Draft proposal for a European Partnership under Horizon Europe Smart Networks and Services Version 30 June 2020 Summary The European communication networking and services sector is proposing the Smart Networks and Services Partnership to secure European leadership in the development and deployment of next generation network technologies and services, while accelerating European industry digitization. It will position Europe as a lead market and positively impact the citizens’ quality of life, while boosting the European data economy and contributing to ensure European sovereignty in critical supply chains. This document is supported by ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5G-IA and the Networld2020 European Technology Platform launched a Smart Networks and Services Task Force to prepare this Partnership proposal in Horizon Europe. AIOTI joined the Task Force. Additional contributors are from Cispe.cloud and the NESSI European Technology Platform. All these organizations appreciate the work of the Task Force and approved this report. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT This document contains material which is prepared by 5G-IA, the Networld2020 European Technology Platform, AIOTI, Cispe.cloud and the NESSI European Technology Platform and is based on referenced material and documents from public institutions and industry associations. 1 About this draft In autumn 2019 the Commission services asked potential partners to further elaborate proposals for the candidate European Partnerships identified during the strategic planning of Horizon Europe. These proposals have been developed by potential partners based on common guidance and template, taking into account the initial concepts developed by the Commission and feedback received from Member States during early consultation1. The Commission Services have guided revisions during drafting to facilitate alignment with the overall EU political ambition and compliance with the criteria for Partnerships. This document is a stable draft of the partnership proposal, released for the purpose of ensuring transparency of information on the current status of preparation (including on the process for developing the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda). As such, it aims to contribute to further collaboration, synergies and alignment between partnership candidates, as well as more broadly with related R&I stakeholders in the EU, and beyond where relevant. This informal document does not reflect the final views of the Commission, nor pre-empt the formal decision-making (comitology or legislative procedure) on the establishment of European Partnerships. In the next steps of preparations, the Commission Services will further assess these proposals against the selection criteria for European Partnerships. The final decision on launching a Partnership will depend on progress in their preparation (incl. compliance with selection criteria) and the formal decisions on European Partnerships (linked with the adoption of Strategic Plan, work programmes, and legislative procedures, depending on the form). Key precondition is the existence of an agreed Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda / Roadmap. The launch of a Partnership is also conditional to partners signing up to final, commonly agreed objectives and committing the resources and investments needed from their side to achieve them. The remaining issues will be addressed in the context of the development of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas/ Roadmaps, and as part of the overall policy (notably in the respective legal frameworks). In particular, it is important that all Partnerships further develop their framework of objectives. All Partnerships need to have a well-developed logical framework with concrete objectives and targets and with a set of Key Performance Indicators to monitor achievement of objectives and the resources that are invested. Aspects related to implementation, programme design, monitoring and evaluation system will be streamlined and harmonised at a later stage across initiatives to ensure compliance with the implementation criteria, comparability across initiatives and to simplify the overall landscape. In case you would like to receive further information about this initiative, please contact: Lead entity (main contact): Colin Willcock, 5G Infrastructure Association, [email protected] Commission services (main contact): Directorate General Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect) Directorate E, Unit E1 ([email protected]) Partnership sector in DG R&I (overall policy approach for European Partnerships and its coherent application across initiatives), E-mail: RTD-EUROPEAN- [email protected] 1 https://www.era-learn.eu/documents/final_report_ms_partnerships.pdf 2 Table of Contents 1 Context, objectives, expected impacts ................................................................................... 5 1.1 Context and problem definition ....................................................................................... 5 1.1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 1.1.2 Full industrial digitization and support of vertical industries .............................. 7 1.1.3 Societal and political aspects ............................................................................ 8 1.1.4 Business aspects - Europe's share on the global market ...............................10 1.1.5 B5G systems design and support of emerging applications ...........................13 Although the first Releases of 5G specification have been finalized and commercial products are available, the evolution of these networks is a continuous process that has a significant impact on the provision of new services as well as on the telecommunications’ market. .................................13 1.1.6 SWOT analysis for Europe and proposed strategy for the SNS Partnership ..14 1.1.7 Building on the 5G PPP organization and achievements ................................16 1.2 Common vision, objectives and expected impacts ......................................................17 1.2.1 General, specific and operational objectives ...................................................17 1.2.1.1 Objective 1 – Full industry digitization and support of vertical industries 18 1.2.1.2 Objective 2 – Societal and political aspects 19 1.2.1.3 Objective 3 – Business aspects – Europe’s share on the global market 20 1.2.1.4 Objective 4 – B5G Systems design and support of emerging applications 20 1.2.2 Common vision and ambition ..........................................................................21 1.2.2.1 Full industry digitization and support of vertical industries 21 1.2.2.2 Societal and political aspects 23 1.2.2.3 Business aspects – Europe’s share on the global market 27 1.2.2.4 B5G systems design and support of emerging applications 29 1.2.3 Collaboration Opportunities .............................................................................32 1.2.4 Estimated R&I investment ...............................................................................33 1.2.5 Triggering transformational changes in the R&I ecosystem ............................34 1.2.6 Exit strategy .....................................................................................................35 1.3 Necessity for a European Partnership..........................................................................36 1.3.1 Collaboration of stakeholders within the Partnership ......................................37 1.3.2 Impact of the Partnership in the value-chain ...................................................38 1.4 Partner composition and target groups ........................................................................39 1.4.1 Building up the Partnership .............................................................................39 1.4.2 Composition of Partners for the SNS Partnership ...........................................42 1.4.3 Target Groups and Stakeholder Communities ................................................43 2 Planned Implementation ......................................................................................................45 2.1 Activities .......................................................................................................................45 2.1.1 Main activity streams and phases ...................................................................45 2.1.2 Complementarity of Joint Activities and related Mechanisms .........................49 2.1.2.1 Supercomputing and High-Performance Computing (HPC) 50 2.1.2.2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) 51 2.1.2.3 Cybersecurity and trust 51 2.1.2.4 Key Digital Technologies and Photonics 51 2.1.2.5 Approach for components 52 2.1.2.6 Approach for devices 53 2.1.3 Advanced digital skills .....................................................................................53 2.1.4 Cross-national coherence and synergies ........................................................54 2.1.5 SNS Programme synergies: The complete picture .........................................54 2.2 Resources ....................................................................................................................55 2.3 Governance ..................................................................................................................57 2.3.1 Smart Networks and Services within the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework .......................................................................................................57