New approaches for decentralized, federated and sustainable AI data processing (RIA)
Overview
This EU funding opportunity, under the Horizon Europe program, specifically the call DIGITAL (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04), seeks to advance decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing. The project type is classified as a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA), with a funding model based on grants. The planned opening date for applications is November 17, 2026, and the deadline for submissions is March 18, 2027, at 17:00 Brussels time.
The objective of this call is to develop new approaches and tools that address current challenges in centralized AI compute techniques, which include limited energy availability, concerns around data quality and security, and latency issues. The ultimate goal is to help overcome bottlenecks in AI compute capacities in the EU by promoting alternative, decentralized, and sustainable computing models that utilize diverse hardware processing architectures.
Eligible applicants include legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Specific conditions also apply to entities controlled by non-eligible countries, requiring guarantees to ensure their participation does not adversely impact the EU's strategic interests.
This opportunity emphasizes research areas such as distributed and decentralized AI architectures that integrate new computing paradigms like neuromorphic and quantum computing. Projects should aim to improve data availability and consistency, enhance monitoring of energy efficiency, and develop tools ensuring privacy and preventing data leaks.
The funding available amounts to €35 million in total for this call, with an indicative contribution of €17.5 million per grant for two grants anticipated. The application process is single-stage, requiring fully developed proposals at the time of submission, with an expectation for projects to demonstrate outcomes through two or more complementary use cases across different domains.
This initiative is part of a broader strategy within Horizon Europe aimed at fostering technological leadership in AI across Europe while ensuring sustainable infrastructure development. Applicants are encouraged to read all provisions carefully before submitting their proposals, maintain compliance with grant management requirements, and deliver impactful, competitive innovations that can significantly enhance the EU's competitiveness in the AI sector.
The objective of this call is to develop new approaches and tools that address current challenges in centralized AI compute techniques, which include limited energy availability, concerns around data quality and security, and latency issues. The ultimate goal is to help overcome bottlenecks in AI compute capacities in the EU by promoting alternative, decentralized, and sustainable computing models that utilize diverse hardware processing architectures.
Eligible applicants include legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Specific conditions also apply to entities controlled by non-eligible countries, requiring guarantees to ensure their participation does not adversely impact the EU's strategic interests.
This opportunity emphasizes research areas such as distributed and decentralized AI architectures that integrate new computing paradigms like neuromorphic and quantum computing. Projects should aim to improve data availability and consistency, enhance monitoring of energy efficiency, and develop tools ensuring privacy and preventing data leaks.
The funding available amounts to €35 million in total for this call, with an indicative contribution of €17.5 million per grant for two grants anticipated. The application process is single-stage, requiring fully developed proposals at the time of submission, with an expectation for projects to demonstrate outcomes through two or more complementary use cases across different domains.
This initiative is part of a broader strategy within Horizon Europe aimed at fostering technological leadership in AI across Europe while ensuring sustainable infrastructure development. Applicants are encouraged to read all provisions carefully before submitting their proposals, maintain compliance with grant management requirements, and deliver impactful, competitive innovations that can significantly enhance the EU's competitiveness in the AI sector.
Detail
This EU funding opportunity, under the Horizon Europe program, call DIGITAL (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04), aims to develop new approaches for decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing. The project type is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) with a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG] Model Grant Agreement. It follows a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is November 17, 2026, and the deadline is March 18, 2027, at 17:00:00 Brussels time.
The expected outcome of the projects should contribute to developing new approaches, tools, and techniques that overcome the obstacles of today's centralized AI compute techniques. These obstacles include limits in the availability of energy and AI compute capacity in centralized standalone environments, limited availability of types of AI chips, data quality and security concerns, and latency in AI data processing. The ultimate objective is to help overcome the EU’s AI compute capacity bottlenecks by offering alternative decentralized and sustainable AI compute models that enable exploitation of diverse hardware processing architectures and scaling approaches.
The scope of this funding opportunity focuses on technologies and techniques that enable AI data processing to leverage distributed compute resources across the cloud and edge computing continuum throughout the whole AI model lifecycle from data collection, training, fine-tuning, and deployment. To surpass the current state of the art, the considered research areas include:
Research on distributed, decentralized, and federated “compute continuum” enabled AI architectures beyond federated learning, integrating model compression tools and new mechanisms to enable AI data processing to scale across multiple and diverse computing infrastructures.
