Leping

Dokumendiregister	Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium
Viit	8-1/306-1
Registreeritud	28.10.2025
Sünkroonitud	23.03.2026
Liik	Leping
Funktsioon	8 Toetuste rakendamine
Sari	8-1 Riigieelarvelise eraldise kasutamise lepingud
Toimik	8-1
Juurdepääsupiirang	Avalik
Juurdepääsupiirang
Adressaat
Saabumis/saatmisviis
Vastutaja	Paul Liias (Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium, Kantsleri valdkond, Majanduse ja innovatsiooni valdkond, Innovatsiooni ja tehnoloogia osakond)
Originaal	Ava uues aknas

Dokument on kokkuvõtte tegemiseks liiga mahukas (360026 tm).

Failid

8-1306-1 28.10.2025 Leping (1).asice

Leping_Sihtotstarbelise eraldise leping AIRE2 elluviimiseks_2025.pdf

Lisa 1_projekti taotlus.pdf

Lisa 2_finantsplaan KPId.xlsx

Lisa 3_AIRE_jatkusuutlikkuse_mudel_tegevuskava.pdf

Leping_Sihtotstarbelise eraldise leping AIRE2 elluviimiseks_2025.pdf

SIHTOTSTARBELISE ERALDISE LEPING nr 8-1/306-1

28.10.2025

Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeerium (edaspidi ministeerium), registrikood

70003158, asukohaga Suur-Ameerika 1, 10122 Tallinn, keda esindab majandus- ja

tööstusminister Erkki Keldo, ja

Tallinna Tehnikaülikool (edaspidi eraldise saaja), registrikood 74000323, asukohaga

Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, keda esindab rektori 22.12.2016 käskkirja nr 186 alusel

ettevõtlusprorektor Erik Puura,

edaspidi nimetatud eraldi ka pool ning koos pooled, lähtudes sellest, et:

- väliskaubandus- ja infotehnoloogiaministri 21.05.2020 käskkirja nr 101 „Konkurss

Euroopa Liidu digitaalse innovatsiooni keskuse võrgustikus Eesti riigi soovitusel osaleva

konsortsiumi väljaselgitamiseks“ alusel korraldatud konkursil valiti eraldise saaja, Tartu

Ülikooli, Eesti Maaülikooli, OÜ IMECC, Sihtasutuse Tartu Teaduspark ja Sihtasutuse

Tallinna Teaduspark TEHNOPOL moodustatud konsortsium AI & Robotics Estonia

(edaspidi AIRE) Euroopa Liidu digitaalse innovatsiooni keskuse (European Digital

Innovation Hub; edaspidi EDIH) võrgustikus Eesti riigi soovitusel osalevaks

konsortsiumiks;

- AIRE esitas 13.05.2025 Euroopa Komisjonile projekti taotluse koos 05.05.2025

kinnituskirjaga nr 10-2/1779-1 „The proof of EU Member State designation“, millega

MKM kinnitas Eesti riigi valmisolekut projekti elluviimist kaasrahastada;

- 04.08.2025 teavitas Euroopa Komisjon AIRE-t otsusest, mille kohaselt sai projekti

taotlus heakskiidu ja juhul, kui AIRE allkirjastab Euroopa Komisjoniga asjakohase

lepingu, rahastab Euroopa Liit projekti elluviimist 2 454 545.45 euroga;

sõlmivad sihtotstarbelise eraldise lepingu alljärgnevas.

1. Lepingu objektiks olev eraldis ja selle väljamaksmine

1.1. Lepingu objektiks on ministeeriumilt 3 000 000 euro (edaspidi eraldis) eraldamine

eraldise saajale.

1.2. Eraldise saaja kohustub eraldist kasutama AIRE ja Tallinna Ülikooli koostöös projekti

101256226 — AIRE2 elluviimiseks. Eraldise kasutamisel juhindub eraldise saaja projekti

taotlusest (lisa 1), eelarvest (lisa 2) ja asjakohastest riigiabi ning vähese tähtsusega abi

reeglitest (lisa 3).

1.3. Ministeerium kannab eraldise arveldusarvele: Tallinna Tehnikaülikool, IBAN

EE201010052037382001, SWIFT EEUHEE2X, AS SEB Pank, osamaksetena järgmiselt:

1.3.1. esimene osamakse summas 250 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul lepingu

sõlmimisest arvates;

1.3.2. teine osamakse summas 550 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul esimese

vahearuande, mille eraldise saaja esitab hiljemalt 31.03.2026, heakskiitmisest arvates;

1.3.3. kolmas osamakse summas 550 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul teise

vahearuande, mille eraldise saaja esitab hiljemalt 30.09.2026, heakskiitmisest arvates;

1.3.4. neljas osamakse summas 550 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul kolmanda

vahearuande, mille eraldise saaja esitab hiljemalt 31.03.2027, heakskiitmisest arvates;

1.3.5. viies osamakse summas 550 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul neljanda

vahearuande, mille eraldise saaja esitab hiljemalt 30.09.2027, heakskiitmisest arvates;

1.3.6. kuues osamakse summas 550 000 eurot 10 kalendripäeva jooksul viienda

vahearuande, mille eraldise saaja esitab hiljemalt 31.03.2028, heakskiitmisest arvates;

2. Ministeeriumi õigused ja kohustused

2.1. Ministeeriumil on õigus kontrollida eraldise saaja tegevuse vastavust lepingus kokku

lepitule, sealhulgas:

2.1.1. saada täiendavat informatsiooni vastavalt p-s 3.1 nimetatule;

2.1.2. kontrollida eraldise saaja juures ministeeriumile esitatud aruandluse, informatsiooni

ja dokumentide õigsust;

2.1.3. auditeerida eraldise saaja tegevust lepingu täitmisel.

2.2. Ministeerium avaldab lepingu koos lisadega ministeeriumi veebilehel viie tööpäeva

jooksul selle allkirjastamisest arvates.

3. Eraldise saaja õigused ja kohustused

3.1. Eraldise saajal on kohustus koostada ministeeriumi nõudmisel eraldise kasutamisega

seotud ülevaateid ja muul viisil anda aru eraldise kasutamisest ning projekti edenemisest.

3.2. Eraldise saajal on kohustus kaasata MKM esindaja lisas 1 nimetatud juhtkomitee

(Steering Group) kvartaalsetele koosolekutele ning tagada, et kaks korda aastas vaatab

juhtkomitee üle ja kinnitab projekti viimase kuue kuu progressi ning eeloleva kuue kuu

detailse tööplaani ja mõõdikute (lisa 2 key performance indicator, KPI) põhise eelarve.

3.3. Eraldise saajal on kõik vähese tähtsusega abi ja riigiabi andmisega seotud kohustused,

sealhulgas:

3.3.1. kanda vähese tähtsusega abi ja riigiabi andmed riigiabi ja vähese tähtsusega abi

registrisse;

3.3.2. säilitada vähese tähtsusega abi ja riigiabi andmisega seotud dokumente kümme aastat

alates päevast, mil abi anti.

3.4. Kui eraldise saaja täidab VÕS §-s 102 sätestatud teavitamiskohustust, kohustuvad

pooled kokku leppima järgneva 30 kalendripäeva jooksul edasise tegevuse ja muudavad

vajadusel lepingut.

3.5. Eraldise saajal on kohustus tagada auditeerivatele ja kontrollivatele ministeeriumi

ametnikele juurdepääs asjakohasele informatsioonile ning dokumentidele.

3.6. Eraldise saajal on kohustus tagastada projekti lõppemisel kasutamata jäänud eraldis

ministeeriumile hiljemalt 30 kalendripäeva jooksul lõpparuande kinnitamisest arvates.

Projekti ennetähtaegse lõpetamise või lepingu erakorralise ülesütlemise korral tagastatakse

kasutamata jäänud eraldise jääk punktis 4.6 nimetatud aruande esitamise tähtajaks.

3.7. Eraldise saaja kohustub välja töötama AIRE jätkusuutlikkuse mudeli perioodiks 2028+

vastavalt lisas 3 toodud tegevuskavale. Jätkusuutlikkuse mudel tuleb esitada kirjalikku

taasesitamist võimaldavas vormis ministeeriumile hiljemalt novembris 2026. a ja Euroopa

Komisjonile 28. veebruariks 2027.

4. Eraldise saaja aruanded

4.1. Eraldise saaja esitab ministeeriumile vahearuanded punktides 1.3.2–1.3.6 sätestatud

tähtpäevadeks ja lõpparuande 45 kalendripäeva jooksul pärast lisas 1 näidatud tegevuste

lõppemist, kuid mitte hiljem kui 15.10.2028.

4.2. Vahearuandes esitatakse: juhtkomitee poolt kinnitatud võtmemõõdikute (lisas 2 toodud

target KPI) progress, ülevaade tekkinud tööstusomandist ning juhtkomitee poolt kinnitatud

eeloleva kuue kuu detailne tööplaan. Kolmanda vahearuandega esitatakse täiendavalt ka

ülevaade eraldise kasutamisest projekti esimese 18 kuu jooksul vastavalt Euroopa

Komisjoni EDIH finantsaruandluse nõuetele, mis saavad osaks Euroopa Komisjoni ja

AIRE vahel sõlmitavast projekti rahastamislepingust. Lõpparuanne sisaldab ülevaadet

projekti võtmemõõdikute tulemuslikkusest, tekkinud tööstusomandist ning eraldise

kasutamisest.

4.3. Ministeerium annab eraldise saaja aruannetele hinnangu e-posti teel 30 kalendripäeva

jooksul aruande kättesaamisest arvates.

4.4. Kui ministeerium ei kiida aruannet heaks ja osutab selle puudustele, parandab eraldise

saaja aruannet ning esitab kahe nädala jooksul ministeeriumi hinnangu saamisest arvates

ministeeriumile parandatud aruande. Ministeerium annab parandatud aruandele hinnangu

kahe nädala jooksul selle saamisest arvates.

4.5. Kui ministeerium ei anna aruandele või parandatud aruandele hinnangut punktis 4.3

või 4.4 toodud tähtaja jooksul, loetakse aruanne ministeeriumi poolt heakskiidetuks.

4.6. Projekti ennetähtaegse lõpetamise või lepingu erakorralise ülesütlemise korral tuleb

esitada aruanne tehtud ja tegemata jäänud kulutuste ning tehtud ja tegemata jäänud

tegevuste kohta 30 kalendripäeva jooksul pärast projekti ennetähtaegset lõpetamist või

lepingu erakorralist ülesütlemist.

5. Lepingu erakorralise ülesütlemise tagajärg

Kui leping lõpeb lepingu erakorralise ülesütlemisega, on eraldise saajal kohustus tagastada

kasutamata eraldis 30 kalendripäeva jooksul lepingu lõppemisest arvates. Kui kasutamata

eraldist nimetatud aja jooksul ei tagastata, maksab eraldise saaja tagasimaksmisele kuuluva

eraldise summa jäägilt intressi määraga 6 kuu Euribor + 5% aastas. Intressiarvestuse

baasiks on tegelik päevade arv kuus ja 360-päevane aasta.

6. Projekti elluviimisel tekkiv intellektuaalne omand

6.1. Intellektuaalne omand käesoleva lepingu tähenduses on kõik intellektuaalse omandi

kaitsevormid kõikjal maailmas, sh aga mitte ainult, leiutised, patendid, mikrolülituse

topoloogiad, kasulikud mudelid, tööstusdisainilahendused, autoriõigused ja autoriõiguste-

ga kaasnevad õigused, andmebaasi tegija õigused, kaubamärgid, ärisaladus ja taotlused

nimetatud õiguste registreerimiseks.

6.2. Pooled eeldavad, et projekti elluviimisel võib tekkida eelkõige autoriõigusega

kaitstavat intellektuaalset omandit, sh tarkvara. Projekti osaks oleva teenuse Test before

invest AI demo projects (demoprojekt) pakkumisel kasutatakse sisendina ning luuakse

vabavaralist tarkvara, mis võimaldab demoprojekti tulemusi avalikustada ja vabalt

kasutada, sh ärilistel eesmärkidel (nt Apache, BSD või MIT litsentsi alusel). Eraldise saaja

avaldab demoprojekti mittekonfidentsiaalsed tulemused avatud teaduse põhimõtete

kohaselt ja teeb kättesaadavaks mõne avaliku koodihoidla kaudu.

6.3. Pooled eeldavad, et üldjuhul demoprojektis ei teki uut tööstusomandit (patendi või

kasuliku mudelina kaitstavaid leiutisi). Kui demoprojekti käigus siiski tekib kaitstavat

tööstusomandit, seisab eraldise saaja hea selle eest, et selle kuuluvus määratakse vastavalt

tööstusomandi autorsusele, sh autori ja tema tööandja vahelistele kokkulepetele. Eraldise

saaja tagab, et tööstusomandi omanik annab sellise tööstusomandi kasutamiseks huvitatud

isikutele litsentsi õiglastel ja mõistlikel tingimustel ehk turutingimustel, mis võib sisaldada

litsentsitasu tööstusomandi kaitsmiseks vajalike kulutuste katmiseks ja tööstusomandi

autoritele seaduses sätestatud tulu tagamiseks.

6.4. Demoprojekt ei mõjuta varasema tööstusomandi kuuluvust ning sellega seotud

kasutusõigusi.

6.5. Erandjuhul võib demoprojekti elluviimiseks olla vajalik varasem intellektuaalne

omand, mille sisend ei ole kättesaadav vabavaralise tarkvarana või mille sisend on kaitstud

tööstusomandina. Intellektuaalse omandi, sh tööstusomandi kuuluvuse ja kasutamise

tingimused sellises projektis räägivad pooled läbi eraldi, arvestades varasema

intellektuaalse omandi kuuluvust ja selle suhtes kehtivaid kasutustingimusi, samuti riigiabi

ja grupierandi reegleid ning sellise lepingu tingimused kooskõlastab eraldise saaja

eelnevalt ministeeriumiga.

7. Lepingu kehtivus

Pooled loevad lepingu pärast selle allkirjastamist sõlmituks hetkest, mil Euroopa Komisjon

allkirjastab AIRE-ga projekti elluviimise rahastamiseks asjakohase rahastamislepingu.

Pooled rakendavad lepingut tagasiulatuvalt alates 01.09.2025.

8. Lõppsätted

8.1. Eraldise saaja kontaktisik lepingu täitmisel on Katre Eljas [email protected] ja

MKMi kontaktisik lepingu täitmisel on innovatsiooni ja tehnoloogia osakonna juhataja

Paul Liias, [email protected].

8.2. Lepinguga seotud teated ja aruanded tuleb poole kontaktisikul edastada teise poole

kontaktisiku e-posti aadressile.

8.3. Eraldise saaja volitab oma kontaktisikut eraldise saaja nimel allkirjastama p-s 4

nimetatud aruandeid.

(allkirjastatud digitaalselt) (allkirjastatud digitaalselt)

Erkki Keldo Erik Puura

majandus- ja tööstusminister ettevõtlusprorektor

Lisa 1_projekti taotlus.pdf

Application forms

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Call: DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08 (EDIHs AI Continent)

Topic: DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08-CONSOLIDATION-STEP Type of Action: DIGITAL-SIMPLE

(DIGITAL Simple Grants)

Proposal number: 101256226

Proposal acronym: AIRE2 Type of Model Grant Agreement: DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based

Table of contents

Section Title Action

1 General information

2 Participants

3 Budget

4 Other questions

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

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1 - General information Field(s) marked * are mandatory to fill.

