I3 Project Descriptions

The three years HeliX project aims to bring privacy-preserving artificial intelligence for health data from advanced development to real-world deployment, enabling secure and trusted secondary use of sensitive health data without transferring it from data holders. By applying federated learning approaches, HeliX improves access to high-quality data for research, innovation and decision-making, while overcoming fragmentation, interoperability challenges and regulatory barriers that currently limit the use of health data across Europe.

HeliX targets the health data value chain by developing and...

The IGNITE-LDR proposal is a three years project that brings together 23 partners and aims to empower less developed regions (LDRs) by driving the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies and fostering cross-regional collaboration. By addressing the pressing challenges of digitization, production optimization, and sustainability, IGNITE-LDR bridges the gap between well-established innovation hubs in more developed regions and the needs of manufacturing SMEs in LDRs. 

The IGNITE-LDR project has been designed to promote technology transfer and innovation diffusion from more

developed...

The main goal of the SMART-Growth I3 project (2023-2026) is to stimulate interregional innovation investment by deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI)–enabled Zero-Defect Manufacturing (ZDM) in the production of rare-earth-based laser crystals. The project addresses high energy consumption, material waste, defect rates and Europe’s strategic dependency on critical raw materials in crystal growth processes. SMART-Growth targets the laser crystal manufacturing value chain, centred on Czochralski crystal growth, which is a critical enabling technology for photonics, medical lasers, advanced...

The 3DOP (3D-Printing Optimized Production) project aims to accelerate the adoption of advanced 3D printing technologies across Europe, focusing on metal, electronics, dental components, and automation. By tackling challenges such as high costs, inefficiencies, and limited scalability in current additive manufacturing processes, 3DOP strengthens EU industrial competitiveness and supply chain resilience. The project brings together SMEs from More Developed Regions, Transition Regions, and Less Developed Regions, each contributing expertise in areas like advanced materials, automation modules...

Agri-PET/MRI is a three years project (2023-2026) that brings together five partners aiming to accelerate the industrial deployment of a portable in-field PET/MRI imaging system for early detection of crop stress, addressing the growing risks to agricultural productivity caused by climate change. The project targets the agri-food value chain, combining advanced functional imaging, artificial intelligence and precision agriculture to enable early intervention before stress symptoms become irreversible.

The project consolidates an interregional production and deployment platform involving...

The Alliance on Interregional Innovation Investments (Allon_I3) project primarily aims to enhance the capacity of Less Developed Regions (LDRs: Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal) to collaborate with transition and more developed regions by shaping and interweaving a cross-regional innovation ecosystem. The key capacity objective is strengthening the ability of Quadruple Helix (Q-helix) stakeholders to identify, set up, and secure financing for interregional innovation projects. The project is highly relevant to EU cohesion policy as it directly addresses regional disparities by integrating LDRs more...

The AMBITIOUS project advances the deployment of 5G-powered digital solutions across Europe, enabling seamless interaction among businesses, service providers, and consumers while fostering innovative business models. Leveraging a computing continuum that integrates Cloud, Edge, and IoT resources, the project provides a technological infrastructure for data aggregation, AI-driven analytics, and secure information exchange, with applications across sectors such as smart agriculture, water management, digital health, and safety. The consortium spans seven regions in Sweden, Finland, the...

AquaLoops4Med is a three-year project with 13 partners addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change and increasing water stress in the Mediterranean, a region where the agrifood sector is both highly vulnerable and economically vital. AquaLoops4Med will create an interregional network to foster an efficient and sustainable water management.The project involves partners representing the quadruple helix in four participating regions: Catalonia, Spain (MDR), Basilicata, Italy (LDR), Attica and Thessaly, Greece (TR and LDR, respectively), with shared and complementary S3 priorities and...

BalticMUPPETS (2023–2026) strengthens interregional collaboration to create new value chains for small Baltic Sea mussels (1–3 cm), focusing on their use in pet food and on innovative technologies for farming, harvesting, and processing. The consortium unites 13 partners from 5 countries, covering the entire mussel supply chain, from production to processing, product development, marketing, and financing. Business cases in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany test and scale novel approaches, supported by research institutions and business accelerators to develop market-ready products and sustainable...

BATMASS aims to implement the first EU Interregional Circular Battery Valley. It offers a portfolio of cross-regional investments in TRL6+ innovations in circular technologies and processes for battery materials. The aim answers to the challenge of a battery supply chain under pressure, with growing demand of supply and heavy dependence on foreign streams of critical materials. This is a crucial issue for EU competitiveness as exposure to price volatility and limited sovereignty is extremely high. BATMASS mobilises an integrated interregional ecosystem around 4 Demonstrators meant to scale up...

BIO-RED aims to strengthen regional innovation ecosystems and build the capacity of less developed regions to design, develop, and implement business cases for interregional innovation investments in the strategic sectors of red biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The project enhances institutional, innovation, and investment capacities through comprehensive actions, including mapping regional ecosystems and value chains, developing a Joint Strategic Interregional Roadmap, and implementing co-creation labs, hackathons, staff exchanges, and policy roundtables. A dedicated Biotech & Pharma...

Biotech4Food brings together 26 partners from eight EU regions, with a budget of EUR 4.36 million, including EUR 3 million from the I3 Instrument. Based on the S3 partnership ‘Ingredients for a Circular Economy’, it accelerates the development and market introduction of innovative ingredients and bio-based products through three new agri-food value chains. The project applies industrial (white) biotechnology and marine (blue) biotechnology to deliver cleaner processing technologies, circular use of biomass, and high-protein food solutions. In Central Macedonia (Greece), a Less Developed Region...