PACK’s objective is to reduce customs congestion by drastically decreasing the number of trucks required to stop for physical inspection. This goal is achieved by developing and utilizing an integrated system of sensors, artificial intelligence, and advanced software, which enables automatic risk assessment and fully automated customs inspections without compromising security.

Brief Project description: 

The PACK project aims to drastically reduce the number of trucks required to stop for customs inspection through reliable and automated risk assessment during transport. To this end, the system integrates and upgrades advanced detection, monitoring, and data analysis capabilities, utilizing artificial intelligence algorithms. 

The PACK approach is based on a smart customs seal with Internet of Things capabilities to prevent tampering, combined with a smart sensor array equipped with artificial intelligence for continuous and autonomous cargo monitoring. With this setup, the system can independently assess risk and decide to issue alerts to the relevant supervisory authorities, significantly simplifying on-site and on-the-go checks.

Implementing PACK at EU level could significantly reduce truck waiting times at external borders. With only 10% market penetration, it is estimated to generate savings of €241 million and 2.35 million man-hours annually, reduce fuel consumption by about 70.5 million liters, and cut CO₂ emissions by approximately 190,000 tons per year. 

Role of ICCS: 

ICCS contributes to the project by developing and adapting a chemical detection device that constitutes a core component of the sensor array for cargo monitoring. The device is capable of real-time detection of the potential presence of target compounds, leveraging a field-deployable, state-of-the-art mass spectrometry-based analytical technique with fast response times. 

This approach provides chemical measurements with high accuracy, sensitivity, and minimum false alarms. Within the project, ICCS will investigate the application of artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics to further enhance detection performance.

Project website: https://pack-project.com/

LinkedIn page: PACK Horizon Europe project: Overview | LinkedIn

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement No. 101225875.

The Castilla y León Hydrogen Valley (CyLH2Valley) is a pioneering strategic initiative funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program and the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, designed to transform the Castilla y León region into a premier European hub for renewable energy innovation. By integrating the entire hydrogen value chain—from large-scale production using wind and solar power to distribution and multi-sectoral end-use—the project aims to produce over 1,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually during its initial stages, with a long-term roadmap to reach over 16,000 tonnes. The initiative encompasses eleven diverse pilot projects that demonstrate the versatility of green hydrogen, including its application in heavy-duty road transport, zero-emission maritime and aviation fuels, industrial decarbonization, and the production of green methanol and ammonia. 

Beyond its technical objectives, CyLH2Valley is a catalyst for regional economic growth, projected to create approximately 2,000 “green” jobs and attract significant sustainable investment, while utilizing advanced digital tools like a dedicated Data Space for transparent energy management. Ultimately, the project serves as a replicable blueprint for the European Green Deal, proving that regional energy autonomy and industrial decarbonization can be achieved through a coordinated, large-scale ecosystem approach.

This project receives funding from the HORIZON program, through the CLEAN HYDROGEN PARTNERSHIP, an organization with which the Region, through the Regional Energy Agency, has signed a Collaboration Agreement for the development of various activities.

This interconnected network of smart modular parts form a decentralized system, the Internet of Modularity (IoM²), that facilitates self-aware and adaptive building environments. Le Colaz also prioritizes environmental and economic impact through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC), while validation is done in contrasting climatic zones, Athens and Trondheim, via actual Living Labs, as well as simulation testing.

Le Colaz’s long-term vision is to minimize construction waste by promoting reusability, reinnovation, and recycling, thereby facilitating the transition towards circular and sustainable living communities. Therefore, it offers a scalable solution for future climate-adaptive, resilient, and smart neighbourhoods.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101236003.

Gas sensors are crucial in the personal and industrial monitoring to analyze personal exposure to air pollutants or to critical gases, to control product quality such as in the food industry, in health care by analyzing gases from human body and using breath analysis combined with wearable sensors for personal stress estimation. These applications require miniaturized low power and low-cost gas sensors with good gas selectivity to be integrated in personal devices, in product packaging or in widely distributed sensor networks.