Development, deployment, and operation of AI workflows across heterogeneous and distributed infrastructures along the compute continuum (edge, cloud, HPC), including the possibility of incorporating innovative computing paradigms such as neuromorphic and quantum computing, and hardware efficiency enhancements like in-memory computing, and hardware and software approximation.
Novel methods and techniques to improve data availability and consistency for decentralized AI data processing, considering tools to ensure data quality (e.g., prevention of data sets imbalance or inconsistency across distributed data sources), volume optimization for data transfers across environments, and distributed data management, all while preserving data privacy and preventing data leaks (e.g., via advanced cryptographic protection such as post-quantum cryptography for resistance to emerging quantum threats).
New tools and mechanisms to measure, monitor, and improve end-to-end energy efficiency and sustainability of AI data processing across the compute continuum, including the exploration of energy and sustainability implications of the heterogeneous AI processing architectures and their impact in the compute infrastructure design and long-term sustainability.
Successful project proposals should showcase proposed developments in at least two complementary use cases in different domains. These use cases should demonstrate the value gained and potential impact of project achievements in real-world situations, as well as address key applications and sectors critical to Europe's competitiveness. Use cases should provide compelling examples and scenarios and cater for the reproducibility of results' added value and impact in additional economic sectors.
The general conditions for this funding opportunity include:
1. Admissibility Conditions: The proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions: Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible if identified as eligible at the time of submission. The association agreement to the Programme must apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. Entities directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity may not participate unless guarantees are provided and assessed. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment cannot submit guarantees. The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) information:
Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the Standard application form (HE RIA, IA).
Evaluation form templates will be used with the necessary adaptations, including the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA).
Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the HE MGA.
Call-specific instructions include the Ownership Control Declaration Annex (new template to be added in January 2026).
Additional documents include:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
The budget overview for various related topics under the DIGITAL call (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04) for the year 2027 is as follows:
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-03 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 35,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 17,500,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 38,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 19,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-09 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 39,000,000, indicative number of grants: 3, contribution around EUR 10,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 42,000,000, indicative number of grants: 3, contribution around EUR 14,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 18,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 18,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 3,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 1,500,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-10 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 4,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 4,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 44,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 44,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-01 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 39,000,000, indicative number of grants: 8, contribution between EUR 4,800,000 and EUR 5,600,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-02 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 3,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 3,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-07 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 7,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 7,000,000 per grant.
Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited on the portal. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile.
The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.
For support, applicants are encouraged to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application. The Online Manual serves as a guide on procedures from proposal submission to managing the grant. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation, and grant management. The Research Enquiry Service can be used to ask questions about European research and the EU Research Framework Programmes. National Contact Points (NCPs) offer guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provides advice to businesses, especially SMEs, including guidance on EU research funding. The IT Helpdesk can be contacted for technical questions. The European IPR Helpdesk assists with intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk advise on tackling standardisation in project proposals. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment outline the roles, responsibilities, and entitlements of researchers, employers, and funders. Partner Search tools can help find partner organizations for proposals.
In summary, this Horizon Europe funding opportunity aims to foster research and innovation in decentralized AI data processing to overcome the limitations of centralized approaches. It encourages projects that develop new technologies and techniques to leverage distributed compute resources, improve data quality and security, and enhance energy efficiency across the cloud and edge computing continuum. Successful proposals should demonstrate the value and impact of these developments through complementary use cases in different domains, contributing to Europe's competitiveness in the AI landscape. Eligible entities from Member States, Iceland, Norway, and associated countries are encouraged to apply, with careful consideration given to the specific conditions and guidelines outlined in the call documents.
The expected outcome of the projects should contribute to developing new approaches, tools, and techniques that overcome the obstacles of today's centralized AI compute techniques. These obstacles include limits in the availability of energy and AI compute capacity in centralized standalone environments, limited availability of types of AI chips, data quality and security concerns, and latency in AI data processing. The ultimate objective is to help overcome the EU’s AI compute capacity bottlenecks by offering alternative decentralized and sustainable AI compute models that enable exploitation of diverse hardware processing architectures and scaling approaches.
