8 July 2024 is the deadline for the new funding opportunities allocated by SISSA within the initiatives promoted by the iNEST (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem) Consortium. In line with the research and innovation goals of iNEST Spoke 9, led by the School, such funding is aimed at the creation of prototypes of digital twins, the virtual copies of real assets deployed in different scenarios, such as industrial processes and products, infrastructure, natural environments, complex intelligent systems (ports, cities, transportation systems), healthcare, economic activities. The calls, worth roughly €1,500,000 and €950,000, are aimed at companies and businesses in the Triveneto and Mezzogiorno regions, respectively, and will be found at https://www.consorzioinest.it/bandi/bandi-spoke-9/
These initiatives are part of the action caried out by the iNEST Consortium, funded by the National Plan for Resilience and Resistance, to promote and support the application of the most advanced digital technologies in the main areas of specialization of the Triveneto region (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano), thus creating a widespread network of innovative expertise in the North-Est in sectors such as industrial manufacturing, agriculture, maritime, mountain, construction, tourism, culture, health, and food.
"This is the second round of calls of this kind that we are promoting, as SISSA and as Consortium," Gianluigi Rozza, professor of numerical analysis at SISSA and Spoke 9 representative, comments. "The first round ended last October and led to the funding of 10 project proposals across Triveneto and Mezzogiorno, with a total value of almost 2.5 million euros. The topic of the digital twin is highly relevant and benefits from the research carried out within Spoke 9: we hope to see the first results soon. These new calls represent an interesting opportunity for other companies: from industry to medicine, from infrastructure to services."
Like SISSA, each of the universities involved in iNEST has issued its own calls for proposals, related to the Spoke it leads. All calls can be found on the iNEST Consortium website. Applications must be submitted to the iNEST Consortium through the designated platform at https://www.bandiconsorzioinest.it/
Further information about the calls will be provided via webinars on the Zoom platform: on 7May at 4:30 PM for the calls related to Triveneto, on 9 May at the same time for those aimed at Mezzogiorno. Instructions on how to participate are available here.