The CEI-Sphere Coordination and Support Action (CSA), funded under the Horizon Europe programme, has officially launched this month with an online kick-off meeting held on 10th October 2024. This new initiative builds upon the achievements of the UNLOCK-CEI (part of EUCloudEgdeIoT) and aims to create an open, interoperable, and competitive Cloud-Edge-IoT (CEI) ecosystem across Europe. As the project kicks into gear, it will play a pivotal role in preparing the ground for Large-Scale Pilots (LSPs), scheduled to begin in January 2025.
The primary role of CEI-Sphere as a CSA is to provide comprehensive support to LSPs and their stakeholders. The LSPs will test and implement cloud-edge technologies in real-world scenarios, especially in critical sectors like energy. These pilots are meant to act as a testbed for defining new business models, open standards, and cross-sectoral collaborations.
The CEI-Sphere project also introduces the concept of "spheres”, i.e. dedicated environments tailored to key industries. These spheres will serve as platforms for testing new CEI solutions but also as hubs for ongoing collaboration, helping to integrate solutions across industries while addressing regulatory frameworks, standards, and data spaces.
CEI-Sphere is closely aligned with multiple European Union initiatives beyond the mentioned EUCloudEdgeIoT cluster it is part of, including and not limited to:
- European Data Strategy: CEI-Sphere promotes secure and open data spaces by supporting the interoperability of cloud-edge technologies.
- Next Generation Internet (NGI): The project contributes to a more resilient, secure, and scalable internet ecosystem that is user-centric.
- IPCEI Cloud and Edge Initiative: As part of a broader European effort to enhance technological sovereignty, CEI-Sphere supports the development of infrastructure that will reduce reliance on external providers and ensure Europe remains competitive in the digital space.
Within this broader context, CEI-Sphere aims to support the LSPs delivering a high-level reference architecture for CEI technologies, ensuring interoperability and scalability across sectors. Its key objectives include:
- Developing a CEI reference architecture that aligns with European standards and supports long-term infrastructure development.
- Producing a use-case catalogue featuring 50+ use cases, highlighting diverse applications of cloud-edge solutions and supporting market analysis.
- Creating an innovation ecosystem visualisation tool to map out use cases and emerging trends across the CEI landscape.
- Establishing a certification framework to ensure the quality, security, and interoperability of cloud-edge infrastructure across Europe.
- Supporting standardisation efforts to secure the international competitiveness of European CEI solutions.
- Standardisation and Certification: A key element of the action plan involves establishing a certification framework and working closely with standards organisations to ensure the scalability of CEI solutions across Europe.
CEI-Sphere will co-organise a physical event with INSTAR at the end of November. More information of this appointment is available here.
Our Role
Trust-IT is the leader of the communication and dissemination activities of CEI-Shere and a key co-leader of similar activities for the EUCloudEdgeIoT community.
Our role is focused on expanding the CEI community, promote the open calls the LSPs will launch next year, take care of the communication and dissemination activities, including events and synergies. Moreover, via our Affiliated Entity COMMpla, we will develop a dedicated and customised visualisation and engagement tool to support the pilots and the engagement with the broader community onboarded via the open calls.