The scope of this funding opportunity focuses on technologies and techniques that enable AI data processing to leverage distributed compute resources across the cloud and edge computing continuum throughout the whole AI model lifecycle from data collection, training, fine-tuning, and deployment. To surpass the current state of the art, the considered research areas include:
Research on distributed, decentralized, and federated “compute continuum” enabled AI architectures beyond federated learning, integrating model compression tools and new mechanisms to enable AI data processing to scale across multiple and diverse computing infrastructures.
Development, deployment, and operation of AI workflows across heterogeneous and distributed infrastructures along the compute continuum (edge, cloud, HPC), including the possibility of incorporating innovative computing paradigms such as neuromorphic and quantum computing, and hardware efficiency enhancements like in-memory computing, and hardware and software approximation.
Novel methods and techniques to improve data availability and consistency for decentralized AI data processing, considering tools to ensure data quality (e.g., prevention of data sets imbalance or inconsistency across distributed data sources), volume optimization for data transfers across environments, and distributed data management, all while preserving data privacy and preventing data leaks (e.g., via advanced cryptographic protection such as post-quantum cryptography for resistance to emerging quantum threats).
New tools and mechanisms to measure, monitor, and improve end-to-end energy efficiency and sustainability of AI data processing across the compute continuum, including the exploration of energy and sustainability implications of the heterogeneous AI processing architectures and their impact in the compute infrastructure design and long-term sustainability.
Successful project proposals should showcase proposed developments in at least two complementary use cases in different domains. These use cases should demonstrate the value gained and potential impact of project achievements in real-world situations, as well as address key applications and sectors critical to Europe's competitiveness. Use cases should provide compelling examples and scenarios and cater for the reproducibility of results' added value and impact in additional economic sectors.
The general conditions for this funding opportunity include:
1. Admissibility Conditions: The proposal page limit and layout are described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions: Participation is limited to legal entities established in Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Entities established in third countries which may become associated to Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may be eligible if identified as eligible at the time of submission. The association agreement to the Programme must apply by the time of the signature of the grant agreement. Entities directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or entity may not participate unless guarantees are provided and assessed. Entities assessed as high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment cannot submit guarantees. The guarantees shall in particular substantiate that, for the purpose of the action, measures are in place to ensure that: a) control over the applicant legal entity is not exercised in a manner that retrains or restricts its ability to carry out the action and to deliver results, that imposes restrictions concerning its infrastructure, facilities, assets, resources, intellectual property or know-how needed for the purpose of the action, or that undermines its capabilities and standards necessary to carry out the action; b) access by a non-eligible country or by a non-eligible country entity to sensitive information relating to the action is prevented; and the employees or other persons involved in the action have a national security clearance issued by an eligible country, where appropriate; c) ownership of the intellectual property arising from, and the results of, the action remain within the recipient during and after completion of the action, are not subject to control or restrictions by non-eligible countries or non-eligible country entity, and are not exported outside the eligible countries, nor is access to them from outside the eligible countries granted, without the approval of the eligible country in which the legal entity is established.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants are described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme.
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA) information:
Application form templates are available in the Submission System, including the Standard application form (HE RIA, IA).
Evaluation form templates will be used with the necessary adaptations, including the Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA).
Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide.
Model Grant Agreements (MGA) include the HE MGA.
Call-specific instructions include the Ownership Control Declaration Annex (new template to be added in January 2026).
Additional documents include:
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 7. Digital, Industry and Space
HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 – 15. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
The budget overview for various related topics under the DIGITAL call (HORIZON-CL4-2027-04) for the year 2027 is as follows:
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-03 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 35,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 17,500,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 38,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 19,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-09 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 39,000,000, indicative number of grants: 3, contribution around EUR 10,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 42,000,000, indicative number of grants: 3, contribution around EUR 14,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 18,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 18,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06 - HORIZON-IA: EUR 3,000,000, indicative number of grants: 2, contribution around EUR 1,500,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-10 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 4,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 4,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 44,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 44,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-01 - HORIZON-RIA: EUR 39,000,000, indicative number of grants: 8, contribution between EUR 4,800,000 and EUR 5,600,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-02 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 3,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 3,000,000 per grant.