Topic DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08-CONSOLIDA

Type of Model Grant Agreement DIGITAL-AG

Type of Action DIGITAL-SIMPLE

Call DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08

Acronym AIRE2

Proposal title AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

Note that for technical reasons, the following characters are not accepted in the Proposal Title and will be removed: < > " &

Duration in months 36

Fixed keyword 1 Artificial Intelligence & Decision support

Fixed keyword 2 Manufacturing and processing

Fixed keyword 3 Big data

Fixed keyword 4 Human computer interaction

Fixed keyword 5 Sme Business Development

Fixed keyword 6 Cybersecurity

Free keywords AI for industry, digitalisation, European collaboration for AI, AI awareness raising, AI test-beds for industry, HPC for big data management, funding for innovation, technology investments.

Abstract *

AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE (AIRE, aire-edih.eu) as the only and AI focused EDIH in Estonia has had an impactful start from 2022 supporting 270 Estonian SMEs by triggering additional investments to AI and digitalisation by €62M (public and private funding), reaching out to 120 SMEs outside Estonia by March 2025 (mainly through webinars, awareness raising and match-making), collaborating actively with 27 EDIHs to build up cross-border collaboration services, reaching more than 1200 employees of the SMEs for skills and training and hosting about 3000 participants in the AIRE Club networking events to promote AI innovation for competitiveness in Europe. According to the survey “European Digital Innovation Hubs Network's activities and customers“ (2024), AIRE is ranked first among EDIHs according to the number of customers service units per GDP and per million of inhabitants. By March 2025, AIRE has offered 3159 unique services to clients reported to the EDIH platform. The mission of AIRE as an EDIH is to drive and promote AI innovation in Estonia, to be an active and agile European-level stakeholder in the field of knowledge transfer and awareness raising of AI innovation in collaboration with the EU AI Ecosystem partners, to foster economic impact and to reduce obstacles for large-scale AI investments. In 2025-2028, AIRE will focus on internationalisation of the well-received test before invest services and to support the SMEs in access to the EU AI Ecosystem and infrastructure (TEF, AI factories among others). Crucial focus will remain on a very popular EDIH service “Access to finances” that facilitates all other services to SMEs and the their willingness (courage) and knowledge to invest more to reach the ambitious objectives of European competitiveness (Draghi report 2024).

Remaining characters 195

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

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Has this proposal (or a very similar one) been submitted in the past 2 years in response to a call for proposals under any EU programme, including the current call? Yes No

Please give the proposal reference or contract number.

Previously submitted proposals should be with either 6 or 9 digits.

Declarations Field(s) marked * are mandatory to fill.

1) We declare to have the explicit consent of all applicants on their participation and on the content of this proposal. *

2) We confirm that the information contained in this proposal is correct and complete and that none of the project activities have started before the proposal was submitted (unless explicitly authorised in the call conditions). *

3) We declare: - to be fully compliant with the eligibility criteria set out in the call - not to be subject to any exclusion grounds under the EU Financial Regulation 2018/1046 - to have the financial and operational capacity to carry out the proposed project. *

4) We acknowledge that all communication will be made through the Funding & Tenders Portal electronic exchange system and that access and use of this system is subject to the Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions. *

5) We have read, understood and accepted the Funding & Tenders Portal Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement that set out the conditions of use of the Portal and the scope, purposes, retention periods, etc. for the processing of personal data of all data subjects whose data we communicate for the purpose of the application, evaluation, award and subsequent management of our grant, prizes and contracts (including financial transactions and audits). *

The coordinator is only responsible for the information relating to their own organisation. Each applicant remains responsible for the information declared for their organisation. If the proposal is retained for EU funding, they will all be required to sign a declaration of honour.

False statements or incorrect information may lead to administrative sanctions under the EU Financial Regulation.

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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2 - Participants

List of participating organisations

# Participating Organisation Legal Name Country Role Action

1 TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL EE Coordinator

2 TARTU ULIKOOL EE Partner

3 EESTI MAAULIKOOL EE Partner

4 SIHTASUTUS TALLINNA TEADUSPARK TEHNOPOL EE Partner

5 Tartu Science Park Foundation EE Partner

6 OU IMECC EE Partner

7 TALLINN UNIVERSITY EE Partner

8 ETTEVOTLUSE JA INNOVATSIOONI SIHTASUTUS EE Associated

9 EESTI ELEKTROONIKATOOSTUSE LIIT EE Associated

10 MTU EESTI KAUBANDUS-TOOSTUSKODA EE Associated

11 MTU EESTI MASINATOOSTUSE LIIT EE Associated

12 EESTI INFOTEHNOLOOGIA JA TELEKOMMUNIKATSIOONI L EE Associated

13 Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet EE Associated

14 TARTU LINN EE Associated

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Organisation data PIC

999842536

Legal name

TALLINNA TEHNIKAÜLIKOOL

Short name: TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 19086

Street EHITAJATE TEE 5

Country Estonia

Webpage www.taltech.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ yes

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... yes

Research organisation ........................................ yes

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 31/12/2015 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ 31/12/2015 - no

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name AI & Robotics centre AIRE

Street EHITAJATE TEE 5

Town TALLINN

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 19086

Department 2

Department name School of Information technologies

Street EHITAJATE TEE 5

Town TALLINN

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 19086

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Department 3

Department name Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Street EHITAJATE TEE 5

Town TALLINN

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 19086

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

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Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Main contact person

The name and e-mail of contact persons are read-only in the administrative form, only additional details can be edited here. To give access rights and basic contact details of contact persons, please go back to step - Manage your related parties of the submission wizard and save the changes.

First name Katre Last name Eljas

E-Mail [email protected]

Town Tallinn Post code 12618

Street Raja 15

Website www.taltech.ee

Position in org. Chief Operations Officer

Department AI and Robotics Centre (AIRE)

Phone +3725211994 Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Mrs

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

Other contact persons

First Name Last Name E-mail Phone

Annela Hendrikson [email protected] +37253938948

Riina Rohumäe [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Evelin Ebruk [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Reet Pärgmäe [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Marika Lunden [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Siim Läänelaid [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Kirke Maar [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 9 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

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Short name UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

PIC

999895013

Legal name

TARTU ULIKOOL

Short name: UNIVERSITY OF TARTU Address

Town TARTU

Postcode 50090

Street ULIKOOLI 18

Country Estonia

Webpage www.ut.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ yes

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... yes

Research organisation ........................................ yes

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 13/03/2025 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 10 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Institute of Technology

Street Nooruse 1

Town Tartu

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 50411

Department 2

Department name Institute of Computer Science

Street Narva mnt 18

Town Tartu

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 51009

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 11 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name UNIVERSITY OF TARTU

Main contact person

First name Kirsi Last name Zirel

E-Mail [email protected]

Town Tartu Post code 50411

Street Nooruse 1

Website Please enter website

Position in org. project assistant

Department Institute of Technology

Phone +xxx xxxxxxxxx Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Ms

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

Other contact persons

First Name Last Name E-mail Phone

Mari-Anne Suurpere [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Alvo Aabloo [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Helen Jõesaar [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Laura Tomson [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 12 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ESTONIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES EMU

PIC

999857280

Legal name

EESTI MAAULIKOOL

Short name: ESTONIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES EMU Address

Town TARTU

Postcode 51014

Street KREUTZWALDI 1

Country Estonia

Webpage www.emu.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ yes

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... yes

Research organisation ........................................ yes

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 07/08/2008 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ 07/08/2008 - no

SME validation sme .............................................. 07/08/2008 - no

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 13 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ESTONIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES EMU

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Institute of Forestry and Engineering

Street F. R. Kreutzwaldi 56

Town Tartu

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 51006

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 14 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ESTONIAN UNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCES EMU

Main contact person

First name Marten Last name Madissoo

E-Mail [email protected]

Town Tartu Post code 51006

Street F. R. Kreutzwaldi 56

Website https://mi.emu.ee/en

Position in org. Assistant Professor of Manufacturing Engineering

Department Institute of Forestry and Engineering

Phone +372 55617070 Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Prof.

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

Other contact persons

First Name Last Name E-mail Phone

Kerli Plato [email protected] +372 7313333

Anne Siilbek [email protected] +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Margus Arak [email protected] +372 56 54445

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 15 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN SCIENCE PARK TEHNOPOL

PIC

999764257

Legal name

SIHTASUTUS TALLINNA TEADUSPARK TEHNOPOL

Short name: TALLINN SCIENCE PARK TEHNOPOL Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 12618

Street TEADUSPARAGI 6/1

Country Estonia

Webpage www.tehnopol.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 31/12/2018 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ 31/12/2018 - no

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 16 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN SCIENCE PARK TEHNOPOL

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Business Services for Scaleups

Street Mäealuse 2/4, Tallinn

Town Tallinn

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 12618

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 17 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN SCIENCE PARK TEHNOPOL

Main contact person

First name Rauno Last name Varblas

E-Mail [email protected]

Town Tallinn Post code 12618

Street Mäealuse 2/4, Tallinn

Website https://www.tehnopol.ee/en/

Position in org. Head of AI

Department Business Services for Scaleups

Phone +37258638322 Phone 2 +37256800200

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Mr

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 18 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TARTU SCIENCE PARK FOUNDATION TSP

PIC

998505391

Legal name

Tartu Science Park Foundation

Short name: TARTU SCIENCE PARK FOUNDATION TSP Address

Town Tartu

Postcode 50411

Street RIIA TN 181A

Country Estonia

Webpage www.sciencepark.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 19 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TARTU SCIENCE PARK FOUNDATION TSP

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 20 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TARTU SCIENCE PARK FOUNDATION TSP

Main contact person

First name Ingrid Last name Hunt

E-Mail [email protected]

Town Tartu Post code 50411

Street RIIA TN 181A

Website www.teaduspark.ee

Position in org. Project Manager

Department Tartu Science Park Foundation

Phone +3725125298 Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Ms

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 21 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name OU IMECC

PIC

940824244

Legal name

OU IMECC

Short name: OU IMECC Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 13517

Street EHITAJATE TEE 108, MUSTAMAE LINNAOS HARJU M

Country Estonia

Webpage www.imecc.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... no

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 31/12/2015 - yes

SME self-assessment ............................................ 31/12/2015 - yes

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 22 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name OU IMECC

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 23 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name OU IMECC

Main contact person

First name Kaia Last name Lõun

E-Mail [email protected]

Town TALLINN Post code 13517

Street EHITAJATE TEE 108, MUSTAMAE LINNAOS HARJU MAAKOND

Website www.imecc.ee

Position in org. project expert, financial manager

Department OU IMECC

Phone +3726727744 Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Dr

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 24 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY

PIC

999421653

Legal name

TALLINN UNIVERSITY

Short name: TALLINN UNIVERSITY Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 10120

Street Narva Road 25

Country Estonia

Webpage www.tlu.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ yes

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... yes

Research organisation ........................................ yes

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 13/01/2022 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 25 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name School of Digital Technologies

Street Narva mnt 25

Town Tallinn

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 10120

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 26 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TALLINN UNIVERSITY

Main contact person

First name Mustafa Last name Can Özdemir

E-Mail [email protected]

Town TALLINN Post code 10120

Street Narva Road 25

Website https://www.tlu.ee/en/dt

Position in org. Guest Lecturer & PhD Candidate

Department School of Digital Technologies

Phone +37257828222 Phone 2 +xxx xxxxxxxxx

Gender Woman Man Non BinaryTitle Mr

Same as proposing organisation's address

Country Estonia

Same as organisation name

Other contact persons

First Name Last Name E-mail Phone

Ingrid Hindrikson [email protected] +3725074225

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 27 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ETTEVOTLUSE JA INNOVATSIOONI SIHTASUTU

PIC

971995291

Legal name

ETTEVOTLUSE JA INNOVATSIOONI SIHTASUTUS

Short name: ETTEVOTLUSE JA INNOVATSIOONI SIHTASUTUS Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 11415

Street SEPISE 7

Country Estonia

Webpage https://eas.ee/

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 28 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ETTEVOTLUSE JA INNOVATSIOONI SIHTASUTU

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Department of Innovation and Startups

Street SEPISE 7

Town TALLINN

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 11415

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 29 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name Estonian Electronics Industries Association

PIC

936875568

Legal name

EESTI ELEKTROONIKATOOSTUSE LIIT

Short name: Estonian Electronics Industries Association Address

Town Tallinn

Postcode 12618

Street Akadeemia tee 23

Country Estonia

Webpage www.estonianelectronics.eu

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 30 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name Estonian Electronics Industries Association

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 31 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ESTONIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND IND

PIC

999937111

Legal name

MTU EESTI KAUBANDUS-TOOSTUSKODA

Short name: ESTONIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 10130

Street TOOM KOOLI 17

Country Estonia

Webpage www.koda.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 32 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ESTONIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND IND

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 33 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name MTU EESTI MASINATOOSTUSE LIIT

PIC

920669778

Legal name

MTU EESTI MASINATOOSTUSE LIIT

Short name: MTU EESTI MASINATOOSTUSE LIIT Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 12618

Street KADAKA TEE 72A

Country Estonia

Webpage www.emliit.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 10/03/1997 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 34 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name MTU EESTI MASINATOOSTUSE LIIT

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 35 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ITL

PIC

935207556

Legal name

EESTI INFOTEHNOLOOGIA JA TELEKOMMUNIKATSIOONI LIIT

Short name: ITL Address

Town TALLINN

Postcode 11415

Street LOOTSA 2B

Country Estonia

Webpage www.itl.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 36 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name ITL

Departments carrying out the proposed work

No department involved

Department name Name of the department/institute carrying out the work.

Street Please enter street name and number.

Town Please enter the name of the town.

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Please select a country

Postcode Area code.

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 37 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet

PIC

949790342

Legal name

Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet

Short name: Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet Address

Town Tallinn

Postcode 15199

Street Vabaduse väljak 7

Country Estonia

Webpage www.tourism.tallinn.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ no

Non-profit ............................................................... no

International organisation ................................ unknown

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... unknown

Research organisation ........................................ unknown

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is unknown (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... unknown

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. unknown

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 38 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Centre for Entrepreneurship

Street Vabaduse väljak 7

Town Tallinn

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 15199

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 39 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TARTU CITY

PIC

996380024

Legal name

TARTU LINN

Short name: TARTU CITY Address

Town TARTU

Postcode 50089

Street RAEKODA

Country Estonia

Webpage www.tartu.ee

Specific Legal Statuses

Legal person .......................................................... yes

Public body ............................................................ yes

Non-profit ............................................................... yes

International organisation ................................ no

Secondary or Higher education establishment ...... no

Research organisation ........................................ no

SME Data

Based on the below details from the Participant Registry the organisation is not an SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) for the call.

