Description of programme
"Digital Europe" |
The general objectives of the Digital Europe Programme shall be to support and accelerate the digital transformation
of the European economy, industry and society, to bring its benefits to citizens, public administrations and businesses across
the Union, and to improve the competitiveness of Europe in the global digital economy while contributing to bridging the digital
divide across the Union and reinforcing the Union’s strategic autonomy, through holistic, cross-sectoral and cross-border
support and a stronger Union contribution. The Programme shall be implemented in close coordination with other Union
programmes as applicable, and shall aim: - to strengthen and promote
Europe’s capacities in key digital technology areas through large-scale deployment;
- in the private sector and in areas
of public interest, to widen the diffusion and uptake of Europe’s key digital technologies, promoting the digital transformation
and access to digital technologies.
It will reinforce EU critical digital capacities by focusing on the key areas
of artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, advanced computing, data infrastructure, governance and processing, the deployment
of these technologies and their best use for critical sectors like energy, climate change and environment, manufacturing,
agriculture and health. Thus, the Programme shall have five interrelated specific objectives: - Specific Objective
1 – High Performance Computing
- Specific Objective 2 – Artificial Intelligence
- Specific Objective 3 – Cybersecurity
and Trust
- Specific Objective 4 – Advanced Digital Skills
- Specific Objective 5 Deployment and Best Use of Digital
Capacity and Interoperability.
The Digital Europe Programme is strategic in supporting the digital transformation
of the EU industrial ecosystems targeting upskilling to provide a workforce for these advanced digital technologies. It supports
industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and public administration in their digital transformation with a reinforced
network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH). The Programme will accelerate the economic recovery and drive the digital
transformation of Europe. Specific Objective 1- High Performance Computing The financial contribution from the Union under Specific Objective 1 – High Performance Computing shall pursue the
following operational objectives: - deploy, coordinate
at Union level and operate an integrated demand-oriented and application-driven world-class exascale supercomputing and data
infrastructure that shall be easily accessible to public and private users, in particular SMEs, irrespective of the Member
State in which they are located, and easily accessible for research purposes, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1488;
- deploy
ready to use operational technology resulting from research and innovation in order to build an integrated Union HPC ecosystem,
covering various aspects in the scientific and industrial value chain segments, including hardware, software, applications,
services, interconnections and digital skills, with a high level of security and data protection;
- deploy and operate
post-exascale infrastructure, including integration with quantum computing technologies and research infrastructures for computing
science and encourage the development within the Union of the hardware and software necessary for such deployment.
Specific
Objective 2 – Artificial Intelligence The financial contribution from the Union
under Specific Objective 2 – Artificial Intelligence shall pursue the following operational objectives: - build up and strengthen core AI capacities and knowledge in the Union, including
building up and strengthening quality data resources and corresponding exchange mechanisms, and libraries of algorithms, while
guaranteeing a human-centric and inclusive approach that respects Union values;
- make the
capacities referred to in point (a) accessible to businesses, especially SMEs and start-ups, as well as civil society, not-for-profit
organisations, research institutions, universities and public administrations, in order to maximise their benefit to the European
society and economy;
- reinforce and network AI testing and experimentation facilities in
Member States;
- develop and reinforce commercial application and production systems in order
to facilitate the integration of technologies in value chains and the development of innovative business models and to shorten
the time required to pass from innovation to commercial exploitation and foster the uptake of AI-based solutions in areas
of public interest and in society.
Specific Objective 3 – Cybersecurity and Trust The financial contribution from the Union under Specific Objective 3 – Cybersecurity and Trust shall pursue the following
operational objectives: - support the
building-up and procurement of advanced cybersecurity equipment, tools and data infrastructures, together with Member States,
in order to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity at European level, in full compliance with data protection legislation
and fundamental rights, while ensuring the strategic autonomy of the Union;
- support the
building-up and best use of European knowledge, capacity and skills related to cybersecurity and the sharing and mainstreaming
of best practices;
- ensure a wide deployment of effective state-of-the-art cybersecurity
solutions across the European economy, paying special attention to public authorities and SMEs;
- reinforce capabilities within Member States and private sector to help them comply with Directive (EU) 2016/1148 of
the European Parliament and of the Council including through measures supporting the uptake of cybersecurity best practices;
- improve resilience against cyberattacks, contribute towards increasing risk-awareness and knowledge
of cybersecurity processes, support public and private organisations in achieving basics levels of cybersecurity, for example
by deploying end-to-end encryption of data and software updates;
- enhance cooperation between
the civil and defence spheres with regard to dual-use projects, services, competences and applications in cybersecurity, in
accordance with a Regulation establishing the European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Competence Centre
and the Network of National Coordination Centres (the ‘Cybersecurity Competence Centre Regulation’).