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-07 - HORIZON-CSA: EUR 7,000,000, indicative number of grants: 1, contribution around EUR 7,000,000 per grant.
Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited on the portal. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests for open and forthcoming topics after logging into the Portal, as well as any user having an active public Person profile.
The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.
For support, applicants are encouraged to read all provisions carefully before preparing their application. The Online Manual serves as a guide on procedures from proposal submission to managing the grant. The Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains detailed guidance on the structure, budget, and political priorities of Horizon Europe. The Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ provides answers to frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation, and grant management. The Research Enquiry Service can be used to ask questions about European research and the EU Research Framework Programmes. National Contact Points (NCPs) offer guidance, practical information, and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provides advice to businesses, especially SMEs, including guidance on EU research funding. The IT Helpdesk can be contacted for technical questions. The European IPR Helpdesk assists with intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk advise on tackling standardisation in project proposals. The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment outline the roles, responsibilities, and entitlements of researchers, employers, and funders. Partner Search tools can help find partner organizations for proposals.
In summary, this Horizon Europe funding opportunity aims to foster research and innovation in decentralized AI data processing to overcome the limitations of centralized approaches. It encourages projects that develop new technologies and techniques to leverage distributed compute resources, improve data quality and security, and enhance energy efficiency across the cloud and edge computing continuum. Successful proposals should demonstrate the value and impact of these developments through complementary use cases in different domains, contributing to Europe's competitiveness in the AI landscape. Eligible entities from Member States, Iceland, Norway, and associated countries are encouraged to apply, with careful consideration given to the specific conditions and guidelines outlined in the call documents.
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Breakdown
Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are legal entities established in Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. There are also specific conditions regarding entities controlled by non-eligible countries, requiring guarantees to ensure their participation does not negatively impact the Union’s strategic interests.
Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) and HORIZON-IA (Innovation Actions) and HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Actions).
Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the nature of the research areas and the emphasis on showcasing developments in at least two complementary use cases suggests that a consortium of multiple applicants is highly encouraged, if not implicitly required. The partner search announcements further support this.
Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Entities from third countries that may become associated with Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may also be eligible if their country is identified as eligible at the time of application.
Target Sector: The program targets the digital sector, specifically focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) data processing, cloud and edge computing, high-performance computing (HPC), neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, hardware efficiency enhancements, data quality, data security, data privacy, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
Mentioned Countries: Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, EU Member States.
Project Stage: The project stage ranges from research and development to innovation and demonstration, covering the entire AI model lifecycle from data collection to deployment. The emphasis on showcasing developments in real-world use cases suggests projects should be at least at the validation or demonstration stage.
Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action (RIA, IA, CSA). The budget overview provides the following information:
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-03: EUR 35,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 17,500,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08: EUR 38,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 19,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-09: EUR 39,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 10,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04: EUR 42,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 14,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05: EUR 18,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 18,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06: EUR 3,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 1,500,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-10: EUR 4,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 4,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11: EUR 44,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 44,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-01: EUR 39,000,000 (indicative contribution EUR 4,800,000 to EUR 5,600,000 per grant, 8 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-02: EUR 3,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 3,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-07: EUR 7,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 7,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.
Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to fund their research and innovation activities.
Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.
Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly stated, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential competitiveness.
Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned.
Summary: This Horizon Europe call, under the DIGITAL program, aims to foster new approaches for decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing. It seeks to address the limitations of centralized AI compute techniques by promoting alternative AI compute models that are more energy-efficient, scalable, and secure. The call encourages projects that develop technologies and techniques for distributed AI data processing across the cloud and edge computing continuum, covering the entire AI model lifecycle. Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and associated countries like Canada, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The funding is provided through Horizon Action Grants, with varying budgets depending on the specific topic and type of action (RIA, IA, CSA). The application process is single-stage, and successful projects are expected to showcase their developments in real-world use cases, demonstrating their value and impact on Europe's competitiveness. The call emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the Union's strategic assets and interests, with specific conditions for entities controlled by non-eligible countries.
Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. The type of action is HORIZON-RIA (Research and Innovation Actions) and HORIZON-IA (Innovation Actions) and HORIZON-CSA (Coordination and Support Actions).