SME self-declared status...................................... 01/01/1900 - no

SME self-assessment ............................................ unknown

SME validation sme .............................................. 01/01/1900 - no

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 40 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

Short name TARTU CITY

Departments carrying out the proposed work

Department 1

Department name Entrepreneurship Service

Street RAEKODA

Town TARTU

Same as proposing organisation's address

not applicable

Country Estonia

Postcode 50089

Links with other participants

Type of link Participant

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Application forms

Page 41 of 45

Proposal ID 101256226

Acronym AIRE2

PG ver 1.00 20250220 Last saved 13/05/2025 13:27

3 - Budget ?

No. Name of beneficiary

Country Role Personnel costs - without

volunteers/

EUR

Subcontracting costs/

EUR

Purchase costs - Travel and

subsistence/

EUR

Purchase costs - Equipment/

EUR

Purchase costs - Other goods,

works and services/

EUR

Internally invoiced goods

and services

EUR

Indirect costs/

EUR

Total eligible costs/

EUR

Ineligible costs/

EUR

Total estimated project costs and

contributions/

EUR

Funding rate Maximum EU contribution to eligible costs/

EUR

Requested EU contribution to eligible costs/

EUR

Max grant amount/

EUR

Income generated by the

project/

EUR

In kind contributions/

EUR

Financial contributions/

EUR

Own resources/

EUR

Total estimated project income/

EUR

1 Tallinna Tehnikaülikool EE Coordinator 1 966 603 186 271 52 088 0 218 012 0 169 608.18 2 592 582.18 0 2 592 582.18 50 1 296 291.09 1 166 661.88 1 166 661.88 0.00 0.00 1 425 920.09 0.00 2 592 581.97

2 Tartu Ulikool EE Partner 922 246 21 000 22 000 0 103 000 8 000 75 337.22 1 151 583.22 0 1 151 583.22 50 575 791.61 518 212.45 518 212.45 0.00 0.00 633 370.77 0.00 1 151 583.22

3 Eesti Maaulikool EE Partner 191 129 0 4 644 0 21 154 0 15 184.89 232 111.89 0 232 111.89 50 116 055.95 104 450.35 104 450.35 0.00 0.00 127 661.54 0.00 232 111.89

Sihtasutus Tallinna

Teaduspark Tehnopol

EE Partner 428 765 28 431 27 350 0 22 000 0 35 458.22 542 004.22 0 542 004.22 50 271 002.11 243 902.00 243 902.00 0.00 0.00 298 102.44 0.00 542 004.44

5 Tartu Science Park Foundation EE Partner 477 845 0 27 000 0 31 000 0 37 509.15 573 354.15 0 573 354.15 50 286 677.08 258 009.37 258 009.37 0.00 0.00 315 344.78 0.00 573 354.15

6 Ou Imecc EE Partner 227 722 0 3 000 0 2 245 0 16 307.69 249 274.69 0 249 274.69 50 124 637.35 112 173.61 112 173.61 0.00 0.00 137 101.08 0.00 249 274.69

7 Tallinn University EE Partner 101 701 0 3 000 0 1 500 0 7 434.07 113 635.07 0 113 635.07 50 56 817.54 51 135.79 51 135.79 0.00 0.00 62 499.30 0.00 113 635.09

8 Ettevotluse Ja Innovatsiooni

Sihtasutus EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

9 Eesti

Elektroonikatoo stuse Liit

EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

10 Mtu Eesti

Kaubandus- toostuskoda

EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

11 Mtu Eesti

Masinatoostuse Liit

EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Eesti Infotehnoloogia

Ja Telekommunika

tsiooni Liit

EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

13 Tallinna Ettevõtlusamet EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

14 Tartu Linn EE Associated 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00 0 0.00 50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Total 4 316 011 235 702 139 082 0 398 911 8 000 356 839.42 5 454 545.42 0 5 454 545.42 2 727 272.73 2 454 545.45 2 454 545.45 0.00 0.00 3 000 000.00 0.00 5 454 545.45

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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Proposal ID 101256226

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4 - Other questions

Ethics Issues Table

1. Human embryonic stem cells and human embryos Page

Does this activity involve human embryonic stem cells (hESCs)? Yes No

Does this activity involve the use of human embryos? Yes No

2. Humans Page

Does this activity involve human participants? Yes No

Does this activity involve interventions (physical also including imaging technology, behavioural treatments, tracking and tracing etc.) on the study participants? Yes No

3. Human cells / tissues Page

Does this activity involve the use of human cells or tissues (not covered by section 1)? Yes No

4. Personal data Page

Does this activity involve processing of personal data? Yes No 44

Does it involve the processing of special categories of personal data (e.g. sexual lifestyle, ethnicity, genetic, biometric and health data, political opinion, religious or philosophical beliefs)?

Yes No

Does it involve processing of genetic, biometric or health data? Yes No

Does it involve profiling, systematic monitoring of individuals, or processing of large scale of special categories of data or intrusive methods of data processing (such as, surveillance, geolocation tracking etc.)?

Yes No

Does this activity involve further processing of previously collected personal data (including use of preexisting data sets or sources, merging existing data sets)? Yes No

Is it planned to export personal data from the EU to non-EU countries? Yes No

Is it planned to import personal data from non-EU countries into the EU or from a non-EU country to another non-EU country? Yes No

Does this activity involve the processing of personal data related to criminal convictions or offences? Yes No

5. Animals Page

Does this activity involve animals? Yes No

6. Non-EU countries Page

Will some of the activities be carried out in non-EU countries? Yes No

In case non-EU countries are involved, do the activities undertaken in these countries raise potential ethics issues? Yes No

It is planned to use local resources (e.g. animal and/or human tissue samples, genetic material, live animals, human remains, materials of historical value, endangered fauna or flora samples, etc.)?

Yes No

Is it planned to import any material (other than data) from non-EU countries into the EU or from a non-EU country to another non-EU country? For data imports, see section 4.

Yes No

Is it planned to export any material (other than data) from the EU to non-EU countries? For data exports, see section 4. Yes No

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

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7. Environment, health and safety Page

Does this activity involve the use of substances or processes that may cause harm to the environment, to animals or plants (during the implementation of the activity or further to the use of the results, as a possible impact)?

Yes No

Does this activity involve the use of substances or processes that may cause harm to humans, including those performing the activity (during the implementation of the activity or further to the use of the results, as a possible impact)?

Yes No

8. Artificial intelligence Page

Does this activity involve the development, deployment and/or use of Artificial Intelligence- based systems? if yes, detail in the self-assessment whether that could raise ethical concerns related to human rights and values and detail how this will be addressed.

Yes No

9. Other ethics issues Page

Are there any other ethics issues that should be taken into consideration? Yes No

I confirm that I have taken into account all ethics issues above and that, if any ethics issues apply, I will complete the ethics self-assessment as described in the guidelines How to Complete your Ethics Self-Assessment

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Ethics Self-Assessment

Ethical dimension of the objectives, methodology and likely impact

Ethical dimension of the objectives, methodology and likely impact The AIRE project involves human participants in several planned activities that may include the collection and processing of personal data. The ethical considerations primarily arise from the following types of engagement: 1. AI awareness-raising and training sessions, as well as feedback collection through face-to-face interviews and assessments with SMEs and public sector stakeholders. While most data will be non-sensitive and processed anonymously, some sessions may involve collecting personal information such as job roles or industry sectors to tailor support services. Appropriate informed consent procedures will be used, and data minimisation principles will be applied (D1.2 Data Management Plan). 2. Piloting and demonstration activities (test-before-invest) in manufacturing and related sectors, including edge-AI and federated service integrations. In some cases, these pilots may involve the testing of AI tools that process personal data (e.g. video analysis, employee feedback, or workflow tracking). Such pilots will comply with GDPR. All participants will be informed and consent will be obtained prior to participation. 3. Cross-border collaboration and matchmaking services, where SMEs’ representatives may be connected to other European stakeholders. Only necessary professional data (e.g. name, role, email) will be exchanged under clearly defined data sharing agreements. AIRE’s client management system complies with EU data protection regulations and safeguards confidentiality and security of information. The potential ethical risks are mitigated through robust governance measures: AIRE’s services are designed in compliance with the EU AI Act. For any health sector pilot or AI tools interacting with sensitive populations, ethical committee approvals and national legal compliance will be ensured. Furthermore, the AIRE team includes experts trained in ethical AI and data protection. Overall, the project respects fundamental rights, promotes responsible and human-centric AI, and contributes positively to the ethical deployment of digital technologies in SMEs. No vulnerable groups are directly targeted, or negative environmental impact created and all data processing will be done with transparency and accountability.

Remaining characters 2675

Compliance with ethical principles and relevant legislation

Compliance with ethical principles and relevant legislation The AIRE project fully adheres to the highest ethical standards and will ensure that all activities are carried out in accordance with EU and national legislation, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and relevant regulations such as the EU AI Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). All services involving data collection or processing (e.g. skills trainings, surveys, test- before-invest pilots) will be conducted with full transparency, informed consent, and clear documentation (principles will be laid down in D1.2 Data Management Plan). Where medical pilots or sensitive data processing are involved, the project will apply procedures aligned with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Oviedo Convention, and national ethical guidelines, including prior approval by competent ethics committees where required. Personal data will only be processed when necessary and appropriate safeguards will be in place. All AIRE activities take place within the EU, and no tasks are planned outside the European Union.

Remaining characters 3909

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Security issues table

1. EU Classified Information (EUCI)2 Page

Does this activity involve information and/or materials requiring protection against unauthorised disclosure (EUCI)? Yes No

Does this activity involve non-EU countries which need to have access to EUCI? Yes No

2. Misuse Page

Does this activity have the potential for misuse of results? Yes No

3. Other Security Issues Page

Does this activity involve information and/or materials subject to national security restrictions? If yes, please specify: (Maximum number of characters allowed: 1000) Yes No

Are there any other security issues that should be taken into consideration? If yes, please specify: (Maximum number of characters allowed: 1000) Yes No

Security self-assessment

Not applicable

Remaining characters 4985

2According to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015 on the security rules for protecting EU classified information, “European Union classified information (EUCI) means any information or material designated by an EU security classification, the unauthorised disclosure of which could cause varying degrees of prejudice to the interests of the European Union or of one or more of the Member States”. 3Classified background information is information that is already classified by a country and/or international organisation and/or the EU and is going to be used by the project. In this case, the project must have in advance the authorisation from the originator of the classified information, which is the entity (EU institution, EU Member State, third state or international organisation) under whose authority the classified information has been generated. 4EU classified foreground information is information (documents/deliverables/materials) planned to be generated by the project and that needs to be protected from unauthorised disclosure. The originator of the EUCI generated by the project is the European Commission.

This proposal version was submitted by Annela Hendrikson on 13/05/2025 13:27:06 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Digital Europe Programme

Application Form

Technical Description (Part B)

AI & Robotics Estonia 2.0 (EDIH)

Version 1

May 13 2025

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION (PART B)

COVER PAGE

Part B of the Application Form must be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded as PDF in the system. Page 1 with the grey IMPORTANT NOTICE box should be deleted before uploading.

Note: Please read carefully the conditions set out in the Call document (for open calls: published on the Portal). Pay particular attention to the award criteria; they explain how the application will be evaluated.

PROJECT

Project name: AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

Project acronym: AIRE2

Coordinator contact: Katre Eljas, Tallinn University of Technology

Email: [email protected], +372 5211 994

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION (PART B) .............................................................................................................................. 2 COVER PAGE .................................................................................................................................................................. 2 PROJECT SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 1. RELEVANCE ............................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Objectives and activities ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Contribution to long-term policy objectives, policies and strategies — Synergies .................................................. 7 1.3 Digital technology supply chain ............................................................................................................................. 10 1.4 Financial obstacles ............................................................................................................................................... 10

2. IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Maturity ................................................................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Implementation plan and efficient use of resources .............................................................................................. 15 2.3 Capacity to carry out the proposed work .............................................................................................................. 22

3. IMPACT ...................................................................................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables — Dissemination and communication ....................................................... 33 3.2 Competitiveness and benefits for society ............................................................................................................. 37 3.3 Environmental sustainability and contribution to European Green Deal goals ..................................................... 39

4. WORK PLAN, WORK PACKAGES, ACTIVITIES, RESOURCES AND TIMING ...................................................... 40 4.1 Work plan .............................................................................................................................................................. 40 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing .................................................................................................. 41

Work Package 1 ................................................................................................................................................... 42 Work Package 2 ................................................................................................................................................... 45 Work Package 3 ................................................................................................................................................... 48 Work Package 4 ................................................................................................................................................... 51 Work Package 5 ................................................................................................................................................... 54 Work Package 6 ................................................................................................................................................... 57 Staff effort (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) ................................................................................................................. 60 Subcontracting (n/a for prefixed Lump Sum Grants) ............................................................................................ 61 Purchases and equipment ................................................................................................................................... 62 Other cost categories ........................................................................................................................................... 64 Timetable ............................................................................................................................................................. 64

5. OTHER ....................................................................................................................................................................... 66

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

5.1 Ethics .................................................................................................................................................................... 66 5.2 Security ................................................................................................................................................................. 66

6. DECLARATIONS ....................................................................................................................................................... 66 ANNEXES ......................................................................................................................................................................... 67

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PROJECT SUMMARY

Project summary

See Abstract (Application Form Part A).

#§PRJ-SUM-PS§# #@REL-EVA-RE@# #@PRJ-OBJ-PO@#

1. RELEVANCE

1.1 Objectives and activities

Objectives and activities Describe how the project is aligned with the objectives and activities as described in the Call document. How does the project address the general objectives and themes and priorities of the call? What is the project’s contribution to the overall Digital Europe Programme objectives?

Based on AIRE EDIH 2022-2025 period, AI & Robotics Estonia EDIH (AIRE) (Project Acronym 2022 - 2025: AIRE, Project ID 101083677) has had an impactful start supporting local SME clients by triggering additional investments by €62M with public and private funding and piloted 54 test-before-invest demonstration pilots for validating novel artificial intelligence (AI) based solutions in manufacturing sector.

To boost AI innovation in Europe and reduce fear of failure in investing in artificial intelligence, AIRE has organised AIRE Club networking events, webinars and trainings for 3000+ participants, including 5 collaboration events with other EDIHs (4 webinars attended by 120 unique international SMEs and 18 EDIHs; 1 AIRE club event attended by 9 EDIHs outside Estonia). Established in 2021, AIRE EDIH’s brand is now clearly visible and known in Estonia, and local SMEs know to turn to AIRE as a first-line EDIH AI one-stop shop in Estonia for information about AI related activities and inquiries relating strategic direction in SMEs, mid-caps and startups.

The 2024 Draghi Report on European Competitiveness highlights the need to increase productivity and close the innovation gap across European SMEs and industrial ecosystems by accelerating the deployment of advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence. AIRE’s activities are targeted directly to mitigate these issues across sectors.1

AIRE is part of the action plan of implementing Estonia’s National White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and Data 2024–2030 strategies.2 The white paper aligns with European Union's (EU) Coordinated Plan on AI, European Data Strategy, EU AI Act and Digital Decade 2030, and AIRE is crucial contributor on Estonia’s behalf in activities regarding SME and research institutions collaboration. AIRE has by 2025 served 270 unique clients and has had participants from 1000+ private and public sector entities in cross-sector services (open-access services like AIRE club events and skills and training). With high participation rate of ecosystem and target group companies in AIRE’s services, the centre’s initial focus set on AI has been relevant for local SMEs looking for new technological solutions and investments.

