The 6G4Society project aims to address the tension existing between two parallel needs in terms of technological development of 6G: 1) securing technology performance objectives, and 2) ensuring that societal and sustainable values are properly embedded into technology. This will be done by engaging all key stakeholders within the Smart Networks and Services (SNS) ecosystem, but also by embracing civil society players, regulators, policy makers, media, and the public at large, to ensure correct and clear information about the expected impacts 6G technology will produce and induce is elaborated and disseminated. To achieve this objective, 6G4Society will apply methodologies from ethics, legal and social science and humanities (SSH) perspectives, allowing to comprehend socio-cultural aspects and mechanisms behind 6G technology and lay the foundation for a responsible research and innovation (RRI) of 6G technology. Based on these methodologies, 6GSociety will provide methods, models, guidelines, policy options and operation recommendations to develop sustainable and socially accepted 6G technology and applications. The 6G4Society results (including a Technology Acceptance Model for 6G technology, a framework of Key Sustainability Indicators, a policy brief and an operation brief) will be validated with all 6G-SNS JU projects by adopting public and user engagement methodology, as well as by involving the 6G-IA Working Groups and its connected projects. To achieve these ambitious objectives, the 6G4Society project is composed by a consortium with heterogeneous skills and competence, ranging from SSH and RRI (CEL and PSCE), technology (NOVA, PSCE and EBOS), networking coordination and management (MAR), communication and stakeholder engagement (D4P). The consortium has large experience in 5G-PPP/6G-IA projects and initiatives, and its partners have links with more than 20% of the current JU 6G-SNS initiatives, ensuring a strong cooperation to achieve objectives.

6G-MUSICAL is a ground-breaking project that merges radio sensing and communication technologies to create new paradigms in RF communication. It aims to equip edge infrastructure nodes of 6G with integrated RF/radar-based radio-sensing elements that co-work with communication components. This enables localization, object tracking and 3D imaging, with cm-level precision and resolution. As such, the project will investigate new spectrally and energy efficient system architectures and signals, to facilitate high-rate communication across multi-frequency bands integrated with accurate sensing and localization. Compared to other joint communication and sensing research, 6G-MUSICAL stands out in two ways. First, it considers sensing for both connected and non-connected objects, which is important given the trend towards connecting everything. Second, it addresses the synchronization of edge nodes, which is critical to achieving extreme levels of accuracy and resolution. The project will combine optical and electronic technologies to generate precise and stable references, enabling a network of smart cooperative multi-static radars, within future 6G, bringing new services, high accuracy localization and high-resolution 3D object reconstruction. In the wireless domain, the project will define new waveforms suitable for radio-sensing and communications, exploit compressive sensing techniques and define cooperative multimode sensing and localization algorithms. In the network domain, focus will be on procedures for synchronization/calibration among edge nodes and on compression techniques to enable low overhead transport to a data fusion center of the collected information. The optical/electrical technology will develop and distribute the reference signals and will create novel antennas to address 6G requirements. Machine learning will be used to jointly optimize the system and services. Key technologies will be demonstrated in labs to meet a stringent set of predefined KPIs.

Solar fuels, produced via solar driven CO2 and water conversion can contribute to drastically reducing GHG emissions and implement a man-made carbon-cycle complementing the natural-one, deploying the circular economy strategy. However, at present, significant improvement in the photocatalysts and reactor technology is required for solar fuels’ production to become technically feasible, scalable, affordable, secure, sustainable, and efficient. DESIRED is a high-risk high-return project, focused on establishing the technological feasibility and sustainability of a novel fuel production system – the DESIRED system – for direct coprocessing of, possibly atmospheric, CO2 and water to produce multi-carbon (C2+) energy-rich products using sunlight as primary energy source. The DESIRED system will produce C2+ solar fuels (without overlooking C1 species such as methanol or methane) by direct coprocessing of CO2 and water using novel and recyclable hybrid photo-electrocatalysts, supported on frustules or zeolites, in an innovative photoreactor design applying, for the first time, oscillatory flow principles, combined with direct light irradiation. With regards to applications, DESIRED will focus on products, which, by 2050, would be used per se or as intermediates to produce drop-in fuels for sectors where direct shift to batteries or H2 is not a technically and cost-efficient option (e.g. aviation). Knowledge of the economic affordability, environmental benefits, and social acceptability of this approach will be investigated. DESIRED promotes an interdisciplinary approach to research and innovation undertaken by a consortium of 7 European partners and complemented by cross-cutting activities including modelling, process simulation, sustainability, and techno-economic assessment as well as impactful dissemination, communication, capacity-building and exploitation activities that support the exchange of knowledge across and beyond the consortium and project.

Shipping is responsible for the emission of about 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and about 2.5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. The drastic reduction of GHG emissions from ships has been set as one of the urgent targets to achieve the EU Green deal objectives. As a result, the maritime industry, which is a hard-to-decarbonize sector, is actively seeking for alternate solutions/technology which can make it more climate friendly but at the same time does not compromise on the current performance levels. Leveraging novel concepts as well as assets from former projects and initiatives, the project FuelSOME focuses on establishing the technological feasibility of a flexible, scalable, and multi-fuel capable energy generation system based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) technology specially catered for long-distance maritime shipping. This system will be able to operate on Ammonia, Methanol and Hydrogen and their mixtures for which short and long-term sustainable supply pathways will be explored. Finally, on a broader level, an in-depth and detailed investigation on the environmental, social, and economic benefits of developing such a system for the European industry, the maritime sector and the citizens will be carried out. The future roadmap of the project is that the outcomes generated will not only benefit the maritime industry but can also serve as a blueprint/launchpad for implementing the same technology in other hard to abate emission sectors and/or, thereby enabling multi-fuel energy generators to become the norm in the future. The consortium comprises 8 partners: 7 partners from 6 European Member States and 1 partner from a non-associated third country (Switzerland). The FuelSOME consortium unites the necessary multidisciplinary knowledge, expertise, skills, and resources to constitute a representative value chain of actors, which together can achieve the project’s ambitious objectives.

COPA EUROPE aims to address the exploding demand for non-linear sports consumption (live and eSports) by leveraging OTT and combining it with new set of media technologies that will democratise the consumer experience, enable cost-sensitive live video from anywhere, and personalize the distribution to change the experience of each viewer individually. COPA EUROPE will deliver a cloud-based infrastructure for harvesting, accommodating, transmitting and distributing digital media with regard to sport and competitive events, including the infrastructure needed to allow content creators and producers of live coverage to react to live outcomes, via innovative workflows. COPA EUROPE vision is founded on four main pillars, ripe with potential for future media industry innovation: Media AI, which implements a secure recommender system fuelled by FL, specifically tailored to support the launching of personalized OTT channels, incorporating a variety of data (video, audio, statistical data etc.) harmoniously blended with commercial offerings in order to provide an enriched experience, to promote the personalisation of the provided services. Transmedia Storytelling, which aims to aid both connected subscribers and media professionals in indexing, searching, navigating, synchronizing and editing compelling productions from heterogeneous media sources and a variety of social media channels. Semi professional cloud-based live content workflow, from live video contribution and transmission from anywhere, through basic tools for semi-professional content production leveraging on context-tailored transcoding and bonding transmission using multiple 5G links, and/or 4G together, to ensure reliability, video continuity, high resolution and user experience. Blockchain, which provides support for P2P network infrastructure necessary to deliver an efficient smart contract transaction ecosystem, and subsequently deliver a decentralized live stream to individual paying subscribers.