Europe is poised to play a pivotal role in the technological revolution, particularly in the field of edge AI, which promises sustainable growth, performance, and reliability. The NeAIxt project is a strategic initiative designed to foster European independence and control over edge AI technology, benefiting both companies and citizens. The project presents a golden opportunity for European SMEs to grow, network, and enhance skills, leveraging exposure to the global market. Research labs and RTOs will bridge the gap to the future by developing necessary technologies and competencies, while universities will cultivate and disseminate advanced skills required for this technological evolution. NeAIxt aims to solidify Europe's position in edge AI and eNVM technology by enhancing AI enablers, evolving eNVM for edge applications, and demonstrating AI capabilities at both chip and system levels. The project is committed to ensuring the safety and security of AI services, adhering to EU regulations. Key technical developments include the advancement of 18nm FD-SOI and next-generation embedded Phase Change Memory (ePCM). These innovations will lead to high-performance, secure microcontrollers with AI capabilities, offering low power consumption and high security for smart applications. The project will integrate advances in non-volatile memory technologies with cutting-edge MCU design to enable efficient in-memory computing. This synergy will deliver a fully European solution for reliable, safe, and independent edge AI applications. NeAIxt will address the entire edge AI value chain, from academia to industry, and from design to end-user applications, building on Europe's strong technological foundation. The project's outcomes will alleviate societal concerns about AI proliferation by ensuring compliance with European privacy standards, fostering AI adoption in various sectors.

Climate change poses significant threats to human health and well-being, impacting not only the EU Boreal region but also Europe as a whole. The increasing frequency and severity of extreme events, like floods, wildfires, rising sea levels, and heatwaves have far-reaching consequences for local communities. The need to adapt to climate change's impacts and embrace transformative solutions has garnered recent political attention. Nevertheless, recent extreme incidents, such as the 2021 wildfires in the Boreal region and similar events in Europe, have underscored the imperative of systemic actions and revealed the disproportionate vulnerability of already marginalized populations. The AURORA project aims to enhance resilience against health risks stemming from climate change and contribute to the overarching Mission objectives. It seeks to achieve this by developing a suite of tools capable of: 1) Monitoring climate stressors, 2) Creating climate and epidemiological models 3) Generating forecasts via simulated scenarios 4) Identifying climate change risks and vulnerabilities in the Boreal region. These risks will be complemented by a reliable AI-driven technology that will 5) Issue early warnings and recommend adaptive measures and nature-based solutions. These components will form a robust Decision Support system providing specific recommendations. The AURORA consortium, with its vast experience in research projects, envisions active engagement with stakeholders throughout all project stages via an Implementation Hub. This engagement aims to foster behavioral change and showcase the project's solutions in 5 Demo cities (Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius, Tampere, Pori ) and 3 replicant cities (Klaipeda, Joniskis, Jurmala). The knowledge and insights generated by AURORA will be disseminated through clustering activities, ultimately empowering local policymakers to make evidence-based decisions, reassess strategies, and develop management plans for climate-resilient cities.

Security risks and threats in the maritime domain are becoming increasingly more complex day by day. Within the EU there have been significant increases in irregular migration flows and human trafficking and smuggling but also of other illegal activities, such as drugs and arms trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and –according to the FRONTEX “Risk Analysis for 2021” report- the challenge becomes even bigger. The European Union Maritime Security Strategy, and other EU initiatives such as EUROSUR and CISE, highlight that closer collaboration between authorities at national, regional and EU levels can constitute the key action to increase both situational awareness and operational efficiency. In particular, there is increased interest in assessing the viability of multi-authority cooperation in (especially high altitude) sensing and capability advancement for enhanced wide area surveillance of land, air and sea borders. EURMARS’s ground-breaking vision is to expand the common risk assessment practices currently deployed by authorities to enable the development, deployment and evaluation of a secure multitasking surveillance platform that improves sensing capabilities for a wide range of security risks and threats in wider border areas by clustering high altitude platforms technology, satellite imagery, UxVs and ground-based sensors into a novel joint surveillance capability. As part of the EURMARS framework, the various existing and future systems for maritime surveillance will be integrated, to allow for the collaborative operation and the provision of the sensing results to related authorities. The open architecture will build on the lessons learnt of previous initiatives, assimilate the knowledge of the stakeholders and their practice on CISE and other relevant systems, exploit the latest AI, risk assessment and visualization innovations, and undergo extensive technical and user acceptance tests and ethical and legal impact assessments.

The TRIQUETRA project aims at creating an evidence-based assessment platform that allows precise risk stratification, and also creates a database of available mitigation measures and strategies, acting as a Decision Support Tool towards efficient risk mitigation and site remediation. The overall approach of Triquetra is based on three distinct steps: 1. Risk Identification 2. Risk Quantification 3. Risk Mitigation This “trifecta” approach (hence the name Triquetra) creates a framework of risk assessment and risk mitigation so as to tackle as many of these risks as possible, in the most efficient way available. This is further analysed in the following sections.

The EU has experienced a surge in fixed border surveillance solutions, including physical barriers, covering 13% of external land borders. The BorderForce project responds to evolving threats by enhancing real-time surveillance capabilities. It introduces a dynamic system, featuring self-sufficient, transportable Command and Control (C2) Stations with configurable and extendable capabilities. These stations incorporate versatile surveillance towers with anti-drone features, integrating data from autonomous monitoring sensors and UAV systems. Dedicated satellite resources, including CubeSat, strategically positioned at high-risk spots, ensure frequent revisits to critical areas. To enable early threat assessment, BorderForce leverages Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), processing online data for border security threats. The project emphasizes ethical, legal, and social aspects, safeguarding fundamental rights in border surveillance capability development. BorderForce collaborates with EU and candidate country border authorities, customs, and Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) entities. It defines scenarios, gathers architecture feedback, and validates end user feedback. The project emphasizes data exchange, novel user interfaces (e.g., XR), and immersive training for collaborative threat assessment, promoting safety and security while upholding fundamental rights. This solution enhances resource sustainability by improving the coordination and deployment of reusable security measures. The BorderForce solution will be validated in 2 field trials to become TRL7. It ensures seamless operations in monitoring the flow of goods, people, and information. Addressing challenges like migration, smuggling, and geopolitical tensions, BorderForce contributes to regional stability, particularly in crises. Overall, it combines technological innovation and international collaboration to bolster border security, prioritizing fundamental rights and ethical considerations.