AIRE is directly contributing to Estonia’s long-term digital transformation, aligning with TAIE Development Plan 2021-2035 and is included in Estonia’s research, innovation and local SMEs and mid-

1 The future of European competitiveness: Report by Mario Draghi 2 Estonia’s National White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and Data 2024–2030

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

caps development strategies. AIRE’s mission is to enable ethical and innovative AI uptake and with this, AIRE plays a key role in executing Estonia’s vision of becoming a globally competitive digital nation.3 As AIRE has set clear focus on becoming top-level service provider in EU and Associated Countries for local and EDIH network SMEs in providing services relating to AI, AIRE has developed a service package for clients supporting the participation in EDIH network’s and EU AI Ecosystem services. AIRE is also contributing to the Digital Decade targets4 by strengthening SME AI adoption and addressing digital maturity caps identified in the DESI 2024 indicators (Estonia’s 6.9% AI uptake among SMEs vs 8% EU average) where EU 2030 target is 75% of companies using cloud services, AI and big data.5 By offering test-before-invest pilots, skilling pathways, and EU AI technology uptake through dedicated services and cross-border networking, AIRE’s activities support measurable progress towards the DESI index objectives and framework. AIRE has created a service package that is directly contributing to EU’s AI global leadership course set with AI Continent Action Plan.6 AIRE, as EDIH, continues its activities in driving the digitalisation and automation with AI uptake in Estonian manufacturing and its related value chain companies by bringing together the core institutions and competences in Estonia in the related field: universities, science parks, research centres, clusters and unions, innovation centres, funding institutions and government entities (ministries). AIRE’s objectives are directly aligned with the EDIH2 objective to reinforce AIRE's and EDIH network’s long-term sustainability.7 AIRE is increasing the adoption of European AI technologies8 in SMEs and enhances national and EU strategic autonomy by scaling the uptake of EU AI technologies through the EU AI infrastructure (AI-on-Demand Platform). Through cross-border collaboration, AIRE actively contributes to the EDIH network’s cohesion and impact by sharing use-cases, tools and service models with EDIHs. Moreover, AIRE’s service model is designed to ensure long-term service continuity beyond the co-financing period through participation in national and EU calls, public- private partnerships (PPPs), and alignment with national digitalisation financing framework (Digital Agenda 2030). AIRE EDIH 2025-2028 objectives: 1) AIRE is supporting at least 250 unique clients (SMEs, mid-caps) through core service work packages: test-before-invest, skills and training, support to find investments, innovation ecosystem and networking. Out of these 50% (125 clients) of AIRE EDIH unique clients will be receive EU AI infrastructure (cross-border) services. 2) Ensuring that at least 36 clients use services from EU-level AI infrastructures, such as the AI-on- Demand Platform, AI Factories, and federated services aligning with GAIA-X (European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL).9 3) AIRE’s clients will trigger at least €100m from additional public and private investments into AI- based solutions in manufacturing and related sectors by offering consultations, road mapping and funding access services to stimulate digital transformation. 4) At least 40 EU AI Ecosystem stakeholders will participate in cross-border service collaboration with other EDIHs through service mapping, matchmaking and joint activities. 5) Raise the digital maturity of Estonian SMEs by 15% by 2028, by delivering Digital Maturity Assessments (DMA) to at least 150 unique SMEs and conducting 250 DMA sessions in total across AIRE’s service period. 6) Ensuring that at least 100 clients adopt EU-developed AI tools and technologies, including those available via the AI-on-Demand Platform, open-source European AI libraries, DEP-funded tools, and ethical, trustworthy AI models aligned with the EU AI Act and the Coordinated Plan on AI. All services and KPIs are a subject to be adjusted during the project implementation according to the market demand. Primary target groups of AIRE (Estonian and EU clients):

• Manufacturing industry SMEs and mid-caps (manufacturing industry expected up to 50% from all clients).

3 Estonian Research and Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy 2021–2035 4 Europe’s Digital Decade: digital targets for 2030 5 Estonia 2024 Digital Decade Country Report 6 AI Continent Action Plan 7 Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) 8 AIRE defines EU AI technologies widely: it encompasses AI systems, tools, and applications that are developed within the EU, aligning with the EU regulatory, ethical, and data privacy standards. These technologies emphasize transparency, human-centric design, trustworthiness, and sustainability, reflecting the EU's commitment to protecting individual rights and promoting digital sovereignty. Also, they leverage EU-based research, open-source frameworks, and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructures, supporting sectors from healthcare to manufacturing while ensuring global competitiveness. 9 European Association for Data and Cloud AISBL

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

• Related industry and value chain to manufacturing industry: logistics and transportation infrastructure companies, quality control providers, supply chain management, equipment maintenance providers, energy efficiency solution providers, ICT companies, etc.

• Defence industry, agricultural robots and farm robots, AI and robotics for health technology. • Start-ups and spin-offs in the field of AI (expected 20 clients). • SMEs from all other key economic sectors concerning AI Act awareness raising and AI

technologies made in Europe (expected from all economic sectors: 200 SMEs and 30 mid-caps). • Public sector entities (education institutions, public sector organisations) in networking activities

(such as AIRE Club event in Estonia and in Europe, webinars for awareness raising and dissemination).

• EU AI ecosystem and EDIHs’ customers across EU. AIRE is the bridging centre in Estonia for local clients expanding abroad, using EU AI Ecosystem and EDIH network services and adopting EU AI technologies (50 international clients).

Cross-border service delivery with other EDIHs: AIRE EDIH is highly motivated to provide service cross-border to other clients in Europe and help Estonian companies to access the entire EU AI Ecosystem (especially EDIHs, but also TEF, AI Factories, AI on-demand platform, AI Academy, etc). Target is 50% (125 clients) of AIRE EDIH unique companies that receive any services of EU AI infrastructure service (to be monitored via AIRE CRM).

During the 2022-2025 EDIH funding period, AIRE’s main target group – manufacturing industry, has been impacted by several crisis as COVID aftershocks, the Suez Canal obstruction, Russia-Ukraine war- induced energy crisis and supply chain disruptions, that have affected Estonian industry’s financial stability, operational continuity and competitiveness. The economic recession in 2024 was -0,3% and manufacturing industry revenue dropped by 7,1% between 2022 and 2023.10 Therefore, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications’ priority to focus the on automation and digitalisation in manufacturing industry with the uptake of AI-based solutions, has remained.11 To support the main target group inclusively, AIRE has included the direct value-chain ecosystem related to manufacturing industry in its primary target group – such as logistics, energy efficiency, ICT and quality control sectors – which are essential enablers of industrial resilience and green transformation. AIRE’s service package supports the testing and adoption of energy-efficient, AI-enabled solutions within these industries and hence, AIRE directly contributes to the objectives of the European Green Deal12, the EU Industrial Strategy,13 and the Digital Decade targets for sustainable and advanced production systems. AIRE remains cross-sectorial with supporting broader societal knowledge needs in AI domains in Digital Decade targets (AI skills; trustworthy, explainable and ethical AI) and Estonian AI-Leap programme.14 Including public sector in AIRE’s primary target group supports capacity-building actions under Digital Europe objectives.15 Primary target group activities targeted to EDIH customers across EU support directly the EU AI infrastructure service intake of Estonian and EU companies and enhances Estonia’s contribution to EU technological sovereignty.

Description of activities All AIRE’s services (WPs: test-before-invest; skills and training; support to find investments; innovation ecosystem and networking) are designed to align with the AI Act and increased specialisation in AI in EU via AI compliance and risk management advisory for SMEs (AI helpdesk) and support the uptake and implementation of trustworthy, explainable and human-centric AI via trainings, networking, and dissemination and communication activities (see Figure 1). Through accelerating the use of EU-level AI services (clients´ integration with AI-on-Demand Platform) and guiding clients to adopt EU-developed AI tools, technologies, services and facilitating SMEs access to GAIA-X compatible federated services, AIRE is increasing the visibility of EU AI infrastructure in Estonia. More detailed description of AIRE’s role in Estonian and EU AI ecosystem is described in Section 1.2. Furthermore, AIRE is continuing to contribute to the digital maturity growth in local rural area SMEs. Currently, 58% of the clients are located outside of the capital region, Harju County.

10 Statistics Estonia Industry Overview 11 Economic Growth Plan 2025 by Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications 12 European Green Deal targets 13 European Industrial Strategy 14 Estonia’s AI Leap Programme 15 Digital Europe Programme Objectives

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Figure 1. AIRE’s activities supporting the EU AI infrastructure

There are 12 services AIRE offers to its clients in 2025 - 2028. All AIRE services are directly targeted to achieve wider objectives of Estonian and EU strategies described above. Furthermore, all AIRE services are designed to support clients’ smooth journey in EU and Estonian AI ecosystem (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Services of AIRE

1) AI suitability assessment (T2.1) – includes on-demand intelligent robotisation suitability analysis, AI use-case lab testing and AI strategies. 2) Test before invest AI demo projects (T2.2) – pilots and experimentation supporting the validation of AI-based use cases in manufacturing and its related value chain sectors, provided by consortium partners’ labs and domain experts. 3) First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation (T3.1) – entry point service that is providing all AI-related inquiries, impact analysis of demo projects, road mapping and follow-up road mapping, consulting on EU AI technologies and Digital Maturity Assessments (DMA). JRC’s methodology is used by default with all clients and consortium partner IMECC’s methodology combined with JRC’s methodology is used for manufacturing companies. 4-5) Skills and training (T3.3, T3.4) – trainings, workshop events and webinars are organised tailored for primary target group needs and related to AI and data related skills development. 6) AI Act awareness & Toolbox (T3.5) – consulting companies on EU AI Act (footnote link) and assisting SMEs, mid-caps and startups with compliance tools in collaboration with AI Regulatory Sandbox. 7-8) Consulting on access to public and private funding (T4.2, T4.3) – consulting service for public and private funds. AIRE is maintaining updated funding lists from EU measures and local measures. Facilitating investor access through Estonian Business Angels Network (EstBAN) and helping SMEs trigger public-private blended finance. 9) Matchmaking service for the SMEs (including the promotion of EU AI technologies) (T5.2) – mapping EDIH services for clients. Hosting and visiting EDIH centres for building service linkages and promoting trustworthy EU AI technologies. 10) Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery (T5.3) – AIRE has signed Memorandum of Understanding’s (MoUs) with 14 and Letter of Intents (LoIs) with 4 EDIHs, with emphasis on continuing to build strong relationships based on primary target group needs with an aim to enable and deliver cross-border services (see Annex 7). AIRE is actively initiating collaboration and is looking to serve 125 international clients in its services (including awareness raising activities).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

11) Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem (T5.4) – matchmaking clients with EU AI infrastructure service providers and assisting them in entering cross-border collaboration agreements. 12) AIRE Club events (T6.5) – on monthly basis, networking events take place with all stakeholders for sharing experiences, AIRE’s test-before-invest use-cases and other AI-related experiences. Promotes funding and testing opportunities and creates a platform for respective participants for two-way communication. All services and tasks are described in Section 4. All services and KPIs are a subject to be adjusted during the project implementation according to the market demand.

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1.2 Contribution to long-term policy objectives, policies and strategies — Synergies

Contribution to long-term policy objectives, policies and strategies — Synergies Describe how the project contributes to long-term policy objectives of the call’s domain/area and to the relevant policies and strategies, and how it is based on a sound needs analysis in line with the activities at European and national level. What challenge does the project aim to address? The objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound within the duration of the project.

AIRE’s contribution to long-term policy objectives There are several recommendations by European-level strategies that Estonia must continue working on. The State of Digital Decade 2024 states ‘’Estonia shows great ambition to bringing the green and digital transitions together with the government aiming at ‘the greenest digital government in the world’ in its Digital Agenda 2030.’’16 Estonia needs to continue capitalising on opportunities presented by the green transition by integrating related initiatives into a wider framework’’ and empathises that ,,Although Estonia has already introduced green requirements into public procurement procedures, the country could develop a more extensive strategy that combines green and digital measures for the private sector.’’17 Thus, the Commission has two recommendations: 1) to continue developing a coherent approach to twinning the digital and green transitions and to promote improvements in energy and material efficiency of digital infrastructures, in particular data centres; 2) support the development and deployment of digital solutions that reduce the carbon footprint in other sectors, such as energy, transport, buildings, and agriculture, including the uptake of such solutions by SMEs. AIRE is committed to the European Green Deal goals by offering SMEs test-before-invest work package services that focus on the reduction of carbon footprint in manufacturing and its related industries: transport, smart environments, ICT and promotes green data infrastructures (i.e. sustainable edge nodes and low energy AI). AIRE has taken this domain as one of its strategic pillars and is aligning with these recommendations by offering testing and validating services for resource-efficient AI solutions in SMEs and mid-caps. The later have shown a lot of interest for such solutions in AIRE’s client base, especially in the manufacturing value-chain companies that provide solutions for the industry. Furthermore, AIRE is road mapping the clients for the use of green data infrastructures (local and EU), supporting the development of energy-efficient algorithms and guiding SMEs toward sustainable innovation practices. With such activities, AIRE’s service strategy aligns with twin digital and green transitions objectives.

The DESI 2024 index highlights two main caps in the Digital Transformation of SMEs for progression: 1) The share of SMEs with at least a basic level of digital skills (55.9%) remains below the EU average (57.7%) and 2) The uptake of advanced digital technologies is also below the EU average, particularly in the areas of data analytics (25.6% of companies compared to the EU average of 33.2%) and artificial intelligence (6.9% of companies compared to the EU average of 8%).18 AIRE is at the core of addressing these challenges by supporting SMEs and mid-caps across sectors with awareness raising and offering skills and training services for SMEs by relating the importance of the matter to local businesses’ long-term competitiveness. Additionally, AIRE’s redesigned services are directly supporting the uptake of the advanced digital technologies in the field of AI: AI-based data analytics, HPC for AI model training, federated and decentralised AI architectures, cloud-based AI services and cybersecurity measures essential for the deployment of trustworthy and secure AI systems. Furthermore, the DESI index showcases a continuously drastic performance falling short – the coverage of edge node implementation related to digital infrastructures in industry. This shortfall limits the Estonia’s capacity to support low-latency, real-time applications required for new digital services in manufacturing,

16 Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030 17 Council Recommendation on Economy, Budgetary, Employment and Structural Policies Estonia 18 Estonia 2024 Digital Decade Country Report

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mobility, health, and smart environments, which are the key domains for AI applications. AIRE is positioned to address this cap by facilitating demand-driven use cases through 1) strong collaboration with industry solution providers and local ICT and manufacturing cluster to co-develop and validate edge- enabled architectures; 2) test-before-invest pilots; 3) SME experimentations with edge-AI solutions through EU AI infrastructure. Such efforts are also aligned with Estonia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), which prioritises digital transformation of the private sector, including SME digital skills, AI solutions deployment, and regional innovation support.19 These are the areas where AIRE also serves as an implementation partner by offering services that directly contribute to Estonia’s national objectives. With this, AIRE directly contributes to the EU’s digital sovereignty objectives and supports the ambition of achieving full digital coverage under the Digital Decade targets. Furthermore, these efforts generate synergies with EU Data Strategy,20 Digital Europe Programme (DEP), Horizon Europe21 and IPCEI22 frameworks in advancing resilient and decentralised computing capabilities and bridging regional disparities in access to high-performance digital infrastructure.

