Five public-private partnerships in digital will advance Europe’s push for technological sovereignty under Horizon Europe.
With the European Commission (EC) placing more emphasis on the digital transition, digital technologies also occupy an important spot in the upcoming Research and Innovation (R&I) Framework Programme, Horizon Europe. Under Horizon Europe’s 2nd Pillar “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” several public-private partnerships (PPP) will bring together R&I stakeholders. Five of these partnerships, established under the Digital, Industry and Space Cluster, will be dedicated to digital technologies (see ScienceBusiness article). The consortia behind the partnerships, representing different stakeholders from industry, research and beyond, are currently presenting their proposals. The PPPs aim to advance a specific technology, but also expand existing networks and bring research into practice. They further coordinate and collaborate with other research and innovation initiatives relevant to their focus. While the partnerships all focus on different technologies, their strategies and goals are closely intertwined, as they all contribute to a more digitised European economy and to strengthening Europe’s technological sovereignty.
One of the more advanced proposals, the European Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data and Robotics builds on current partnerships under Horizon 2020, the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) and euRobotics. But, it also includes independently established initiatives such as the European Laboratory of Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), the Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe (CLAIRE), or the European Association for Artificial Intelligence EurAI. The PPP’s main goal is to create the conditions for Europe to “lead the world in researching, developing and deploying value-driven trustworthy AI, Data and Robotics” (AI, Data and Robotics PPP, Strategic Research, Innovation and Deployment Agenda). The different organisations forming the partnership represent players all over Europe, including Swiss stakeholders in research and industry, such as ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of St. Gallen, University of Fribourg, Hocoma AG, and the multinational Nestlé. Benefitting from the experience of the stakeholders it represents, the partnership will create opportunities along the value chain to collaborate. It will also leverage synergies with the new Digital Europe Programme.
Another one of the proposed digital public-private partnership is the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (JU). It was created as a public-private partnership under Horizon 2020. Its goal is to deploy world-class exascale supercomputers and make Europe a world-leader in High Performance Computing (HPC). By 2021, Europe will procure and deploy eight new supercomputers, three of which are among the five highest performing computers in the world. The first procurement agreements have been signed this fall (see SwissCore article). In addition to guaranteeing European public, private, scientific and industrial users access to enormous computing powers, the JU also creates national HPC competence centres and helps develop an innovative European supercomputing ecosystem. Switzerland is a member of the EuroHPC JU since March 2019.
The Photonics public-private partnership also builds on an existing partnership under Horizon 2020, and is managed through the European Technology Platform Photonics21. Photonics are seen as a key technology for advancing European technology sovereignty, as many strategic areas for digitalisation rely on innovation in photonics, such as AI, Smart Cities, Industry 4.0 and Deep Tech applications.
A newly established partnership among the digital five is the partnership on Smart Networks and Services. The partnership will advance the deployment of network infrastructure, such as 5G, and help European stakeholders develop the capacities for 6G technology. The consortium behind the partnership is the 5G Infrastructure Association. Development of connectivity infrastructure is a prerequisite for the advancement of other key technologies like AI or Cloud Computing.
The fifth partnership forming the digital cluster is the Key Digital Technologies (KDT) Partnership. The technologies referenced here are electronic and photonic components and the software that makes them work together. It builds on the experience from the Electronic Components and Systems Joint Undertaking under Horizon 2020, and aims to increase European competitiveness in key technologies, while working towards a greener technology sector.
At the moment, the EC is in the process of evaluating the partnership proposals, preparing their legislative base and taking the next steps for their integration and launch with the start of Horizon Europe in 2021.