CONCERTATION AND CONSULTATION ON COMPUTING CONTINUUM: FROM CLOUD TO EDGE TO IOT

Scope of the Event

The blurring barriers between Cloud and Edge computing are giving birth to a computing continuum where services and data must be managed and secured efficiently. Especially with new trends like the Metaverse, the demand for (hybrid) cloud computing services and edge computing is expected to skyrocket. As recent studies suggest, new data processing needs are appearing at the edge. This not only for reducing latency but also to ensure data availability and privacy protection.  Running and managing data analytics and AI where it is more efficient and effective is to be supported in the Cloud-Edge-IOT continuum.

Advancing the IoT can avoid skyrocketing communication and storage costs, energy consumption and produce benefits for citizens and businesses thanks to the integration of AI and Machine Learning. 

In addition, an open ecosystem built around Open Source and Open Standards is key to unleashing the potential of the European industry in driving green and digital transformation while preserving EU strategic autonomy. Software defined infrastructures based on Open Source and Open Standards will support the next step in the Cloud-Edge-IOT continuum while preventing lock-in and favouring a competitive economy for the benefit of EU citizens.

These trends have called for a shift towards the technical and business convergence of the so-far formally separated Cloud, Edge and IoT domains, towards an open Cloud, Edge and IoT Computing Continuum. 

In the recent years, the European community of researchers and innovators at work on the next generation Cloud, Edge and IoT computing has been growing in relevance, diversity and impact. For Europe to ensure its technological sovereignty and ground the vision of a computing continuum as the backbone of an open and inclusive society, it is necessary to overcome fragmentation, bring together organisations and individuals from different communities and leverage Open Source.The Concertation and Consultation on Computing Continuum: From Cloud to Edge to IoT meeting is a 2-day physical event organised within the context of the European, Cloud, Edge and IoT Continuum initiative by the OpenContinuum consortium in close collaboration with the UNLOCK-CEI and SW Forum projects and guided by the  European Commission DG CNECT E.2 and E.4 Units.

Structure of the Days

The first day of the event will be concertation oriented. The invited Horizon Europe RIAs which started in 2023 will have the opportunity to pitch their projects and introduce the plans for the future, while the more mature Horizon 2020 projects and the Horizon Europe projects started in 2022 will discuss their assets, and share lessons learned and success stories. In fact, it will be an important opportunity for the H2020 projects to further exploit and handover their results to the new RIAs, who will have a greater picture of the work they can build upon. CSAs such as EU-IoT, SW Forum and HUB4CLOUD will also demonstrate the accomplishments of the projects they have supported. There will be plenty of opportunities for networking including a cocktail dinner, and, in addition, the EUCloudEdgeIoT Cooperation Mechanisms (task forces) will be discussed.

The second day will shift to a consultation, with the goal to bring forward thinking for the next Horizon Europe Work Programme (2025-2027). Through a Call for Expressions of Interest with new trends, vision and tracks for research, it will be selected the best short papers to be presented at the event. The call is open to any interested party, from academic researchers to industrial players, funded EC projects, policy makers and SMEs. Research roadmaps will also be presented by initiatives such as SW Forum, HiPEAC, NESSI, AIOTI, European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud, INSIDE, FIWARE foundation.

Why should you attend?

• Learn from and exchange know-how with the major EU funded initiatives and projects on data and computing technologies.
• Showcase and promote your work within the broader European R&I context for further adoption, exploitation and impact of your project’s outcomes.
• Establish liaisons and contacts within the European Cloud, Edge and IoT community to identify common interests and foster synergies and collaborations.
• Learn about industrial best practices/use cases across several industrial sectors where European organisations are playing a significant role.
• Learn about policy/funding plans priorities and help refining the plans to deliver the European Strategy for data grounding the Digital Decade vision.
• Be part of the discussions about future R&I priorities and plans, help shaping agendas and decisions on future investments.
• Contribute to strategic R&I roadmaps to increase the competitiveness of European industry in Europe and ensure EU’s technology independence in Software, Cloud, Edge and IoT domains. 
• The event will group the community of major players in Europe engaged in several EU funded projects, including the ICT-50-2020 (Software Technologies), ICT-40-2020 (Cloud Computing), ICT-56-2020 (Next Generation IoT), HORIZON-CL4-2021-DATA-01-05 (MetaOS), HORIZON-CL4-2022-DATA-01-02 (Cognitive Cloud), HORIZON-CL4-2022- DATA-01-03 (Swarm Computing), HORIZON-CL4-2022-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01-26 (Open source for cloud-based services). Top representatives and experts from some major relevant initiatives will also be invited (SW Forum, HiPEAC, NESSI, AIOTI, European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud, INSIDE, FIWARE foundation).
  
  Important note:
• Participation in this event is through invitation only.
• Selected EoIs will also be invited to attend the event.