AIRE is functioning as regional node of EU AI innovation ecosystem and is supporting the adoption of EU AI technologies via synergies created with AI Factories, AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities, AI on-Demand Platform, AI Regulatory Sandboxes and AI Skills Academy. More importantly, the core of AIRE’s awareness raising services, including the promotion of ethical and responsible AI and enabling green digital innovation, follow the human-centric and sustainable digital transition principles (Digital Decade). Local manufacturing and industrial companies are still at the core of Estonia’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications prioritisation strategy23 and AIRE is continuing the support provided to its main target group through green AI-based digitalisation solutions in manufacturing and its value-chain companies, resource efficiency and access to services in rural areas (European Green Deal). Synergies with collaboration partners and local/international organisations AIRE, as a national AI competence consortium, is uniting leading universities, science parks, and research institutions to accelerate green AI-solutions uptake in digitalisation and automation of the manufacturing sector and its related value chain SMEs.

Figure 3: AIRE’s collaboration ecosystem

Through test-before-invest services, AIRE enables SMEs and mid-caps to pilot and adopt novel AI solutions, including digital twins, predictive maintenance, Internet of Things (IoT) and edge node automation. The consortium partners ensure access to high-performance computing (e.g. LUMI and other AI Factories), scientific expertise, and related EU AI infrastructure, while supporting the testing and validation of scalable AI-based innovations that can be transformed across sectors. AIRE’s direct action steps link with the EU AI ecosystem, the Joint Research Centre’s (JRC) Innovation Radar

19 Estonia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan 20 European Union Data Strategy 21 The second Horizon Europe strategic plan 2025-2027 22 Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) 23 Estonia’s Economic Development Plan 2025

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framework, national and EU funding calls, support long-term impact via maintaining the centres sustainability and cross-border dissemination of use-cases. In Estonia, AIRE actively shares clients and directs them according to respective need between collaboration partners: Estonian Business and Innovation Agency, Federation of Estonian Engineering Industry, ICT cluster, Regional Development Centre’s Network, Environmental Investment Centre, The Estonian Employers’ Confederation, Estonian Chambre of Commerce and Industry, Industry unions. Internationally, AIRE has been building synergies with 20+ EDIHs across the network and has been an active participant in finding services in demand to its clients from EDIH synergies. Close collaborations regarding service exchange have been built with ARIC EDIH, FAIR EDIH, NN EDIH, ShiftLabs EDIH, Robocoast EDIH, to name the few.

AIRE has been supporting its clients with Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) services and is enhancing the EU-level cooperation through partnerships with EU AI innovation ecosystem platforms. For the implementation of reliable, trustworthy and ethical AI solutions, AIRE offers a cross-sectorial toolbox for all companies in Estonia in collaboration with the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs. Additionally, regarding synergies in EDIH collaboration, AIRE has been an active participant in Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs work group that has mutually signed a MoU for the upcoming EDIH2 period and committing to following activities: developing and offering joint services in areas such as digital twins and virtual testbeds for enabling companies to simulate and optimize manufacturing processes before implementation; conducting joint training activities in lessons learned, use-cases (i.e. webinars) and ecosystem events; support SMEs in expanding internationally by facilitating market access, international partnerships, and integrating them into the European AI ecosystem; continue to enhance competitiveness and sustainability within the Nordic manufacturing sector in line with the goals of the EDIH network. AIRE’s and Estonia’s expertise is available to EDIHs customers and AIRE has set an objective to serve 125 EDIH clients via activities set in the Annex 7. In EDIH collaboration, AIRE will contribute to a co-funded cross- border testing-and-validation project to boost cross-border initiatives. Activities towards this direction have been taken with ARIC EDIH that is looking for testing and experimenting use-cases within AIREs clients and is joining to Latitude59 startup event held in May 2025 in Tallinn. Additionally, AIRE has joined New Nordics AI Centre.24 New Nordics AI initiative is a collaborative effort to establish a Nordic- Baltic AI Centre focused on the responsible development and use of AI, whilst enhancing regional competitiveness and address societal challenges through increased regional cooperation and strategic investment.

Furthermore, AIRE is focusing on promoting and expanding its clients to uptake EU-developed trustworthy and secure AI-compliant tools (including federated infrastructures) that support the goals of EU Industrial Strategy, Coordinated Plan on AI, EU Data Strategy, European Green Deal, Strategic Technologies. The rooted GDPR practices will be thoroughly continued across all AIRE’s activities. Finally, as public-private partnerships (PPPs) form a critical pillar of AIRE’s long-term sustainability model: AIRE, industry stakeholders and public institutions ensure that services remain market-relevant, co-financed, and strategically guided after the initial EU support. AIRE has already formalized collaboration with financial institutions, corporations (ABB, Ericsson), and SME representatives through its Supporters Club, where private partners contribute financially and strategically to the centre's operations. PPPs allow AIRE to co-design services with end-users, secure long-term co- investments, and contribute to national public objectives (Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030) and the interests of private sector actors seeking AI-based transformation. The current feedback from stakeholders and collaboration partners to AIREs activities has been highly supportive and confirming the AIRE EDIH values. Thus, the continuing collaborations ensure that AIRE evolves as an anchored hub, fully embedded in Estonia’s digital innovation ecosystem.

AIRE’s sustainability and long-term value creation

Since AIRE’s creation in 2021, AIRE is established as an ambitious and agile AI centre that will operate globally and is sustainable by 2028+. AIRE is efficiently and transparently run competence centre that supports EU AI Innovation with state, EU support and private investments. To be globally competitive vis- à-vis US and Asia, European start-ups and SMEs need and will always need certain state aid to boost high risk and deep-tech AI innovation. AIRE EDIH aims to be an excellent and well-run partner for the Estonian state to support that mission by combining strategic state aid with private triple helix funding. By 2030 AIRE aims to include at least 30% of funding from private stakeholders.

24 New Nordics AI Centre

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Therefore, AIRE has been focusing on the long-term sustainability beyond the EDIH2 funding period and has included itself in several activities supporting this objective:

1) AIRE launched a public-private campaign to include private funding from spring 2024; 2) AIRE is seeking actively other public funds from state and EU for AIRE as a centre and for our

clients (including Horizon, DEP, Interreg, ERF, etc). Our consortium partners have other state and EU funding for AI innovation in about €50m, our clients (SMEs) have fund-raised €62m during 2022-2025.

3) AIRE joined ADRA consortium to strengthen collaboration with EU ecosystem;25 4) AIRE enables collaborative spaces that encourage cross-industry collaboration, serving as a hub

for knowledge sharing and idea generation. 5) AIRE as a strategic enabler and globally visible EDIH centre, brings global large corporations for

long-term entrepreneurship collaboration with universities (collaboration discussions with Lufthansa, Airbus, Siemens, ABB, Bosch, Volkswagen, FESTO, FASTEMS, KUKA, etc).

In order to drive innovation and economic growth, AIRE connects large global corporations with university research teams to work on specific technological challenges or explore new areas of innovation supported by private sector AI engineers.

Through additional funding, AIRE is building up its agile management structure: new positions for Innovation Manager, Business Development Manager and a new COO were hired in 2025 to build up a sustainable centre by 2028 based on the triple-helix governance model. In addition, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia is funding AIRE’s activities aligned with national priorities and Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs is hosting Estonia’s AI Regulatory Sandbox to support AIRE. The vision of AIRE 2028+ will be developed by M18 and presented in the sustainability plan.

For 2025-2028 and beyond, AIRE is currently preparing a financial strategy, combining participation in EU collaborative calls (i.e. Horizon Europe, DIGITAL, STEP), national innovation funding and growing private co-financing through AIRE Supporters Club. With these steps, AIRE ensures integration into Estonia’s digital innovation ecosystem and its continued relevance to EU-level policy goals.

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1.3 Digital technology supply chain

Digital technology supply chain Explain to what extent the project would reinforce and secure the digital technology supply chain in the EU.

This criterion might not be applicable to all topics — for details refer to the Call document.

Not applicable.

1.4 Financial obstacles

Financial obstacles Describe to what extent the project can overcome financial obstacles such as the lack of market finance.

This criterion might not be applicable to all topics — for details refer to the Call document.

Despite Estonia’s strong ambition in digitalisation and automation, substantial financial constraints persist in industrial innovation. Recent Analysis of Estonia’s Export and Competitiveness by the Ministry of Finance (2024) highlights systemic barriers in Estonia’s competitiveness among SMEs, including limited access to funding for technology-intensive business development and structural vulnerabilities in export performance.26 The report states that while the companies have shown growth in export market diversification, the access to capital remains a critical bottleneck, particularly in innovation-heavy sectors like manufacturing and electronics, where unit cost growth and supply-side pressures have eroded margins. Regarding the manufacturing industry’s value-chain (ICT, logistics, etc) that are also AIRE’s target group, ‘’The success of SMEs is possible if they are provided with access to funding and advisory services.’’ AIRE’s role continues to be strategically important as acting as an enabler of access to funding

25 The AI, Data and Robotics Association 26 Analysis of Estonia’s Export and Competitiveness by the Ministry of Finance (2024)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

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through guidance on EU and national funding options. In addition to the general financing constraints across industry, the analysis reports that ICT and electronics sector (CN85) – a key pillar of Estonia’s industrial exports – faces emerging structural challenges. The Ministry of Finance’s 2024 export competitiveness analysis also states that CN85 products (including electrical machinery, ICT, and telecoms equipment) accounted for 14% of Estonia’s total exports to the EU. While Estonia has retained or grown its market share in key trading partners such as Finland and Germany, the rising unit costs and competitive pressure from countries with lower production costs is exposing its positions. AIRE can further enhance competitiveness in CN85-linked industries by promoting the adoption of AI-enabled quality control, predictive maintenance, and edge computing in smart electronics production through funding measures and collaboration with banks. Additionally, regarding high-risk digital innovations, the mentioned analysis states that Estonian Government and EU funding programs should be more accessible and designed specifically for early-stage digital innovators. Such system should include grants, subsidies, or tax incentives for companies engaged in high-risk projects. The analysis further highlights that there is a need for financial institutions and investors to develop more tailored funding solutions that cater to the risks and timelines associated with digital, including AI innovations. AIRE, in collaboration with funding ecosystem stakeholders like Estonian Business and Innovation Agency and InnoTrepp (Estonia’s Innovation Staircase programme), have recently developed a framework 27 and platform 28 for local SMEs that help navigate the innovation funding landscape through structured readiness levels. Such ecosystem collaboration activities enable high-risk digital innovation SMEs to access available funding more efficiently and thus, reduce investment risk. This directly addresses the core criteria under EDIH2 call under enabling SMEs to overcome the lack of market finance for high-risk AI-based innovation.

The Council has also recommended that Estonia must ’Preserve nationally financed public investment and ensure the effective absorption of grants under the Facility and of other Union funds, to foster the green and digital transitions. According to the Commission’s 2024 forecast, nationally financed public investment is projected to increase from 5,8 % of GDP in 2023 to 6,3 % of GDP in 2024.’29 AIRE will continue with renewed practices and is aiming for clients to successfully trigger €100m during 2025-2028 period. AIRE will proactively identify and analyse upcoming funding calls from both national and European sources, focusing on programs aligned with its clients' needs and AIRE's areas of expertise (AI, robotics, HPC computing, digital transformation). AIRE will continue providing tailored client support, matching clients specific project requirements with the most suitable funding opportunities, including assistance with proposal writing, budget development, and navigating the application process. AIRE will also strengthen existing partnerships with kfey stakeholders, such as the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EBI), consortium partners, especially research institutions, and other EDIHs, to expand its network and access more funding opportunities. AIRE will effectively communicate the impact of its services and success stories to potential clients and funding bodies, showcasing the value proposition and return on investment.

To ensure a focused approach, AIRE is conducting targeted outreach to SMEs in specific sectors with high potential for digital transformation, particularly those companies ready to adopt AI. AIRE will continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of its funding support services, identifying areas for improvement and adapting to the evolving funding landscape. AIRE also helps leverage private investment through investor matchmaking, co-investment schemes, and collaboration with venture capital firms. Recognising the strong potential of public-private co-investment, AIRE facilitates investor connections and supports blended financing models. This enables SMEs to combine public grants with private capital, and accelerate the scaling of EU-made AI technology and ensuring long-term sustainability. AIRE has also worked on SME investment readiness by supporting early-stage de- risking through DMAs, advisory and financial planning tools, including newly developed AI-based return on investment (ROI) assessment tool. AIRE has developed a risk mitigation tool for all AI project planners that will help to plan and map out the required investment need for AI project implementation and calculate potential ROI, as it is essential for SMEs, mid-caps and startups to develop protective strategies and business models. AIRE has developed the tool on the Mixtral architecture for local and EU businesses to support calculating ROI for AI project funding, implementation and adoption. This tool will be open to use for all EDIHs clients across Europe.

In response to financial and technological dependency risks, AIRE plays a key role in strengthening Estonia’s digital and industrial sovereignty. Many Estonian SMEs face funding challenges in adopting high-risk or frontier technologies, particularly when such solutions are dependent on costly or closed-source systems from non-EU providers. AIRE mitigates these constraints by promoting access to affordable,

27 Estonia’s Innovation Staircase programme 28 Platform for SMEs to navigate the innovation funding landscape through structured readiness levels 29 Council Recommendation on Economy, Budgetary, Employment and Structural Policies Estonia

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interoperable, and secure European technologies, and by supporting early-stage testing and adoption to de-risk investment decisions. AIRE facilitates the testing and adoption of EU-developed AI solutions and thus, directly contributes to reducing dependence on third-country vendors and proprietary systems. Through prioritising open-source, secure, and privacy-compliant technologies developed within Europe, AIRE promotes EU cloud and data infrastructures, including AI Factories and federated decentralised services (GAIA-X). With road mapping, AIRE strengthens the Estonian ability to design digital solutions (AI models, software architectures) and enables the deployment of these solutions via guiding to set up these solutions (e.g. cloud or edge services, integrate systems) and maintain them with scaling. Furthermore, AIRE contributes to technological resilience by enabling SMEs to adopt EU standards via EU AI-on-Demand Platform and advisory and thus, avoid vendor lock-in. To reduce the technological dependency risks, AIRE collaborates with Estonian and European providers of semiconductors, AI chips, and edge computing to reinforce the strategic autonomy of local target groups. With such mentioned actions, AIRE is aligned with the financing goals of Digital Europe Programme, the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), and EU AI and Industrial Strategy.

AIRE's is connecting Estonian SMEs with valuable cross-border funding opportunities through European programs (Digital Europe and Horizon Europe). AIRE's direct participation in European consortia and its involvement in those calls provide SMEs with a crucial gateway to required resources. By being part of these networks, AIRE gains inside knowledge of upcoming funding opportunities, eligibility criteria, and successful proposal strategies. This direct involvement helps Estonian SMEs through the complex application processes and enables them to secure funding to scale their digital solutions across EU markets. AIRE is also strategically positioning itself to cascade funding to SMEs through European programs, further amplifying its impact on AI-focused and growth-enabling capacities with EBI.