AMUSENS aims at developing a gas sensor platform with flexible selectivity to different gas environments by combining a multi-pixel approach and artificial intelligence to adapt the data analysis to the targeted applications. It is based on metal oxide sensing materials on micro-hotplate platform, which are already available on the market for low power applications, but suffer from a lack of selectivity. Gas-selective multi-pixel sensors based on different metal oxide materials have been demonstrated, but their industrialization is limited to few industrially available materials. By using original additive manufacturing approaches for local liquid-phase and gas-phase depositions, we aim at extending the choice of available materials and demonstrate their sustainability in wafer-scale processing. Artificial intelligence will be used to accelerate the choice of materials, for data fusion to determine specific patterns in the gas analysis and to optimize sensor calibration through calibration transfer models. Three specific applications targeting personal exposure and health care will demonstrate the adaptability of the platform, based on an analysis of the users’ requirements. AI interpretation will be facilitated using model-agnostic interpretability analysis of the AI-based models for calibration transfer and on the use-case models.

The project brings together 11 partners from across Europe, with a total budget of over €8.5 million, and a duration of 48 months.

I-SENSE Group/ICCS proudly joins AMUSENS from May 2025 and will give a new boost to the project through:

• The development of interpretable AI models for calibration transfer and signal analysis (WP15 & WP16),
• Participation in the co-design process to ensure user-aligned tools,
• And real-life testing with human participants in the stress estimation use case, combining breath analysis with wearable devices (WP10).

Dissemination & Communication Material:

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101130159.

The Connected and Adaptive Maintenance for Safer Urban and Secondary Roads project (‘CAMBER’) aims to develop and demonstrate improved safety monitoring across urban and secondary rural road networks through realtime data feedback into road maintenance systems and proven low-cost interventions. Performance metrics based on new-generation data sources will provide road managers up-to-date information on safety issues, damage, and routine maintenance and upgrade needs. Data collated from a range of sources, such as telematics, vehicle and smartphone sensors, and road user feedback, will feed into safety assessment models to flag what measures are required to ensure a safe road environment for all road users, including road-user minority groups with varying design needs, such as powered two-wheelers (PTW).

CAMBER will support this through much-need research and testing of low-cost road safety interventions and low-impact maintenance techniques, including those for vehicles with advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The approaches will be demonstrated on urban and road networks in five European countries. CAMBER’s economically-sound solutions and new knowledge will be communicated through established networks to European road managers, policymakers and industry to support the decision-making and investment needed for more efficient maintenance for safer urban and secondary roads.

ICCS is being represented by I-SENSE Group research group, leading WP5 Pilot testing and evaluation and the project’s 2^nd Pilot held in Trikala, Greece.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101076963. UK participant IRAP is supported by UKRI grant number 10139277. UK participant Agilysis is supported by UKRI grant number 10157029.

The SHIELD project seeks to revolutionise early detection of pancreatic cancer, focusing on individuals with high heritable genetic risk. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a 5-year survival rate of less than 10%, primarily due to late-stage diagnosis. Consequently, 85% of PDAC cases are identified too late for curative treatment. However, early detection can significantly improve outcomes, increasing the survival rate to 42% with surgical intervention. SHIELD aims to validate a new blood-based diagnostic test designed for early PDAC detection in high-risk individuals and pilot an early detection programme in seven EU countries, targeting individuals with familial or genetic predispositions. It will also identify new protein biomarkers for other high-risk indications, such as new-onset diabetes (NOD). Collaboration with national screening authorities will help integrate this test into existing programs, and partnerships with patient organizations will enhance recruitment. SHIELD envisions transforming pancreatic cancer diagnostics by increasing the 5-year survival rate to 30% by 2035 in Europe.

Press Release 1 – May 2025

Funded by the European Union (European Commission, HORIZON-IA – HORIZON Innovation Actions)

By leveraging private capital and partnering with One-Stop Shops (OSS), the project provides holistic support, ensuring homes meet modern energy efficiency standards. The financing covers both home purchases and renovations, with buyers participating in advisory and support programs to guarantee high-quality renovations. This approach reduces risks for lenders and homeowners, making private financing accessible to low-income buyers and enabling immediate energy-efficiency improvements. LEG-Up will impact three key areas: increasing the availability of energy-efficient homes, improving housing affordability, and reducing carbon emissions. Pilot projects will be launched in Flanders and Spain to refine the financing model.

