Topic outline
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Program: Horizon Europe | Cluster 5 “Climate, Energy and Mobility”.
Geographical coverage: Horizon Europe programme regular coverage.
Available contribution: The total indicative budget for the topic is 6M€, contribution between EUR 5.00 and 6,00 million per project.
Type of Action: Research and Innovation Action.
Deadline: October 19th, 2021
TRL: Not included
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Forum
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Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Comprehensive analysis of all demonstrated CCAM use cases and harmonised approaches for implementing future large-scale demonstrations in Europe.
- Common framework for large-scale demonstration pilots in Europe including the identification of common use cases and Operational Design Domains (ODDs) as well as the definition of a common taxonomy and tools for scenario assessment.
- EU CCAM common evaluation methodology building on the outcome and recommendations from Working Group 2 of the CCAM Platform.
- Test data exchange framework with a collection of best practices and guidelines, including specifications for data labelling (e.g. ODD definition) and common data formats (aligned with ongoing standardisation activities) as well as tools and documentation to use them, a common openly accessible platform safeguarding ethical usage of test data in a transparent manner to improve cooperation across projects and stakeholders.
- Harmonised conditions and processes for tests of CCAM systems on public roads, including criteria for a mutual recognition of procedures (building on the outcome and recommendations from Working Group 4 of the CCAM Platform).
- Common basis for CCAM Knowledge in Europe through an up-to-date and continuously maintained Knowledge Base on CCAM adapted to the needs of the potential members of the European Partnership on CCAM and all relevant stakeholders.
- Efficient and sustainable governance structure for the collection of CCAM Knowledge in Europe and globally, thus facilitating the engagement and contribution of stakeholders from all sectors and in particular exchanges and cooperation with and amongst EU Member States/Associated Countries.
- Network and forum of experts in the different thematic fields of R&I on CCAM with adequate tools and processes to enable the exchange of experiences and practices, stimulate collaboration and cooperation between all CCAM stakeholders and reach consensus on challenges and future R&I needs.
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Many diverse CCAM related R&I activities, tests and large-scale demonstration projects are ongoing across Europe and coordination, knowledge and data exchange as well as harmonised approaches for implementing future large-scale demonstrations in Europe are needed to better exploit synergies between all these activities.
There is a need for a common and searchable baseline of CCAM, thus ensuring transferability of knowledge for future research, development and testing of CCAM.
The aim of this action is twofold:
- to improve the coordination of CCAM demonstrations in Europe by developing a European framework for testing on public roads including common approaches for evaluation and test data exchange for large-scale demonstration pilots in Europe.
- to expand, maintain and update the existing EU-wide Knowledge which should centralise information about stakeholders, CCAM related R&I programmes and projects in Europe and beyond.
Proposed actions must address Area A and Area B.
Area A: Framework for coordination of CCAM demonstrations in Europe
The numerous CCAM demonstration projects in Europe lack a common vocabulary and the impact assessments of these projects are often difficult to compare. If different methodologies lead to incompatible evaluations, it will be hard to get an overall picture on the socio-economic and environmental impacts across several activities.
Proposed actions should establish a well-structured overview of European evaluation methodologies and its testing instances (test sites, living labs, simulations, open road) and develop a common evaluation framework and methodology with common indicators for large-scale demonstration pilots. This will allow comparability of results, complementing evaluations and meta-analysis over multiple evaluation studies. It will thus allow maximizing the profits and ease spreading of the lessons learned across Europe. It will enable to assess the wider impacts of future CCAM systems and services, providing necessary input for decision and policy making by governments and industry. Links should be established with other initiatives developing methodologies and indicators for CCAM solutions in specific areas, in particular on societal aspects.
Actions should build on the outcome of the CCAM Platform WG2 and on the methodologies and practices developed by past and ongoing R&I activities and gathered in the CCAM Knowledge Base to establish common criteria for the preparation, execution and evaluation of all types of impacts of large-scale CCAM demonstrations in Europe, in particular common assessment indicators and methodologies.
Different parties involved in CCAM testing generate large amounts of test data (from in-vehicle or infrastructure). Actions should develop a test data exchange framework, which addresses legal and administrative aspects as well as technical aspects like data provision, access, protection of user data, and labelling of data and proper description of the data format. This latter includes describing objects, features and other road users around the vehicle, but also the driver and passenger whereabouts inside the cabin, efficient (semi)-automatic annotation processes and complex-label description in a large-scale data environment. As part of the labelling, a standardised and structured annotation model should be included.
Different national policy and legal frameworks make the organisation of cross-border testing difficult. To facilitate the development of both cross border testing and support authorities and in particular cities in organising piloting projects, a European framework for testing on public roads based on criteria for mutual recognition of procedures should be established. Proposed actions should establish links with UNECE and have very close cooperation with the EU Member States and Associated Countries through the CCAM Member States Advisory Board, in particular regarding testing conditions and regulations and associated harmonisation aspects.
Area B: EU-wide Knowledge Base
Proposed actions should continue and extend the existing EU-wide Knowledge Base on CCAM as the “one-stop shop” for the exchange of knowledge and experiences on CCAM in Europe and beyond and to promote existing and valuable datasets. The Knowledge Base should collect structured, up-to-date and targeted information on European and national large and small scale demonstration projects and testing activities, test sites, corridors and living labs with their features and capabilities, standards, testing and assessment methodologies as well as regulations, policies and programmes in the field of CCAM in Europe and worldwide.
It should provide a common and searchable basis of CCAM, thus ensuring transferability of knowledge for future research, development and testing of CCAM. A wider engagement of the stakeholder community in providing content and actively contributing to its future development needs to be ensured.
The Knowledge Base should also function as the key information tool of the future European Partnership on CCAM to support the development and updates of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).
Particular emphasis should be placed on:
- Extending the content about CCAM activities in Europe and globally and ensuring it is up-to-date and mapped.
- Developing knowledge summaries and collecting background information about purposes and drivers behind testing and piloting activities, lessons learned, best practices, implementation guidelines enabling the translation towards actions and agendas by authorities, decision makers and the CCAM Partnership.
- Structuring information and adding specific information, in particular according to stakeholder’s needs and priorities and developing targeted toolkits to support new stakeholders in setting up, running and assessing testing and piloting initiatives.
- Collecting common terminologies, methodologies, standards and procedures related to CCAM and promoting the implementation of common metadata frameworks and the FAIR data principles to support interoperability.
- Maximize the outreach of the Knowledge Base through newsletters, dedicated social media channels.
In close cooperation with the future European Partnership on CCAM, proposed actions should establish a network of experts in different thematic fields of R&I on CCAM. Actions should provide a forum to facilitate the interaction of experts, the exchange of experiences, implemented technologies and solutions and practices, stimulate collaboration and cooperation between all parties involved in the CCAM European partnership and beyond. Actions should organise conferences and workshops on CCAM, in cooperation with the future European Partnership on CCAM.Particular attention should also be given to international cooperation activities to stimulate the exchange and collaboration with partners from other regions of the world on common R&I challenges in the area of CCAM. It is important to establish close contacts with the CCAM Member States Advisory Board to ensure good support for feeding the Knowledge Base with up-to-date information.
This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on ‘Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility’ (CCAM).