Specific
Objective 4 – Advanced Digital Skills The financial contribution from the Union
under Specific Objective 4 – Advanced Digital Skills shall support the development of advanced digital skills in areas covered
by the Programme in order to contribute to increasing Europe’s talent pool, bridge the digital divide and foster greater professionalism,
especially with regard to high performance and cloud computing, big data analytics, cybersecurity, distributed ledger technologies
(e.g. blockchain), quantum technologies, robotics, AI, while taking gender balance into account. In order to tackle skills
mismatches and to encourage specialisation in digital technologies and applications, the financial contribution shall pursue
the following operational objectives: - support
the design and delivery of high-quality, long-term training and courses, including blended learning, for students and for
the workforce;
- support the design and delivery of high-quality, short-term training and
courses for the workforce, in particular in SMEs and in the public sector;
- support high-quality
on-the-job training and work placements for students, including traineeships, and the workforce, in particular in SMEs and
in the public sector.
Specific Objective 5 – Deployment and Best Use of Digital Capacities and Interoperability The financial contribution from the Union under Specific Objective 5 – Deployment and Best Use
of Digital Capacities and Interoperability shall pursue the following operational objectives while bridging the digital divide: - support the public sector and areas of public
interest, such as health and care, education, judiciary, customs, transport, mobility, energy, environment, cultural and creative
sectors, including relevant businesses established within the Union, to effectively deploy and access state-of-the-art digital
technologies, such as HPC, AI and cybersecurity;
- deploy, operate and maintain trans-European
interoperable state-of-the-art digital service infrastructures across the Union, including related services, in complementarity
with national and regional actions;
- support the integration and use of trans-European digital
service infrastructures and of agreed European digital standards in the public sector and in areas of public interest to facilitate
cost-efficient implementation and interoperability;
- facilitate the development, update
and use of solutions and frameworks by public administrations, businesses and citizens, including of open-source solutions
and the re-use of interoperability solutions and frameworks;
- offer the public sector and
the Union industry, in particular SMEs, easy access to testing and piloting of digital technologies and increase the use thereof,
including their cross-border use;
- support the uptake by the public sector and the Union
industry, in particular SMEs and start-ups, of advanced digital and related technologies, including in particular HPC, AI,
cybersecurity, other leading edge and future technologies, such as distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain);
- support the design, testing, implementation, and deployment and maintenance of interoperable digital
solutions, including digital government solutions, for public services at Union level which are delivered through a data-driven
reusable solutions platform aiming to foster innovation and establish common frameworks in order to unleash the full potential
of the public administrations’ services for citizens and businesses;
- ensure the continuous
capacity at Union level to lead digital development, in addition to observing, analysing and adapting to fast-evolving digital
trends, and share and mainstream best practices;
- support cooperation towards achieving
a European ecosystem for trusted data sharing and digital infrastructures using, inter alia, services and applications based
on distributed ledger technologies (e.g. blockchain), including support for interoperability and standardisation and by fostering
the deployment of Union cross-border applications based on security and privacy by design, while complying with consumer and
data protection legislation;
- build up and strengthen the European Digital Innovation Hubs
and their network.
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Description of call
"An ecosystem for digital twins
in healthcare" | Objective: Digital twins in healthcare (DTH) have an untapped potential
for fostering personalised medicine, starting from targeted prevention, faster diagnosis and prognostic assessment to tailored
treatment and development of biomedical products, while also empowering patients and bringing efficiencies to health systems.