AIRE's activities, future and sustainability is fully and clearly integrated to national co-funding based on Estonian Research and Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy 2021-2035 and its action plans. In addition, AIRE has launched the triple-helix funding programme for private sector financing. The goal is to raise 30% of private funding by 2030. Current EDIH application activities for 2025 – 2028 are co- funded by the Estonian Government up to 55%. All AIRE services are subject to state aid.

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2. IMPLEMENTATION

2.1 Maturity

Maturity Explain the maturity of the project, i.e. the state of preparation and the readiness to start the implementation of the proposed activities.

The mission of the AIRE centre as the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) is to drive innovation and technological advancement in applying artificial intelligence, fostering collaboration between academia and industry, and positioning Estonia as a leader in these cutting-edge technologies.

Based on AIRE’s strategy, AIRE has outstanding ambition to:

• Be an active European-level stakeholder in the field of knowledge transfer of artificial intelligence (TRL levels 6+) in collaboration of European universities, science-parks, innovation centres and clusters.

• Foster economic impact - the goal is to double the productivity and added value in Estonia's SMEs (productivity boost through the digital maturity rate growth; reducing obstacles and growing knowhow and trust for large-scale AI investments).

• Drive awareness raising in the field of AI (including legal and ethical aspects of trustworthy AI).

In 2021, to establish AIRE centre, the preparation of services for EDIH started and first services were implemented with national funding. In 2022, after positive funding decision, AIRE started as EDIH centre in Estonia. In autumn 2022 AIRE launched seven services: (1) trainings and webinars, (2) Digital Maturity Assessment, (3) AI suitability assessment, (4) robotics suitability assessment, (5) demonstration projects, (6) finding sources of funding (public measures) and (7) finding sources of funding (private capital). By the end of 2022 AIRE was fully operational – management system was set up, procedures and roles were set up and described, client journey was mapped and described, integration of services was analysed and described, Advisory Board was set up and marketing strategy was laid down. Furthermore, to attract new customers and manage existing clients a comprehensive AIRE homepage was developed and Client Relations Management (CRM) system was set up. Management system involved six AIRE consortium

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partners, coordinated by Tallinn University of Technology. Having said this, AIRE is fully prepared and ready for offering EDIH services 2025 – 2028.

The main achievements of AIRE during 2022 – 2025 consist of:

• AIRE has more than 270 unique clients; • More than 2200 participants have taken part of AIRE monthly clubs; • More than 1200 people have participated in trainings; • 61 test before invest demo projects have been carried out; • Collaboration established with key EDIH centres (10 centres selected for cross-border service

provision from 2024); • AIRE’s clients have triggered additional investments about €62m and with pending applications

about €2,5m, and according to market research within industrial companies, the investment growth has risen 10% during 2024 (The Swedbank 2025 Industrial Enterprise Report);

• AIRE is one of the first EDIHs in Europe in terms of its performance (customer reach and service delivery);

• AIRE is ranked first among EDIHs according to the number of customers per GDP30; • AIRE's digital maturity assessments have led to a measurable increase (up to 18%) in the digital

maturity levels of participating SMEs; • AIRE has played a key role in fostering a digital innovation ecosystem in Estonia, bringing

together technology providers, research institutions, investors, and end-users to collaborate and drive innovation. The direct link made between growing university collaborations (29% in year 2024) and AIRE's activities is a powerful indicator of AIRE's success. This demonstrates AIRE's ability to connect businesses with the research expertise needed to drive innovation;

• AIRE's insights and expertise make AIRE an important contributor to policy discussions and a respected voice in shaping the future of Estonian an industry;

• AIRE’s clients have participated in broader international collaboration via 3 EDIHs (client MindChip: ARIC EDIH – IP consultancy, NN EDIH – autonomous ferry development; client 5.0Robotics – CeADAR EDIH – clients’ product as service in EDIHs new consortium). Additionally, joint cross border service delivery includes ARIC, FAIR, ShiftLabs.

• AIRE’s successful service delivery and client management system has been a trailblazer for other EDIHs that have fort monthly service delivery and cross-border customer need discussions for related areas with: NN EDIH, AI Boost EDIH, FAIR EDIH, ARIC EDIH, Robocoast EDIH and Nordic Manufacturing EDIH group with 10 active EDIHs participating monthly.

The client journey at AIRE is designed to ensure a smooth and successful experience, from initial contact through to long-term support in their business optimisation journey. It focuses on understanding the client's unique needs, delivering customised solutions, and providing continuous support to maximise the value and impact of AI technologies. The client journey in AIRE follows a structured path designed to guide clients from initial contact through to several AIRE services. Here is a description of the typical AIRE client journey:

1. Awareness and Discovery – supporting processes: marketing, AIRE Clubs (Task 6.5), trainings/ webinars (Tasks 3.3, 3.4), First-line AI Helpdesk (Task 3.1), AI Act awareness (Task 3.5);

2. Engagement and Consultation - supporting processes: AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1), demonstration projects (Task 2.2), support to find funding (public and private) (Tasks 4.2, 4.3), matchmaking with SMEs (Task 5.2), collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery (Task 5.3), consulting SMEs on EU AI Ecosystem (Task 5.4);

3. Attending the Service and Customisation – supporting processes: AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1), demonstration projects (Task 2.2), support to find funding public and private) (Tasks 4.2, 4.3), matchmaking with SMEs (Task 5.2), collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery (Task 5.3), consulting SMEs on EU AI Ecosystem (Task 5.4);

4. Support and Follow-up – supporting processes: feedback process, Digital Maturity Assessment, EDIH and national reporting, client management, AIRE Clubs (Task 6.5).

30 EDIH Networks’s activities and customers

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Figure 4. AIRE’s client journey

AIRE uses an electronic CRM system to manage client relationships, ensuring efficient registration and tracking of client interactions. Consistent follow-up and support throughout the service lifecycle and personalised engagement is provided through dedicated client relationship managers. Furthermore, AIRE’s processes are transparent and consistent. There is clear documentation system in place - detailed overview reports are generated for each service. There is continuous feedback loop in place - client experiences are documented and reviewed to continuously improve service quality.

As AIRE has well-functioning management system in place, we will continue offering already established services since 1 September 2025. The key aspects presenting AIRE’s readiness to implement the project and offer services:

• Strategic vision and alignment - AIRE has clear strategy for 2025 – 2028, AIRE is integrated into national strategy documents (National Strategy “Estonia 2035”; R&D, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategy 2035; Digital Society 2030; White Book of Data and AI; AI Action Plan 2024 – 2026) and has good ties with ecosystem on operational level (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Justice, Estonian Research Council, Business Innovation Agency, Chamber of Commerce, Business organisations, municipalities and others). Also, AIRE has tight collaboration with 18 EDIHs across the Europe.

• Outstanding operational track record – AIRE service centre, management system and client management systems are well functioning, established connections with AI and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Estonia and Europe. AIRE focuses on advancing AI technologies at TRL 6 and above, facilitating collaboration between academia, science parks, industry clusters and businesses.

• Comprehensive service offerings – AIRE offers services to SMEs supporting them to increase competitiveness through digitalisation with AI technologies. During 2022 – 2025 AIRE has been offering nine services, and 12 services will be offered during 2025 – 2028. AIRE brings clear impact to its clients – during 2022 -2025 AIRE clients have triggered additional investments for about €62m, their annual expected turnover after investment would increase by 23%, cost saving by 26% and increase in added value per employee by 51% (based on AIRE’s own impact assessment provided in 2025).

• Collaborative consortium and ecosystem development – AIRE has well-functioning consortium led by Tallinn University of Technology. AIRE's consortium includes the University of Tartu, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tehnopol Science and Business Park, Tartu Science Park, and IMECC. For services 2025 – 2028 the consortium will be expanded by Tallinn University, who was so far been involved as associated partner. Thus, AIRE will continue with seven consortium partners. As said earlier, AIRE already has good connections with ecosystem players and we will actively foster public-private partnerships, bridging the gap between research and real-world applications, and enhancing Estonia's position as a digitally advanced nation.

AIRE's established infrastructure, strategic vision, and comprehensive service offerings position it as a mature and capable entity ready to implement EDIH services effectively from 2025 to 2028. Its alignment with national and European digital strategies ensures that it will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing AI adoption among Estonian SMEs and beyond. Furthermore, AIRE is looking for expanding its services beyond EDIH and is actively looking for collaboration projects with other EDIHs on

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cross-border services. Also, the aim of current business development activities is to find donors from business sector (large companies, commercial banks) as well as public bodies (i.e. municipalities) to offer wider range of services on AI and robotics. These activities and services will complement EDIH services and bears an aim of AIRE becoming a sustainable service centre.

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2.2 Implementation plan and efficient use of resources

Implementation plan Show that the implementation work plan is sound by explaining the rationale behind the proposed work packages and how they contribute to achieve the objectives of the project. Explain the coherence between the objectives, activities, planned resources and project management processes. Provide details (including architecture and deliverables) about pre-existing technical solutions.

AIRE functions as service centre with dedicated KPIs. AIRE’s services are aimed to accelerate the digital transformation of Estonian SMEs through the adoption of AI and robotics technologies, thereby increasing their competitiveness and contributing to the growth of the Estonian economy. A significant barrier to AI adoption among Estonian SMEs is a lack of awareness and understanding of AI technologies. WP3 addresses this barrier by providing targeted training and skill development programs. WP3 directly contributes to the project's objective by equipping SMEs with the knowledge and skills necessary to identify opportunities for AI adoption and develop effective technology strategies. This ultimately accelerates their digital transformation. WP2 (Test Before Invest) relies on the foundational knowledge established in WP3, ensuring that SMEs are well-informed before engaging in technology selection and testing. Investing in AI technologies can be a significant financial risk for SMEs. WP2 mitigates this risk by providing a 'test before invest' environment where companies can assess the feasibility and impact of specific AI solutions before making a full-scale investment. WP2 directly contributes to the project's objective by reducing the financial risk associated with AI adoption, enabling SMEs to make informed investment decisions, and accelerating the implementation of proven AI solutions.

While WP3 and WP2 cater to SMEs in the early stages of their digital transformation journey, it is crucial to provide growth opportunities for more digitally mature companies. Access to the EU AI Ecosystem unlocks opportunities for these SMEs to engage in cross-border collaborations, access specialized expertise, and tap into new markets, thereby accelerating their growth in the digital space. Therefore, we will expand our services with offering access to EU AI Ecosystem services (WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities). AIRE will facilitate this access through a multi-pronged approach: (1) a curated online platform providing a comprehensive directory of relevant EU initiatives and resources; (2) personalized consultations to identify the most suitable ecosystem services for each SME based on their specific needs and growth objectives; and (3) matchmaking events bringing together Estonian SMEs with potential partners and investors from across Europe.

By accessing EU AI Ecosystem services through AIRE, Estonian SMEs will benefit from: (1) increased opportunities to secure EU funding for AI innovation projects through facilitated access to relevant calls and proposal writing support; (2) expanded market reach through participation in European AI networks and platforms; (3) enhanced access to specialized AI talent and expertise through connections with leading research institutions and technology providers; and (4) accelerated product development through collaborative partnerships with other European companies. WP5 directly contributes to the AIRE project's overall objective of accelerating the digital transformation of Estonian SMEs by enabling them to leverage the resources and opportunities available within the broader European AI ecosystem. This aligns directly with the funding call's priority of fostering cross-border collaboration and innovation in the field of AI, as it facilitates the integration of Estonian SMEs into European AI networks and value chains.

Access to funding is often a critical bottleneck for SMEs seeking to implement AI solutions. WP4 addresses this challenge by providing support in identifying and securing public and private investment. WP4 directly contributes to the project's objective by removing financial barriers to AI adoption, facilitating investment in innovative AI projects, and accelerating the deployment of AI technologies within Estonian SMEs.

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Figure 5 AIRE service design to support companies on their path of technology adaptation

As shown on Figure 5 AIRE services are designed in a way that they support each other and generate holistic impact to its clients. The integrity of AIRE services is maintained through a well- structured and comprehensive approach that ensures quality, reliability, and alignment with client needs. The service design supports achieving the main AIRE goals and KPIs (both outcome and impact).

AIRE has structured service offering – AIRE services are interconnected and complement each other throughout the client journey. Each service is designed to meet specific needs of SMEs and Mid-Caps, ensuring tailored and effective solutions. Every service is custom-made. Before providing any service, the service lead conducts thorough check to ensure client eligibility and compliance with AIRE framework: SME status verification or Small Mid-cap check and state aid compliance.

Integrity of AIRE services is ensured through a combination of rigorous eligibility checks, structured service offerings, expert involvement, comprehensive reporting, and integrated client management system. This approach guarantees that AIRE delivers high-quality, reliable, and impactful AI solutions with modern methodologies tailored to the specific needs of SMEs.

As AIRE has well-functioning management system in place, we will continue offering already established services since 1 September 2025 (AIRE funding period 2022 – 2025 ends on 31 August 2025):

• AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1) • Test before invest AI demo projects (Task 2.2) • Trainings and webinars (Tasks 3.3, 3.4) • Consulting on access to public funding (Task 4.2) • Consulting on access to private funding (Task 4.3) • AIRE Clubs (Task 6.5)

In addition, AIRE will launch new services (will be designed and launched after 1 September 2025):

• First-line AI Helpdesk (Task 3.1) • AI Act awareness and Toolbox (Task 3.5) • Matchmaking with SMEs (Task 5.2) • Collaboration with EDIHs on cross-border service delivery (Task 5.3) • Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem (Task 5.4)

AIRE implementation work plan is designed based on Estonian target group needs and state priorities in digitalisation and AI, EDIH Work Programme 2025-2027, Digital Europe Programme 2025-2027, EDIH handbook, EDIH webinar materials and FAQ of the call. The implementation plan below presents the main linkages between objectives and WPs; however, every WP is contributing to achieving of each objective.

Objective WPs and Tasks Planned resources

Objective 1 Increase in digital maturity of AIRE clients (KPI: 15%)

WP 1 Management: Task 1.1 Strategic management; Task 1.2 Organisation of the Advisory Board for test before invest; Task 1.3 Organisation

WP1 total budget €715 744,41 linked to all other WP-s to reach

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of monthly progress meetings with the consortium; Task 1.4 Progress and impact monitoring.

WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results: task 6.1 Development of the Dissemination and Communication Plan; Task 6.2 Implementation of the Dissemination and Communication Plan; Task 6.3 Updating the aire- edih.eu webpage; task 6.4 Client relations management (i.e. Website and CRM management); Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs

actual impact and investments

WP6 total budget €1 058 355,73 linked to all other WP-s to reach actual impact and investments

Objective 2 Number of clients using EU AI technologies (KPI: 100)

WP 2 Test before invest: Task 2.1 AI suitability analysis; Task 2.2 Test before invest AI demoprojects; Task 2.3 Integration of AIRE results with EU AI ecosystem

WP2 total budget €2 033 913,99 linked to all other WP-s to reach actual impact and investments

Objective 3 Increased number of clients in AIRE services (KPI: 250, 50% cross- border clients)

WP3 Training and skills development: Task 3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation; Task 3.2 Analysis of needs and the skills development plan; Task 3.3 Organisation of trainings; Task 3.4 Organisation of webinars; Task 3.5 AI Act awareness & Toolbox

WP3 total budget €841 930,57 linked to all other WP-s to reach actual impact and investments

Objective 4 Increased number of additional investments successfully triggered (KPI: €100m)

WP4 Support to find investments: Task 4.1 Funding roadmap development; Task 4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding); Task 4.3 Consulting on access to funding (private funding); Task 4.4 Preparation and submission of funding proposals for EU collaboration of EDIHs etc.

WP4 total budget €339 521,17 linked to all other WP-s to reach actual impact and investments

Objective 5 Number of clients using EU AI infrastructure (KPI: 36) Objective 6 Increased number of collaborations with EDIHs (KPI: 40)

WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities: Task 5.1 Strategic coordination of AIRE EDIH role in EU AI Ecosystem; Task 5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs (including for the promotion of the AI technologies made in Europe); Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery; Task 5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem

WP5 total budget €465 079,78 linked to all other WP-s to reach actual impact and investments

All services and KPIs are a subject to be adjusted during the project implementation according to the market demand. AIRE consortium partners have outstanding experiences and knowledge on AI related projects (see Annex 4). Furthermore, in order to build sustainable AIRE centre with strong ties with ecosystem, a number of collaborations with ecosystem partners have been launched (see Figure 6).

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Figure 6. Related projects and initiatives

According to Estonian RDIE (Research and Development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship) Strategy 2030 AI innovation is supported through various state financial measures managed by ecosystem partners, all actively included in AIRE consortium either as partners or associated partners (total of 14 partners). EDIH funding is an instrument and collaboration platform to boost investments into AI in a holistic way to increase Estonian and European competitiveness globally.

AI innovation is supported in various Estonian state research and entrepreneurship funding schemes (about €250m) where AIRE takes an active role to bring awareness to SMEs how to access funding: first, how to navigate in public funding schemes (applied research, product development, investments to technologies like robotics, acceleration support, funding for defence tech among others) based on company’s roadmap, and second, how to include private funding (equity, loans, etc). In addition to Estonian state funding targeted to our clients, AIRE’s consortium partners are actively involved in other AI schemes for ecosystem partners, like the Estonian Centre of Excellence in AI for globally known AI research (Tartu University and TalTech), AI Accelerator managed by Tehnopol, ESA BIC managed by Tartu Science Park, etc. AIRE is also involved and integrated into the Widening Teaming initiative initiated by TalTech in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology (2025 proposal stage) to build synergy. Negotiations are started with AI Sweden to include AIRE as the consortium partner to the new New Nordics AI centre for regional competitiveness. In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge that EDIH funding alone is not sufficient to boost AI innovation, it is extremely important to reach effective and open collaboration with the regional and EDIH ecosystem and collaborate together.

Project management, quality assurance and monitoring and evaluation strategy Describe the measures planned to ensure that the project implementation is of high quality and completed in time. Describe the methods to ensure good quality of monitoring, planning and control activities. Describe the evaluation methods and indicators (quantitative and qualitative) to monitor and verify the outreach and coverage of the activities and results. The indicators proposed to measure progress should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

The project governance structure is carefully designed to ensure sound project management and internal communication in the consortium, efficient monitoring of progress and quality control, as well as timely risk management and contingency actions. Regularity and efficiency of internal communication and clarity in the division of work at the level of specific tasks are crucial to ensure high-quality implementation of the project to reach the set objectives and complete the agreed deliverables on time. AIRE builds synergy and collaboration based on high-level competencies of seven partners: four universities, two science parks and one competence centre in AI, digitalization, business development (see Section 2.3 for the full list). In addition to service providers (partners), a wide list of associate partners is involved who also provide digitalization related serviced and take part of ecosystem development.

Successful implementation starts from efficient work at the level of WPs and involved tasks. Monthly WP progress meetings are held including relevant WP and task leaders to allow coordination between linked tasks. Quarterly Steering Group Meetings allow validating the progress with legal representatives of all partners. The Strategic Review Meetings assess annually the strategic process regarding all service areas, project KPIs and milestones. In addition, the Advisory Board (AB), which includes external experts

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who have excellent industry and policy expertise, will provide strategic guidance and input to the project via its annual meetings. Please see also the figure and additional information in Section 2.3 Consortium management and decision-making.

The above-described structure and procedures will allow keeping track of the developments regarding all planned activities and monitoring work progress throughout the process, taking account of any risks that might arise. Any issues arising will be solved at the appropriate level. Larger setbacks and potential problems with achieving key milestones will be discussed at the Steering Group meetings where the need of involving the AB will be decided.

Ad hoc meetings will be used to address any issues needing attention at any level of the project to take corrective action as soon as possible. The Project Coordinator (PC) will have the key responsibility for efficient and timely implementation of the project as well as ensuring quality and risk management; she will also initiate the ad hoc meetings and corrective actions as need be, negotiating these with all related partners.

The AIRE consortium is dedicated to the highest quality levels in all EDIH tasks. More specifically, the consortium will follow formal quality procedures defined in a jointly agreed Quality Plan developed as part of D1.1 Project Management Handbook which meets the needs of all partners and keeps in mind the needs of the EDIH target groups. The handbook will define communication and reporting procedures, templates for deliverables, project meeting agendas, meeting minutes as well as conflict resolution procedures. As outlined above, overall quality management responsibilities lie with the PC, which includes timely submission of high-quality deliverables. The PC will be supported by the respective Work Package Leaders to ensure a “four-eyes-principle” considering technical and formal quality checks.

A focused quantitative and qualitative progress review will be carried out annually in the context of the Strategic Review Meetings. In these meetings, qualitative evaluation of progress is carried out mainly based on a) WP leaders reporting on the extent to which objectives set to the WPs and specific tasks have been carried out; b) feedback gathered so far from the target groups related to services received (level of satisfaction).

On the quantitative level, the key indicators are the following (measured annually): 1. Min 85% of the foreseen tasks to be carried out that year (based on the detailed work schedule) have been carried out. 2. 100% of the target levels of the project´s KPIs (see section 3.1 Impact) agreed to be achieved that year have been achieved.

Concrete measures will be discussed and agreed upon at the Strategic Review Meetings to accelerate progress related to tasks where the results have been substandard or mediocre. The need for potential changes in any tasks will be discussed in the context of the Mid-term report (M18) to coordinate potential adjustments with the EC.

Cost effectiveness and financial management (n/a for prefixed Lump Sum Grants) Describe the measures adopted to ensure that the proposed results and objectives will be achieved in the most cost- effective way. Indicate the arrangements adopted for the financial management of the project and how the financial resources will be allocated and managed within the consortium.

Do NOT compare and justify the costs of each work package but summarize why your budget is cost effective.

The AIRE EDIH consortium has been assembled based on the cost-benefit logic so that we have 7 core partners and 7 associated partners, to balance between cost and benefits for the project. Also, all but 1 (IMECC) full partner are not for profit (IMECC is a competence centre). Core activities of the project are implemented by the partners without service markup costs. Yet, some activities are sub-contracted to avoid market disturbance and support competition and involvement of private sector and public-private collaboration (e.g. pool of AI mentors). AIRE WPs, tasks, budget and division of roles between AIRE consortium partners are all planned based on PM cost and service prices (see section 4 Workplan and Annex 6 List of KPIs) and each service output is measured with quantitative KPIs and procedures for cost effectiveness, as follows:

1. Service fees are calculated based on market prices, including all EDIH project management, administration, dissemination and communication costs and 7% overheads; 2. Cost type based detailed budget was planned with each partner and WP Manager; 3. Clear division of roles and KPIs between partners based on expected outputs of services and impact (KPIs as numbers of clients) is made to achieve all the objectives of AIRE; 4. All staff costs are budgeted based on each partner organisation’s internal rules and existing salary levels (person-month cost);

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5. All sub-contracting items are purchased in an open and sound manner according to tendering rules and procedures.

For each of the services in the below table, detailed unit cost planning was implemented. Similar analysis was done for all other services as well.

All KPIs are presented in Annex 6. Along implementation of the project, the beneficiary has right to adjust the KPIs according to the market demand.

Financial Management of the project is secured by: 1. Each partner appointing a person responsible for financial management to manage their budget and submit reporting to the PC; 2. Financial progress of the project will be monitored on monthly progress meetings; 2. Quarterly detailed financial reporting and annual financial reporting with full documentation (timesheets, copies of invoices, payment orders and all relevant accounting documentation and proof) to be prepared by the PC. 3. The support provided by the Estonian state to AIRE as EDIH is subject to State aid control (coordinated by lead partner TALTECH in cooperation with relevant state aid control institutions in Estonia (including de minimis amount registered in the state registry); 4. An experienced Project Manager, Financial Manager and Chief Operations Officer coordinate and monitor the allocation and use of the project resources (e.g. clear rules, templates and project management handbook developed).

At the beginning of the project, relevant state aid rules are analyzed and indicated for each EDIH service, depending on the content of the service and the size of the client. In case de minimis is applied, previous amounts of aid received are controlled not to exceed 300 000 EUR within 3 years. Article 28 GBER: Aid for Innovation Advisory Services, Article 25 of the GBER: support for RDI projects or the de minimis can be applied. AIRE will fully pass on all the State aid to their clients.

Critical risks and risk management strategy Describe critical risks, uncertainties or difficulties related to the implementation of your project, and your measures/strategy for addressing them. Indicate for each risk (in the description) the impact and the likelihood that the risk will materialise (high, medium, low), even after considering the mitigating measures. Note: Uncertainties and unexpected events occur in all organisations, even if very well-run. The risk analysis will help you to predict issues that could delay or hinder project activities. A good risk management strategy is essential for good project management.

Risk No

Description Work package

Proposed risk-mitigation measures

1 Lower interest from AIRE main target group than expected (not meeting the target of 250 unique SMEs to be serviced), difficulty in attracting enough participants to AIRE trainings, events, etc.

Likelihood: low

Potential impact: high

All WPs In case of lower interest from companies, we will further strengthen the awareness-building activities and targeted outreach to potential clients. This approach worked well in 2022 – 2025 period. If any of key KPIs are lower than expected, we will gather additional insights from the companies about their needs and revise the service offerings accordingly. In case training groups are not completed or the registration rate for events is low, changes in a) timing or b) content of the event should be made. Timely and appropriate communication (supported by WP6) is the key.

2 Difficulties in project (financial) management – partners do not deliver the expected quality/ do not fulfil key tasks in time/ run into problems with financial management.

Likelihood: low

WP1 Project planning (incl. financial planning), monitoring and quality management will detect potential lack of quality, delays or problems with financial management. Existing quality assurance and risk management procedures will be reviewed under WP1 Project management. The risk is mitigated by all partners having clearly defined roles, tasks and responsibilities (e.g. shared KPIs) outlined in the work plan and Consortium Agreement, as well as the project coordinator´s extensive experience in large-scale EU

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Potential impact: high project management. Also, Estonian state is co- financing EDIH AIRE from national budget as a strategic project.

3 Companies decide not to invest in AI after proof-of- concept demo projects.

Likelihood: low

Potential impact: medium

WP2 There are several tasks supporting companies on their path towards investment (Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 5.4). Special attention is paid to selecting partners for AI demoprojects (Task 2.2) – only companies with clear vision and plan on investment will be selected. The number of companies going through these services is considerably larger than the number of potential demo projects, hence only highly motivated companies will be selected for the implementation of the demo projects. The period 2022 -2025 shows that proper client management can support clients on their way towards investment – knowing clients’ needs and guiding them through AIRE services help them to reach investment. AIRE client journey is developed based on the goal helping clients reach the investment (see Figure 4).

4 Difficulties in finding clients to new services – First-line AI Helpdesk in AI (Task 3.1) and AI Act awareness & Toolbox (Task 3.5)

Likelihood: low

Potential impact: medium

WP3 Introducing new services to the market starts from careful service design, which is based on our previous experiences and knowledge on market needs. Proper communication will be provided – new services will be introduced on AIRE homepage, AIRE Clubs, articles, social media. AIRE client journey involves careful client management from service to service, which means client needs are handled holistically and new service is always suggested if needed. We expect get clients to new services from the existing clint base as we know their needs and can use targeted approach.

5 Lack of appropriate funding measures available for AIRE clients who need financial support to invest in AI and robotics (state and EU funding)

Likelihood: medium

Potential impact: high

WP4 Close collaboration is already in place with the associated partner Estonian Business and Innovation Agency to design digitalisation measures to support SMEs. Collaboration within the EDIH network to provide input to planning appropriate financing measures at the EU level is also foreseen. Specific attention will also be placed on attracting private financing (which is sometimes more flexible than public measures).

6 Limited resources and capacity to provide AIRE services to SMEs outside Estonia (clients of other EDIHs) and establish collaboration with EU AI Infrastructure

Likelihood: low

Potential impact: high

WP5 Services are designed by an internationally experienced team and experts (English is the default working language). AIRE is committed to providing services to clients and partners from other EDIH regions (outside Estonia). First examples of sending AIRE clients to other EDIHs’ services are already there from the period 2022 – 2025. We have established collaboration links with 18 EDIHs and will continue active collaboration with the EU-wide EDIH network as well as EEN will ensure efficient signposting to ensure the right support for each client. We will negotiate and establish connections with EU AI Infrastructure services.

#§CON-MET-CM§# #§PRJ-MGT-PM§# #§FIN-MGT-FM§# #§RSK-MGT-RM§# #@CON-SOR-CS@#

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2.3 Capacity to carry out the proposed work

Consortium cooperation and division of roles (if applicable) Describe the participants (Beneficiaries, Affiliated Entities and Associated Partners, if any) and explain how they will work together to implement the project. How will they bring together the necessary expertise? How will they complement each other? In what way does each of the participants contribute to the project? Show that each has a valid role and adequate resources to fulfil that role. Note: When building your consortium, you should think of organisations that can help you reach objectives and solve problems.

During 2025 – 2028 AIRE will continue offering services on AI with slightly expanded consortium – the consortium will be expanded by the Tallinn University (TLU), who in 2022 – 2025 was involved as associated partner. Tallinn University is a valuable new consortium partner as they have good competences in human centric AI, which today is missing in the consortium. Tallinn University complements the consortium by addressing important Human-Centered AI (HCAI) facets. One of the main research focuses is trustworthy AI, acknowledging a user-centric approach by enhancing transparency and explainability. Tallinn University promotes explainable AI to make AI decisions understandable to a wider audience including non-experts. This entails focusing on user needs, values, and behaviours when designing AI solutions. This fosters the foundation for inclusive and accessible AI, by testing with diverse group of users. Tallinn University has strong expertise in Human-Computer Interaction, involving different aspects of usability, user experience, design, and interactions which can be applied in the domain of AI.

