Strategic Partnership for Smart City Living Labs, Urban AI & VET Excellence (Joint Projects & Infrastructure Access)

There is interest in collaborating and engaging in joint activities with clusters, business networks, research institutes, competence centers, smart city solution providers, and vocational and higher education institutions. The objectives of this collaboration and the associated business benefits include:

1. Establishing a sustainable cross-border ecosystem for high-tech skills: jointly developing interdisciplinary competence frameworks and training models that integrate artificial intelligence (AI), urban digital twins, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Smart Readiness Indicators (SRI), aligned with the requirements of Industry 4.0/5.0 and the twin transition (digital and green).

2. Joint use of living labs and infrastructure (cross-border access): providing mutual access to shared high-tech infrastructure, digital twin simulation platforms, and testing environments - connecting our Cluster Center for Smart City Technologies with partner R&D and innovation infrastructure to facilitate pilot testing, the validation of smart city solutions, and business acceleration.

3. Joint project development and preparation of international consortia for upcoming calls for proposals under Erasmus+ KA2 (e.g., in the fields of developing new professions and enhancing skills for Industry 5.0, smart urban technologies, the digital transformation of cities, and New European Bauhaus - NEB values), Horizon Europe (Clusters 2 and 6), and the Digital Europe Programme - for instance, regarding smart communities, AIoT (a combination of AI and IoT), and local digital twins.

4. Co-creation of market-oriented training programs and business pilot projects: Development of micro-credentials, joint pilot projects, and real-world urban case studies for municipalities and business clients, linking applied research with the implementation of commercial smart city solutions.