In order to exploit their benefits in view of better prevention approaches, faster and more accurate diagnoses, personalised
treatments and care, a framework to structure cooperation and leverage on synergies between academia, private sector, regulators
and end-users needs to be strengthened. The objective is to support the roll-out of DTH by mapping and structuring the
ecosystem within the EU Member States and associated countries to identify and pool existing resources, and foster collaboration
and overall integration of the stakeholders, while ensuring adequate clinical representation. This will be facilitated through
a roadmap, a federated repository connecting resources and a simulation platform. The action will be embedded in the
existing infrastructure based on former and current relevant developments, including Member States’ national and regional
strategies; relevant projects funded under Horizon 2020; the European Electronic Health Record exchange format; High Performance
Computing (HPC); the European Health Data Space (EHDS); telemedicine and remote monitoring initiatives. It will also build
on existing actions for digital pandemic preparedness and cloud preparedness. Scope: The
action should address all of the following elements: - Frame and foster an inclusive ecosystem of DTH in Europe,
by mapping and linking the relevant actors and initiatives on the DTH. Technical and non-technical barriers in the uptake
of DTH should be identified and addressed to converge towards a functional ecosystem that brings in all relevant stakeholders
and ensures that digital twins adequately represent the end-user needs, and fosters their clinical validation.
- Design
a roadmap for the uptake of DTH and their further integration towards the Human Digital Twin, i.e. a validated, integrated
multi-scale, -time and -discipline digital twin of the whole body enabling the comprehensive characterisation of the physiological
and the pathological state in its full complexity and heterogeneity. Besides tangible milestones and deliverables, the roadmap
will identify the necessary building blocks up to the clinical deployment of personalised digital companions, and formulate
clear short- and mid-term policy recommendations. It will also address aspects of interoperability, computability, integration
of health information from various sources to depict an up-to-date digital twin of the individual. Areas of applicability,
targeting high medical need and/or high societal benefit and clinical value, should be provided, respecting country-specific
peculiarities. Activities shall be carried out in close collaboration with the European Commission and in coordination with
relevant stakeholder groups.
- Coordinate the deployment of a federated repository of DTH. This activity will come up
with an operational repository that will pool together various types of existing DTH resources across Europe in a federated,
cloud-based manner. This includes cataloguing all existing European DTH resources such as digital twin models, datasets, methods,
infrastructures, and digital twin-based solutions and services. The digital twin resources to be pooled should be annotated,
based on their status of development, testing and clinical validation, their actual implementation, their cloud readiness,
as well as access modalities and use cases, including interoperability between repositories, models and other relevant health
data sets. It will further provide a governance framework to enable interoperable, cross-border access to the repository resources
for various stakeholders, while addressing, among others, accessibility, trustworthiness, cybersecurity, data privacy and
liability aspects and respecting the FAIR principles.
- Develop the technical specifications for a simulation platform
that will allow developers, engineers and practitioners to design, develop, test and validate digital twin approaches in healthcare,
linked also to high performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and capacities to execute high demanding computational tasks.
The action will elucidate the needs of current and future DTH approaches in computation power and simulation tools to produce
technical specifications for the target simulation platform, in particular considering the complexity of multiscale models.
Development of early prototypes shall be fostered, with their (experimental) implementation (or of selected components) running
via the simulation platform and in close coordination with the European Commission.
Expected Outcome: - A
consolidated EU ecosystem around digital twins for healthcare that brings together, streamlines and bundles their use across
stakeholders in a coordinated manner, thereby empowering patients and enabling health professionals, academia, industry, and
regulatory agencies to make use of DTH.
- A roadmap for accelerating the uptake of DTH-based solutions and their further
integration towards the Human Digital Twin, identifying stakeholder needs and implementation barriers, depicting the vision
for the Human Digital Twin and its application areas with clear milestones, including the development of a strategic approach
for clinical deployment of DTH to foster the uptake of personalised clinical decision-making, with a particular focus on areas
of unmet medical need.
- Exhaustive industry needs and barriers’ analysis, prioritized according to severity, highlighting
mitigation measures for the short- and mid-term and formulating clear policy recommendation based on (international) policy
analyses.
- A governance framework for a federated, cloud-based repository, combining DTH resources, as well as its
subsequent use and deployment.
- The blueprint and technical specifications for a simulation platform for DTH and relevant
building blocks needed for developing the Human Digital Twin, up to early prototypes.
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