different groups, based on their social positions, develop diverse and possibly conflicting ideas on what constitutes “success”. Expanding visions that define AI strictly in terms of technological and economic efficiency, FORSEE aims to develop a nuanced and enriched notion of success that will guide future AI applications and policy efforts. To achieve this, FORSEE draws from the social construction of technology to engage with three categories of stakeholders: a) institutional actors, b) “lifeworld” stakeholders (Civil Society Organizations representing gendered perspectives and Digital SMEs) and, c) the broader public. Then, FORSEE inquires into the impact of AI applications on economy, society and sustainability as well as on their alignment with EU values and strategic priorities. These interconnected research projects will illuminate a broader understanding of success that rests upon conflict resolution, empowerment of stakeholders, and alignment with fundamental rights and the goal of sustainable development. Based on these research findings, FORSEE will (i) develop a novel approach to AI governance that can guarantee more successful AI applications for society as a whole, including (ii) a new evaluative framework for assessing current and future AI applications, and (iii) a new prototype for registering risk and negative impacts. Through these outputs, FORSEE highlights and analyses existing successful AI applications to strategically enhance capabilities of our stakeholders and policymakers to address future risks and opportunities. Updating the SME sector’s understanding of success is a particular condition for the EU to retain a leading position in the AI landscape.