EUH4D celebrates one year!

An overview of the main achievements of the project during its 1st year

The EUHubs4Data project officially started in September 2020 and is now celebrating its first year of activities! Among other achievements, during this first year we have published the first version of our federated catalogue of datasets and services, launched two open calls to select new DIHs and the experiments for our data driven innovation programme, co-organised two main events and developed many collaboration opportunities to boost the European data ecosystem forward!
Since its launch, the project has been following its mission of establishing a European Federation of data-driven Innovation Hubs that allows SMEs and start-ups to have access to a federated catalogue of data-driven services, and to contribute to the creation of a common European data space.

EUHubs4Data and the role of European digital innovation

Data driven innovation is a fundamental aspect of to increaseing the competitiveness of European industry.
EUHubs4Data is a key enabler of collaboration and networking between data-driven DIHs. The project is on its way to becoming the European reference for data driven innovation and experimentation, fostering collaboration between data driven initiatives, federating solutions in a global common catalogue of data services and datasets, and sharing data in a cross-border way.

Highlights from the first year

I am really proud to say that, during the first year of the project and despite the peculiar circumstances due to Covid19 crisis, the project has achieved many relevant KPIs and produced remarkable results:

• The creation and refinement of a federated catalogue including a list of datasets and services provided by the Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) members of the federation.
• The launch of the Cross-Border Data Driven experiments programme, that includes the experiments selected from our 1st open call for SMEs, start-ups and web-entrepreneurs. The 10 selected EUH4D experiments are a key asset of the project, as they show clear examples of use and application of the federated services, datasets and trainings, by SMEs and start-ups all over Europe. They are also proof of how the DIHs in the federation are closely collaborating to solve real problems proposed by actors from outside the consortium.
• The organisation of two key community events in the first half of 2021:
  • Data Forum was successfully held in online format in March 2021, a half-day event with the focus on “EU cross-border data driven innovation in the spotlight: which barriers and how to overcome them”, and that attracted more than 80 people. This 1st edition presented and discussed how EUHubs4Data and other initiatives are addressing the different challenges for cross-border data sharing and how to foster innovation on data services and products in Europe.
  • Data Week event, co-organised successfully in online format by BDVA/DAIRO and the EUHubs4Data project in May 20201, and attended by approximately 450 participants. The EUHubs4Data project organised 8 workshops and 2 regional events through a dedicated track and participated in many other sessions. The EUHubs4Data workshops highlighted topics such as how to address technical challenges of building a European federation of DIHs, the role of DIHs in expanding data skills in Europe, how SMEs can improve the digitalisation of traditional sectors with AI and data services and more.
• The launch of the open call for DIHs, aimed to attract and select new Digital Innovation Hubs expected to join the Federation. The call was really successful, achieving our planned KPIs: to increase the federation up to 30 hubs covering 20 regions in 14 countries.
• The establishment of cooperation links with other relevant initiatives in Europe: AI4EU, I4MS, EOSC, Gaia-X, BDV PPP projects.
• The creation and evolution of the key communication channels, Twitter and LinkedIn social media accounts and the YouTube channel, now reaching over 500 followers each! The website was also evolved with new sections and visual materials.
• And last but not least – the development of a training offer complementing the datasets and services catalogue.

What comes next

As we enter the 2^nd phase of the project, we keep on moving towards a real federation of data driven innovation hubs, and to face the amazing new challenges we have ahead of us:

• To run the onboarding process of the 18 new hubs selected in the open call
• To launch the second open call for experiments, with the objectives of keep refining our offer, increase the collaboration between DIHs and attract the user side.
• To define an organizational and governance model that guarantees the evolution and sustainability of the federation once the project is finished.
• To strengthen the collaboration with the most relevant initiatives in the European landscape towards the common objective of creating a European Data Space.