Consortium Requirement: While not explicitly stated, the nature of the research areas and the emphasis on showcasing developments in at least two complementary use cases suggests that a consortium of multiple applicants is highly encouraged, if not implicitly required. The partner search announcements further support this.
Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Entities from third countries that may become associated with Horizon Europe during 2026 and 2027 may also be eligible if their country is identified as eligible at the time of application.
Target Sector: The program targets the digital sector, specifically focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) data processing, cloud and edge computing, high-performance computing (HPC), neuromorphic computing, quantum computing, hardware efficiency enhancements, data quality, data security, data privacy, energy efficiency, and sustainability.
Mentioned Countries: Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, EU Member States.
Project Stage: The project stage ranges from research and development to innovation and demonstration, covering the entire AI model lifecycle from data collection to deployment. The emphasis on showcasing developments in real-world use cases suggests projects should be at least at the validation or demonstration stage.
Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic and type of action (RIA, IA, CSA). The budget overview provides the following information:
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-03: EUR 35,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 17,500,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08: EUR 38,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 19,000,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-09: EUR 39,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 10,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-04: EUR 42,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 14,000,000 per grant, 3 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-05: EUR 18,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 18,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-06: EUR 3,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 1,500,000 per grant, 2 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-10: EUR 4,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 4,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11: EUR 44,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 44,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-01: EUR 39,000,000 (indicative contribution EUR 4,800,000 to EUR 5,600,000 per grant, 8 grants)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-02: EUR 3,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 3,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-HUMAN-07: EUR 7,000,000 (indicative contribution around EUR 7,000,000 per grant, 1 grant)
Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.
Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to fund their research and innovation activities.
Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.
Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly stated, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the potential competitiveness.
Co-funding Requirement: The need for co-funding is not explicitly mentioned.
Summary: This Horizon Europe call, under the DIGITAL program, aims to foster new approaches for decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing. It seeks to address the limitations of centralized AI compute techniques by promoting alternative AI compute models that are more energy-efficient, scalable, and secure. The call encourages projects that develop technologies and techniques for distributed AI data processing across the cloud and edge computing continuum, covering the entire AI model lifecycle. Eligible applicants include legal entities from EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and associated countries like Canada, Israel, South Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The funding is provided through Horizon Action Grants, with varying budgets depending on the specific topic and type of action (RIA, IA, CSA). The application process is single-stage, and successful projects are expected to showcase their developments in real-world use cases, demonstrating their value and impact on Europe's competitiveness. The call emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the Union's strategic assets and interests, with specific conditions for entities controlled by non-eligible countries.
Short Summary
Impact The funding aims to develop new approaches for decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing to overcome the limitations of centralized AI compute techniques. | Impact | The funding aims to develop new approaches for decentralized, federated, and sustainable AI data processing to overcome the limitations of centralized AI compute techniques. |
Applicant Applicants should possess substantial scientific and technical expertise in AI, distributed computing, edge computing, or cloud infrastructure domains. | Applicant | Applicants should possess substantial scientific and technical expertise in AI, distributed computing, edge computing, or cloud infrastructure domains. |
Developments The activities will focus on technologies and techniques that enable AI data processing to leverage distributed compute resources across the cloud and edge computing continuum. | Developments | The activities will focus on technologies and techniques that enable AI data processing to leverage distributed compute resources across the cloud and edge computing continuum. |
Applicant Type This funding is designed for universities, research organizations, SMEs, large enterprises, and public-private partnerships from eligible countries. | Applicant Type | This funding is designed for universities, research organizations, SMEs, large enterprises, and public-private partnerships from eligible countries. |
Consortium A consortium of multiple applicants is required for this funding opportunity. | Consortium | A consortium of multiple applicants is required for this funding opportunity. |
Funding Amount Each grant is expected to receive €17.5 million, with a total of €35 million allocated for this specific topic. | Funding Amount | Each grant is expected to receive €17.5 million, with a total of €35 million allocated for this specific topic. |
Countries Eligible countries include EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. | Countries | Eligible countries include EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. |
Industry This funding targets the digital sector, specifically focusing on artificial intelligence, distributed computing, and sustainable computing. | Industry | This funding targets the digital sector, specifically focusing on artificial intelligence, distributed computing, and sustainable computing. |
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