Agenda 

DAY 1 | 10 May 2023: Concertation

8:50 – 09:00 Opening Doors

09:00 – 09:30 Registration & Welcome coffee 

09:30 – 09:40 Welcome and Introduction to the event | Auditorium, Dr Monique Calisti (Event Moderator, CEO – Martel Innovate)

09:40 – 09:45 Introduction to EUCloudEdgeIoT.eu | Auditorium, Albert Seubers (Director Martel Innovate BV)

09:45 – 10:15 Opening Speech by the European Commission | Auditorium, (Max Lemke –  European Commission’s IoT Head of Unit)

10:15- 11:00 Pitch Session – Part 1  | Auditorium

• Cognitive Cloud: AC3; ACES; CloudSkin; CODECO; COGNIFOG; DECICE; EDGELESS; MLSysOps; SovereignEdge.Cognit
• Open Source for Cloud Services: AERO; OpenCUBE; RISER; Vitamin-V 

(3 min each)

11:00 – 11:15 Coffee Break 

11:15 – 11:45 Pitch Session – Part 2  | Auditorium

• Swarm Computing: INCODE; OASEES; OpenSwarm; SMARTEDGE; TaRDIS
• Potential of drones as multi-purpose vehicle – risks and added values: SPADE 
• Technologies and solutions for compliance, privacy preservation, green and responsible data operations: TEADAL; TRUSTEE

(3 min each)

11:45- 12:15 EUCEI Cooperation Mechanisms | Auditorium (Task Forces Leaders)

• TF1 Strategic Liaisons (5min)
• TF2 Open Source Engagement (5min)
• TF3 Architecture (5min)
• TF4 Ecosystem Engagement (5min)
• TF5 Market and Sectors (5min)
• TF6 Communications (5min)

12:15 – 12:45 Q&A Session (with Rolf Riemenschneider  – European Commission’s IoT Head of Sector)| Auditorium 

12:45- 14:45 RIAs “Tour” and networking lunch | Auditorium and Mezzanine

14:45 – 15:15 Q&A Session | Auditorium 

15:15- 15:45 Pitch Session – Part 3  | Auditorium

• MetaOS: aerOS; FLUIDOS; ICOS; NEBULOUS; NEMO; NEPHELE

(3 min each)

15:45- 17:00 Success Stories | Auditorium (For H2020 Projects)

• Cloud Computing: PHYSICS; DATACLOUD; CHARITY; SERRANO; Ai-SPRINT
• Software Technologies: COSMOS; ELEGANT; FOCETA; PIACERE; VeriDevOps; XANDAR
• Next Generation IoT: ASSIST-IoT; INGENIOUS; IOT-NGIN; TERMINET; INTELLIOT; VEDLIOT

(4 min each)

17:00 – 17:15 Coffee Break 

17:15- 18:45 The Way Forward  | Auditorium, (EU-IoT, SW Forum and Hub4Cloud coordinators)

• Hub4Cloud panel (30 min)
  • Moderated by Giovanni Rimassa (Martel Innovate)
• SW forum panel (30 min)
  • Moderated by Juncal Alonso (Tecnalia)
• EU-IoT panel (30 min)
  • Moderated by Brendan Rowan (BluSpecs)

19:30 Social Dinner | Auditorium, Ticket entry

DAY 2 | 11 May 2023: Consultation

08:20 | Opening Doors

08:30 – 09:00 Registration & Welcome coffee

9:00 – 09:10 Welcome and Introduction Dr Monique Calisti (Event Moderator, CEO – Martel Innovate)

9:10 – 09:25 Opening Speech by the European Commission | Auditorium, (Max Lemke –  European Commission’s IoT Head of Unit)

09:25 – 11:05 Consultation on the Research Agenda 2025-2027 Part 1  | Auditorium 

• 09:25 – AIOps: Software tools for supporting AI across the Continuum (60 min)
  • Martel Innovate GMBH
  • Oulu
  • University of Pisa
  • Fraunhofer
  • University of Western Macedonia
  • IBM
  • Tecnalia
  • Exaion
  • Politecnico di Milano
  • Semantic web of things
    • Q&A session (20 min)
• 10:25 – Computing Continuum infrastructure/European Cloud servers (40 min)
  • Bielefeld University
  • INRIA
  • Politecnico di Valencia
  • Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • European Semidynamics
    • Q&A session (20 min)

11:05 – 11:20 Coffee Break

11:20 – 13:20 Consultation on the Research Agenda 2025-2027 Part 2  | Auditorium 

• 11:20 – Next Generation MetaOS and distributed IoT-edge objects (60 min)
  • Eviden
  • UPATRAS
  • Airbus
  • TARIDES
  • VTT
  • AIOTI
  • Morphemic
  • Nokia
  • Siemens
    • Q&A session (20 min)
• 12:20 – Cybersecurity, privacy, interoperability, Open Source and Software Engineering for the Computing Continuum (50 min)
  • CETIC
  • XLAB
  • SERRANO
  • Technopolis
  • INRIA
  • Abilian SAS
  • H2020 Physics Project
  • TRUST-IT
  • Eclipse Foundation
  • FORTH
    • Q&A session (20 min)

13:20 – 14:30 Networking Lunch | Auditorium and Mezzanine

14:30 – 16:00 Research Roadmaps 

• Ignacio M. Llorente – European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud
• Juncal Alonso – SW FORUM
• Ovidiu Vermesan – AIOTI
• Andreas Metzger – NESSI 
• Koen De Bosschere – HiPEAC 
• Clara Pezuela – FIWARE Foundation 
• Paolo Azzoni – INSIDE 

(8 min each)

• Q&A session (30 min)

16:00 – 17:00 – European Commission Wrap-up and key messages (Max Lemke –  European Commission’s IoT Head of Unit)

17:00 Closing of the Event

Venue

http://claridge.be/ | Chaussée de Louvain 24B, 1210 Bruxelles

Accommodation Recommendations

Claridge, the venue of the event, has put together some recommendations for hotels nearby. You can check them HERE.