After thorough evaluation, the scheme will be ready for broader implementation. Strong ties with OSS in Spain and Belgium will facilitate rapid scaling in these regions, with plans for European-wide expansion following project completion. LEG-UP is expected to mobilize over €2 billion in private investments over six years, offering significant opportunities for securitization with an ESG focus. This scale will attract private investors and create sustainable, energy-efficient housing solutions. The project will reduce energy poverty, improve access to financing, and contribute to the EU’s climate goals by helping decarbonize the housing sector. By focusing on low-income buyers of older homes, LEG-UP fills a crucial market gap, and through strategic partnerships and an innovative financial model, it has the potential to create lasting change in the European housing market. This project aligns with the EU’s just transition goals.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Healthy and sustainable food is often linked to cooking at home, yet not everyone finds this option appealing. In this context, the EU-funded DietWise project will streamline existing tools and applications to develop solutions that encourage healthy and sustainable food practices. Its goal is to make home cooking and dining more attractive and accessible to all. By employing innovative strategies and promoting market self-regulation, the project seeks to reduce nutritional confusion and harmonise healthier eating habits with cultural and commercial practices.

Through citizen science-based approaches, DietWise will empower individuals to take an active role in their food choices. The project will collect valuable insights and empirical evidence using big data analysis, surveys and qualitative research. 

The DietWise project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon.2.6 programme under grant agreement No. 101181692.

CLARION gathers a strong multidisciplinary team of 21 partners with complementary research, technical and business profiles, including four ports with inland waterway connections, the top-3 in Europe, in terms of container throughput, namely Rotterdam, Antwerp/Brugge and Hamburg in the North Sea and Constantza, the largest European port in the Black Sea. CLARION ports handle 35.5% of the total container traffic in European ports as per EUROSTAT published 2021 data and provide access to the major inland waterways of the Rhine-Main-Danube axis, Scheldt and Elbe, ensuring significant impact of the application of results on the European maritime ports industry. 10 pilot demonstrations focused on making port infrastructure and hinterland transport resilient and sustainable.

CLARION pilot demonstrations will focus on going beyond the SotA to test and deploy smart and sustainable quay walls, monitoring and management system for the corrosion of port infrastructure with an automated floating mobile measuring system, shore tension applicability for RORO and CONRO terminals during storm conditions, flood impact control DT, dredged sediment reuse in port infrastructure, NBS applicability in maritime ports, DT to support the resilience of connected inland waterways infrastructure, a DT for extreme weather forecasts, federated learning using aerial drones/satellite data/in-situ sensors for cadastral measurements and response to extreme weather, and an EMS for extreme weather events.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement 101147041.

CARDIMED, an acronym for Climate adaptation and resilience demonstrated In the Mediterranean region, aligns with the European Green Deal‘s core objective of the “twin digital and green transition.” Recognizing the challenges posed by the sensitive and biodiverse Mediterranean biogeographical region, the project aims to establish a nature-positive economy and a climate-resilient society through innovative green and digital solutions.

The project introduces a comprehensive framework to build climate resilience in the Mediterranean by unifying individual efforts across regions and communities. This will be achieved through the deployment of digital infrastructure, harmonizing data collection and evaluation processes, and providing open data to all stakeholders involved in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) across the region.

Key features of CARDIMED include smart digital tools for citizen participation and capacity building, a multi-stakeholder engagement strategy focused on knowledge translation, and the integration of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approach for holistic modeling. These elements will contribute to addressing socio-ecological challenges, along with issues of valuation and low-investment rates in NbS.

The project will unfold across 9 demonstration sites, encompassing 10 regions, 20 locations, and 28 communities, involving 47 NbS directly linked to 83 interventions and supporting units. The culmination of these efforts will establish the CARDIMED Resilience Alliance, functioning as a pivotal vehicle for expanding the network through the upscaling of existing sites and the addition of new ones.

CARDIMED also includes 5 transferability cases, with an additional 10 to be defined during the project’s implementation phase.

I-SENSE Group will be leading the efforts to create and optimize digital tools facilitating NBS uptake for climate resilience and adaptation, which include the creation of a citizen engagement app.

CARDIMED is coordinated by the Sanitary Engineering Laboratory of NTUA and consists of 50 partners.

CARDIMED is funded by the Horizon Europe programme under the Adaptation to Climate Change Mission.