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HORIZON EUROPE TOPIC · Cluster 4 · Digital, Industry and Space

Demand-side 3C pilot demonstrators on converged Telco Edge Cloud Infrastructure (IA)

HORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08 — the expected outcomes as checkable statements, what evaluators look for in this topic, and the conditions that shape the proposal.

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ForthcomingIADeadline 18 March 2027around EUR 19 million per project

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TopicHORIZON-CL4-2027-04-DATA-08
StatusForthcoming
CallHORIZON-CL4-2027-04 — DIGITAL
DestinationDeveloping an agile and secure single market and infrastructure for data-services and trustworthy artificial intelligence services (2026-27)
Type of actionInnovation Actions
Opening17 November 2026
Deadline18 March 2027
Budgetaround EUR 19 million per project · 2 projects expected · EUR 38 million in total
TRL at the endTRL 6–8
Part B page limit40 pages (standard application form; check your call)
TemplateWork Programme 2026–2027 application form

Expected outcomes

The topic does not say whether all outcomes must be addressed; treat them all as relevant.

  1. EO1 Demand-side driven validation of open orchestration platforms across the telco-cloud edge continuum unlocking notably the transformative value of AI for European businesses, driving business growth in multiple industries strategic for Europe.
  2. EO2 Enabling the path towards sustainability and competitiveness of key vertical sectors in the EU, exploiting the innovative features of 3C/ telco-edge-cloud, including network features such as API (Application Program Interface) aggregation, slicing, automation, latency, security, ISAC (Integrated Sensing and Communication), reconfigurability, to significantly improve quality of service, resilience, sustainability and other performance parameters of digital communications.
  3. EO3 The demand pilots will have a clear sector relevance, with one pilot addressing the future of smart mobility including the automotive sector.
  4. EO4 A vibrant ecosystem around 3C/telco-edge-cloud infrastructure, targeting SMEs and start-ups to develop innovative services and new business models validation and marketplace exploitation strategies, as well as paths to commercialization or replicability.

What evaluators will look for in this topic

Expected outcomes

  • The topic does not say whether all outcomes must be addressed; treat them all as relevant.
  • For each outcome (EO1 to EO4), name who will use or adopt your results (a specific group, not “industry” or “society”), how they get them, and the indicator that shows the change, with baseline, target and date.
  • Use the topic's own words for each outcome, so the evaluator can tick it off.

What the scope asks for

Evaluators check the proposal against these sentences of the scope. Answer each one visibly, in the call's own words.

  • “Resulting solutions should be available for use in the public sector (for instance for justice systems).”
  • “The pilot should support the strategy as developed by the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance identified in the Automotive Action plan, in particular Pillars 3 (AI models) and 5 (Large-scale testing), which will be launched in 2025.”
  • “The pilot demonstrators should take advantage of open application interfaces, explore the possibilities of AI, “virtual worlds”, and other innovative technologies for practical implementation in the referred vertical domains.”
  • “They should leverage combined investments in network infrastructure, computing and connectivity infrastructure as an enabler for more extensive set of digital innovation, with cognitive cloud computing and swarm intelligence, generative AI and LLM, as well as on-boarding of XR/AR technologies, being ranked most important.”
  • “Proposals are expected to detail a robust data governance model for the data generated and processed within the pilots.”
  • “This model should address data sovereignty, interoperability with Common European Data Spaces, and alignment with principles from initiatives like Gaia-X.”
  • “It should outline clear mechanisms for secure and compliant data sharing between the demand-side (users) and supply-side (infrastructure providers), establishing the trust necessary for a functional data economy on top of the 3C infrastructure.”
  • “Pilot demonstrators should demonstrate the evolution from virtualised and cloud-native network functions towards automated network operations enabling agile and green IoT-edge computing solutions and decentralised intelligence.”
  • “They should also demonstrate benefits for infrastructure providers to operate networks more efficiently and move beyond traditional connectivity-service models to higher value-added services.”
  • “The pilot demonstrators should take into consideration the recommendations on user requirements from the advisory group of end users, as well as liaise with the collaboration and support action (CSA) funded under WP25 to bridge between the 3C/ telco-edge-cloud supply pilot funded under WP25 and the demand pilots funded under WP26-27.”
  • “The pilots should exploit in particular open APIs and open-source components as developed by the supply side pilot, e.g. including the use of capabilities to implement specific communication management services (e.g. Open RAN security, RIC VNF…), up-take of existing standards and relevant open-source projects (e.g., Sylva, ANUKET, Nephio, CAMARA, etc.).”
  • “The pilot demonstrators should include testing, validation and demonstration of prototypes of agile virtualised network functions combined with ubiquitous mesh of integrated devices, computing and communication resources in operational environments, ensuring security and privacy, protection also in the face of emerging quantum threats, energy efficiency, transparency and control of the ecological footprint, as well as sustainable artificial…”

Conditions that shape the proposal

  • Part B, sections 1–3: 40 pages (standard application form). Text beyond the limit is not read; tables and figures count.
  • TRL: the topic expects TRL 6–8 by the end of the project. State where you start and the evidence for it.
  • Innovation action: evaluators expect a plausible path to commercialisation and named first users or customers.
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “In order to achieve the expected outcomes, and safeguard the Union’s strategic assets, interests, autonomy, and security, it is important to avoid a situation of technological dependency on a non-EU source, in a global context that requires the EU to take action to build on its strengths, and to carefully assess and…”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “For the duly justified and exceptional reasons listed in the paragraph above, in order to guarantee the protection of the strategic interests of the Union and its Member States, entities established in an eligible country listed above, but which are directly or indirectly controlled by a non-eligible country or by a…”
  • Other Eligible Conditions: “[[ 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…”

