Collective projects

Urban mobility is in transition. This is a result of, for example, changing user needs; emerging transport technologies; new transport services using new business models; and new institutional and financing structures. Greater data availability provides new opportunities for evidence-based policy and policymakers aim at an ever-increasing integration of urban mobility policy with other sectorial policies. The impacts of this change will go far beyond the transport sector and influence other sectors that are transport-reliant.

To explore and consolidate a new technological direction in order to put it firmly on the map as a viable paradigm for future technology. To foster the interdisciplinary communities that are able to drive this forward, extending from the participating consortia to a wider European pool of expertise. To stimulate the emergence of a European innovation eco-system around a new technological paradigm, well beyond the world of research alone.

Significant progress has been achieved in relation to research regarding the safety of engineered nanomaterials and the transfer of this knowledge into regulation. Still, more needs to be done as nanotechnology reaches the market. To fill this gap, transdisciplinary risk governance is required based on a clear understanding of risk, its management practices and the societal risk perception by all stakeholders. It should propose and apply clear criteria for risk evaluation and acceptance and for transfer of acceptable risk.

Preventive conservation (PC) prevents damage or reduces the potential for damage of cultural heritage (CH) artefacts. In the long term, it is more cost efficient than remedial conservation, which can be orders of magnitude more expensive than appropriate PC measures. In particular small and medium sized museums struggle to fulfil international recommendations for PC and to implement necessary technologies, e.g. for environmental control and monitoring, mainly because of lack of budget and/or expertise.

The field of new smart lightweight nano-enabled materials has made remarkable progress in recent years. Many different types of materials, with radically enhanced properties and functionalities, are today available for a wide range of industrial applications; e.g. lightweight solutions for transportation and construction, enhanced properties for packaging materials and processes, incorporating smart interacting sensors or indicators, and materials offering enhanced electrical performance and reliability, high-performance thermal and/or electrical conductivity, and UV shielding.

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) on the factory floor has a high potential economic impact for European industry.

Breakthrough education and training paradigms for continuous training of the existing workforce are needed, that will enable the European industrial workforce to develop new skills and competences in a quick and efficient way. This should put workers, both women and men, at the forefront of innovation and drive industry towards a smooth transition to the use of increasingly sophisticated machines and new technologies.

"Fintech" is at the confluence of various digital technologies, financial areas and the entrepreneurial landscape, with many startups and scaleups proposing disrupting services. The challenge is to increase the role Europe play in Fintech so that EU startups can better scale-up across Europe and at global level. Facilitating the interactions between innovators, supervisors and regulators is particularly relevant in this context.

One of the main challenges for the sustainability of the European space industrial fabric and the delivery of cutting-edge scientific achievements is to maintain highly qualified scientists, engineers and technicians including their lifelong learning. Space science and technology constitute important inspirational tools for exciting and motivating young people, and encouraging them to choose space related careers. Space is also a domain that easily captures the interest of students towards education paths in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The medical technology industry is an important economic and social player in Europe. The challenge is to provide companies and users in this sector access to affordable and advanced testing facilities and services to facilitate the development of new and safe medical technologies. The two new EU regulations governing medical technologies (medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics) are introducing a new set of rules to improve the safety of medical devices for the benefit of patients.