Impact pathway and traps

  • Users or citizens are part of the scope. Show how they take part in the design and testing, not only that they are informed.
  • The scope expects pilots or demonstration. Name the sites, the partners who run them and what is measured there.
  • Market uptake is part of the scope. Evaluators look for a credible route to market with named first adopters.
  • Keep outputs, outcomes and impacts apart: what you deliver, what changes when others use it, and the long-term effect.
  • Link your outcomes to the destination's expected impacts in the Work Programme. Destination impacts are long-term effects, not project deliverables.
  • Name the barriers outside the project (regulation, markets, user behaviour) that could block uptake, and what you will do if they do.
  • Section 2.3 (the summary canvas) is optional on this call; the old split into scientific, economic and societal impact is no longer required.
The scope, as published

The term “Connected, Collaborative, Computing (3C) Network” refers to a telco-edge-cloud, secure multi-provider and multi-technology, communication system that hosts network functions and workloads for and beyond connectivity (e.g. 6G, AI Storage/Compute, networking, Security ISAC, and any other application or capability) as a service (aaS). Key features of the 3C/ telco-edge-cloud network include programmability, fast service creation, security and privacy, mobility, and service continuity across inter-domain deployments. 3C/ telco-edge-cloud networks enable innovative use cases for an EU Digital Market that integrate communication, collaboration and computing capabilities in competitive and sustainable business models that will reinforce EU competitiveness and contribute to digital sovereignty, in particular through the use of Open Internet Stack components. Resulting solutions should be available for use in the public sector (for instance for justice systems). The 3C Network large-scale pilot funded under topic HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-08: Large-scale pilots for supply end-to-end infrastructures integrating device, network computing and communication capabilities for Telco Edge Cloud deployments, as a basis for Connected Collaborative Computing Networks (3C networks) (RIA) is setting up end-to-end integrated infrastructures and platforms, bringing together players from different segments of the connectivity and compute value chain and beyond. The main target is to research and validate the integration of device, network, cloud and edge computing, and communication capabilities for telco edge cloud deployments to realize a ubiquitous mesh of computing and communication resources. As a main outcome the supply side pilot establishes an open orchestration platform across the telco-cloud-edge continuum, exploits the transformative value of AI and builds on the integration of solutions developed by the Open Euro Stack. Demand- side pilot demonstrators called in this topic will build on the above supply side large-scale pilot and integrate future domain-specific applications and services with an emerging European 3Cs/ telco-edge-cloud infrastructure, leveraging different network features. Key features will include security and privacy solutions offering resistance to emerging quantum threats (such as via post-quantum cryptography), mobility, and service continuity across inter-domain and multi-cloud deployments and ecosystems. Up to two pilot demonstrators on below listed specific verticals are expected. One pilot demonstrator focusing on Mobility covering specific areas of transport, logistics and the Automotive industry. The pilot should support the strategy as developed by the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Alliance identified in the Automotive Action plan, in particular Pillars 3 (AI models) and 5 (Large-scale testing), which will be launched in 2025. One pilot demonstrator focusing on another vertical sector such as energy, smart communities, industrial virtual worlds, health, agrifood or manufacturing. They would be driven by a consortium including partners both from the demand (user) and infrastructure supply side. The pilot demonstrators should take advantage of open application interfaces, explore the possibilities of AI, “virtual worlds”, and other innovative technologies for practical implementation in the referred vertical domains. They should leverage combined investments in network infrastructure, computing and connectivity infrastructure as an enabler for more extensive set of digital innovation, with cognitive cloud computing and swarm intelligence, generative AI and LLM, as well as on-boarding of XR/AR technologies, being ranked most important. Proposals are expected to detail a robust data governance model for the data generated and processed within the pilots. This model should address data sovereignty, interoperability with Common European Data Spaces, and alignment with principles from initiatives like Gaia-X. It should outline clear mechanisms for secure and compliant data sharing between the demand-side (users) and supply-side (infrastructure providers), establishing the trust necessary for a functional data economy on top of the 3C infrastructure. Pilot demonstrators should demonstrate the evolution from virtualised and cloud-native network functions towards automated network operations enabling agile and green IoT-edge computing solutions and decentralised intelligence. They should also demonstrate benefits for infrastructure providers to operate networks more efficiently and move beyond traditional connectivity-service models to higher value-added services. Demonstrations will respond to the ever more demanding processing power of AI through integration on-device level and changes triggered by GenAI affecting global communication infrastructures. Orchestration of workloads across the telco-cloud-edge continuum from distributed sensors and actuators to the edge and cloud is a crucial part of innovation as AI becomes more resource-intensive. The pilot demonstrators should take into consideration the recommendations on user requirements from the advisory group of end users, as well as liaise with the collaboration and support action (CSA) funded under WP25 to bridge between the 3C/ telco-edge-cloud supply pilot funded under WP25 and the demand pilots funded under WP26-27. The pilots should exploit in particular open APIs and open-source components as developed by the supply side pilot, e.g. including the use of capabilities to implement specific communication management services (e.g. Open RAN security, RIC VNF…), up-take of existing standards and relevant open-source projects (e.g., Sylva, ANUKET, Nephio, CAMARA, etc.). The pilot demonstrators should include testing, validation and demonstration of prototypes of agile virtualised network functions combined with ubiquitous mesh of integrated devices, computing and communication resources in operational…

Technology readiness, as published

Activities are expected to achieve TRL 6-8 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

Other topics in HORIZON-CL4-2027-04

Source and attribution

Topic text from the official topic page on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, retrieved 19 October 2026. © European Union, reused under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU (CC BY 4.0). Changes: the expected outcomes and impacts are split into numbered statements, long passages are shortened, and the evaluator checklist is GrantWise's own commentary. Your call and the Work Programme always win; check them before you submit. GrantWise is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the European Commission.