The key role of universities (TalTech, UT, EMU, TLU) is to bring cutting-edge research in AI, machine learning, and engineering directly into industry projects. Universities are innovation enablers – they bring their research results and knowledge for solving SMEs’ unique challenges in adopting AI solutions through test before invest demoprojects (Tasks 2.3). Also, in order to ensure smooth client journey and address SMEs complex and interdisciplinary challenges, universities are involved to provide impact analysis for demoprojects or offer demoproject follow-up consultation (Task 3.1). Universities’ knowledge is spread through trainings and webinars (Tasks 3.3, 3.4) as well as in offering access to EU AI Infrastructure services (i.e. TEFs, AI Factories).

Science parks (Tehnopol, TSP) build strong ties with markets and industries – they offer expert knowledge in AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1) and help to find private investments (Task 4.3) as well as support SMEs using EU AI technologies (Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.1) and cross-border services (Task 5.3).

The role of Innovative Manufacturing Engineering Systems Competence Centre IMECC was established to provide high-tech solutions and engineering support for Estonian companies and strengthen the position of the Estonian manufacturing industry both domestically and internationally. IMECC is a valuable partner with long-term knowledge in smart robotics and digital maturity assessments. They have good connection with manufacturing industry, thus IMECC is involved delivering test before invest demoprojects (Task 2.2) and providing robotisation suitability and digital maturity assessments (Task 3.1).

There are seven associated partners to support AIRE services. Their role is to be a bridge between AIRE and market needs/clients, be a gate to market networks and perform as a dissemination and communication channels.

Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EBI) demonstrates strengths in managing state-funded financial instruments, designing tailored SME support services, aligning activities with Estonian policy, and coordinating public sector funding for the private sector, being one of the most important partners for AIRE in finding sources for funding from public measures. Furthermore, when a company's level of digitization doesn't yet meet the requirements for AIRE's services, AIRE refers the client to EBI programs. This enables them to initiate projects, supported by grants, to raise their digitization level. Once the client is ready, they can return to AIRE for further support.

AIRE consortium composition and division of expertise is presented in the table below.

Consortium partner Competences and expertise Tasks, role and complementarity

Consortium partners

Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), including

Competencies: AI and machine learning, robotics, smart and digital manufacturing, industry 4.0 - 5.0,

WP1 Project management and coordination (TalTech) WP2 Test before invest:

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Innovation Centre Mektory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Department of Software Sciences, Department of Computer Systems, Johan Seebeck Department of Electronics and Department of Electrical Power Engineering and Mechatronics.

automated production systems and real- time monitoring, predictive maintenance, production digitalisation and manufacturing optimisation, digital twins, internet of things, smart industry, communication systems, virtual reality, virtual environments, self-driving vehicles, mobile robots, mobility engineering, big data, HPC, cyber- security, data security, formal methods for mission-critical systems, mechanical and industrial engineering, electrical engineering, smart electrical grids, e- med systems and health-care technology development, trainings, consultations.

Task 2.2 Demo projects and experiments; Task 2.3 Integration of AIRE results with EU AI ecosystem; WP3 Skills and training: Task 3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation; Task 3.3 Trainings and Task 3.4 Webinars in the field of digitalization technologies and AI; Task 3.5 AI Act awareness & Toolbox (TalTech); WP4 Support to find funding: Task 4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding), including links to research funding and Horizon, DEP, ERASMUS etc projects (TalTech); Task 4.4 Preparation and submission of funding proposals for EU collaboration of EDIHs etc (TalTech); WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Task 5.1 Strategic coordination of AIRE EDIH role in EU AI Ecosystem (TalTech); Task 5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs; Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery; Task 5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem. WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results (TalTech): Task 6.1 Development of the Dissemination and Communication Plan; Task 6.2 Implementation of the Dissemination and Communication Plan; Task 6.3 Updating the aire-edih.eu based on the concept of the AI Digital Showroom; Task 6.4 Client relations management; Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs.

University of Tartu (UT) including the Institute of Technology, Institute of Computer Science, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, High Performance Computing Centre and Tartu Observatory.

Competencies: AI and machine learning (incl. deep neural networks), cyber security and data security, business process mining, language technology, self-driving technologies, big data technologies, IoT, computer graphics and virtual reality, high performance computing, ROS (Robot Operating System), full robotics system development, hardware integration, process automation, motion planning and control theory, system identification, data fusion, electronics design, simulations and digital twins, algorithm development, engineering, prototyping, image processing, human-computer interaction, machine learning, computer graphics, trainings, consultations.

Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU) Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Chair of Biosystems Engineering.

Competencies: Mechanical and industrial engineering, electrical engineering, smart electrical grids, self- driving technologies, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, robotics and drone technology, hardware integration, process automation, prototyping, trainings, consultations.

Tallinn University (TLU)

School of Digital Technologies

Competences: Human-Computer Interaction, trustworthy AI, explainable AI, prototyping, user research, user experience evaluation, interaction design, design theory and methodologies, physiological computing, emerging digital technologies.

Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol

Competencies and services: supporting technology companies throughout the growth stages (startups, scale-ups, and corporations) focusing on the green, health and deep technology (including smart industry and manufacturing) verticals. Business development services help the companies to enter export markets, conduct product and business model development, find private or public capital for scaling and to

WP2 Test before invest:

Task 2.1 AI suitability assessments; Task 2.2 Demo projects and experiments (TSP);

WP3 Skills and training:

Task 3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation;

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engage successful sales and marketing strategies.

Tehnopol business campus has more than 300 resident technology companies and the business development services are provided to more than 200 companies annually. Tehnopol has more than 10 years of knowledge about managing a startup incubator; has a wide network in Europe with previous Horizon, COSME and CB Interreg project partners; is a full member of IASP (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation).

WP4 Support to find funding: Task 4.3 Consulting on access to funding (private funding) (Tehnopol);

WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Task 5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs (Tehnopol); Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery;

WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results

Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs. Tartu Science Park (TSP)

Competencies and services: applied AI advisory and prototyping services, business mentoring, business network building & management, business incubation, SME capacity building, technology transfer, digitalisation, access to finance, sustainability, cross- border partnering, internationalisation, infrastructure (office and room rent). TSP has operated incubation programs for technology and knowledge intensive companies for over 9 years and is currently running European Space Agency Business Incubator for start- ups with space connection and Sparkup Incubator dedicated to the development of deep-tech companies. TSP has an applied AI unit which works closely with SME-s and prototypes innovative research-based AI solutions for business use.

Innovative Manufacturing Engineering Systems Competence Centre IMECC

Competencies and services: over 12 years of experience in providing R&D services to companies, incl. robotisation suitability analysis, AI-based production optimisation, automatization and digitalisation, creation of digital twins, process optimisation, digital maturity assessment based on an IT tool created by IMECC. Acting as a competence centre, IMECC has a strong network of manufacturing companies, universities and other educational institutions, industry associations and R&D companies.

WP2 Test before invest:

Task 2.2 Demo projects and experiments;

WP3 Skills and training:

Task 3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation.

Associated partners

Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EBI)

EBI coordinates and supervises state- funded financial instruments for the private sector. Collaboration is established in designing services for the SMEs (consulting, training, support to funding, networking).

WP4 Support to find funding: Task 4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding);

WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery;

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs

Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EEN coordinator in Estonia). Estonian Federation of Engineering Industries (EML). Estonian Electronics Industries Association (EEIA). Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL)

EEN has a wide network of SMEs in Estonia and performs as EEN representative in Estonia. EML and EEIA are included to involve the target group and disseminate results for awareness raising. They take part in monthly AIRE Clubs and help to involve the target group in AIRE events and services. AIRE consults EML and EEIA in preparing AI and robotics trainings and demo projects for test before invest by encouraging companies to take risks for digitalisation and use of AI and robotics in their companies. ITL is included to involve private sector AI developers, IT and telecommunication companies and consultants for test before invest activities.

WP2 Test before invest: Task 2.2 Demo projects and experiments; WP3 Skills and training: Task 3.4 Webinars in the field of digitalisation technologies; WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities

Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery; WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs

Tallinn City Government (Tallinn Strategic Management Office) Tartu City Government (Entrepreneurship Service)

Taking part in networking and ecosystem development, collaboration in the organisation of entrepreneurship days in Tallinn and Tartu (annual events) reaching for the target group. Spreading information, taking part in monthly AIRE Clubs and other networking events. Introducing municipal support schemes for digitalisation (test before invest and access to finance).

WP4 Support to find funding: Task 4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding);

WP 6 Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results

Task 6.5 AIRE Clubs

200+ EDIHs in Europe Networking with other EDIHs to provide cross-sectoral and cross-border services. Around 40 online and face-to- face meetings have already been organised from 2020 to 2025 to build collaboration. AIRE takes actively part in Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) activities to build synergy from 2023. Also, AIRE is an active member in EDIH TWGs (Data and Manufacturing, East and West Matchmaking).

WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Task 5.1 Strategic coordination of AIRE EDIH role in EU AI Ecosystem; Task 5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs.

EU AI Infrastructure Testing and Experimental Facilities, AI Factories, AI regulatory Sandboxes, AI- on-Demand Platform, AI Skills Academy form EU AI related skills and knowledge ecosystem to support AIRE services. AIRE will build connections with all AI Infrastructure services and will be able to foster AIRE clients to benefit from those.

WP2 Test before invest: Task 2.1 AI suitability assessments; Task 2.2 Demo projects and experiments WP 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Task 5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery; Task 5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem.

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Project teams and staff Describe the project teams and how they will work together to implement the project. List the staff included in the project budget (budget category A) by function/profile (e.g. project manager, senior expert/advisor/researcher, junior expert/advisor/researcher, trainers/teachers, technical personnel, administrative personnel etc. — use the same profiles as in the detailed budget table, if any (n/a for prefixed Lump Sum Grants)) and describe briefly their tasks.

Name and function Organisati on

Role/tasks/professional profile and expertise

Kirke Maar The Head of AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE

WP1 leader

TalTech 25 years of experience working as a project manager, incl. coordination of large project teams and ensuring efficient administration. Kirke has worked as a financing consultant in the private sector for 20 years and helped many Estonian projects in R&D, business, tourism and social affairs find support, set targets and clear goals and cooperate to achieve them. WP1 leader, involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.5, 4.2, 4.4, 5.1-5.3, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, supervision of all tasks.

Katre Eljas AIRE Chief Operations Officer (COO)

WP2 leader

TalTech Katre has more than 20 years of management experience in various teams and organizations. She has managed EU programs and projects in the public sector as well as an international consulting company for 10 years. For the last 3 years, Katre has contributed into development of AIRE centre in various roles – she has been COO building AIRE services and management structures. She managed the AIRE demonstration projects service and is back on the position of COO. WP2 leader, involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.2, 2.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.4, supervision of all tasks.

Kirsi Zirel WP3 leader

University of Tartu

Project assistant at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu. Administrated several EU-, state-, and industry funded projects at the University of Tartu, incl. Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe. Experienced in project financial management; coordinated different events related to the projects. Also involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. WP 3 leader, involved in Tasks 1.1 – 1.5, 2.2, 3.1-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.2, 6.5

Rauno Varblas WP4 leader

Tallinn Science and Business Park Tehnopol

Rauno has held multiple project management and investment portfolio manager roles over the course of the career. As AI Program Coordinator at Tehnopol, he helps companies create and implement AI solutions and find funding for the projects. His background includes managing business intelligence solutions development team at one of the top software houses in Estonia, where he worked with international clients on data analytics and software integration. In the past 7 years he has been focusing on artificial intelligence and data-driven product and business development. Rauno has founded and managed several businesses, focusing on practical, technology-driven solutions. WP4 leader, involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.3, 5.2, 5.3, 6.5

Reet Pärgmäe

WP5 leader

TalTech Reet's unique blend of technology law expertise and hands-on experience with EU-funded projects makes her a highly effective public funding manager. She understands the legal and regulatory landscape while possessing proven skills in grant writing, project administration, and team leadership. This combination allows her to strategically secure funding and ensure its successful deployment to support innovation and digital transformation. WP5 leader, involved in T1.1-1.5, 4.2, 4.4, 5.1-5.4, 6.4, 6.5

Anne Muldme TalTech Anne has over 20 years of experience in marketing and communications management, including sectors like telecommunication, media, R&D and higher education. Anne has led multiple marketing and communication teams over the years

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Marketing and Communications Manager

WP6 leader

and today is acting also as a marketing lecturer in TalTech. As a WP6 leader in AIRE Anne has a solid professional network and competences for contributing to the dissemination and communication activities. WP6 leader, involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 5.1, 6.1-6.5

Evelin Ebruk

Customer Relationship Manager

TalTech Evelin has an engineering background and is experienced in strategic and data-driven service go-to-market planning and delivery. She is a client consultant across all AIRE’s services. Evelin has led the development of AIRE’s Client Relationship Management system: automated service and client management system for project management; seamless client journey with client and target group centric principles at forefront; analytics- driven feedback loop for service needs and delivery improvement regionally and technically. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.4, 6.5

Kert Kaljula Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Demonstration projects’ Business Development Manager

TalTech Kert has over 10 years of experience as a CFO in both public and private sector organizations. He has managed finances in diverse fields such as solar energy, real estate, science parks, and startup incubators, as well as in small and large EU-funded projects. Kert brings a strategic and results-driven mindset to his work. He is currently responsible for managing the finances of AIRE. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.2, 5.3, 5.4

Annela Hendrikson Project Manager

TalTech Annela has strong communication skills, extensive experience in project management, and a proven track record of successfully managing and consulting projects. She has managed EU/EEA programs (Erasmus+,Nordplus) on national level and guided beneficiaries in managing their projects according to the set requirements. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 1.4, 5.2, 5.3, 6.5

Riina Rohumäe Executive Assistant

TalTech Riina has a strong background in administrative support and office management, with versatile experience in both production and administrative roles. At AIRE, she supports the team with day-to-day coordination, document handling, event organization, and communication with partners. Her adaptability, structured approach, and dedication ensure smooth workflows across the organization. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.3, 3.1, 3.5, 4.4, 5.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.5

Dmitri Derevjanko Digitalisation Expert

TalTech Dmitri is completing his studies in Business Information Technology at TalTech, combining strong competencies in IT and finance. He is skilled in software development, automation scripting, data analysis, and both SQL and NoSQL databases. With hands-on experience in building AI agents and a solid understanding of modern AI principles, Dmitri contributes to AIRE's innovation efforts through technical support and solution development. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.5, 6.3, 6.5

Eliisa Metsoja Marketing Project Manager

TalTech Eliisa has been working as a marketing project manager at AIRE for a year. She has organized various events, conferences, and led marketing projects for several years at TalTech and in other companies. Eliisa is known for her attention to detail, thoroughness, and ability to meet deadlines while bringing creativity and a fast-learning mindset to her work. She performs well both independently and as part of a team. Involved in Tasks 6.1-6.5

Tea Park

Legal Expert on AI

TalTech Expertise in legal aspects of AI. TalTech LegalLab manager. Involved in Task 3.5

Tanel Kerikmäe TalTech Expertise in legal aspects of AI. Director of the Department of Law. Involved in Task 3.5

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Legal Expert on AI

Gert Jervan Expert in computer systems

Steering groupmember

TalTech Tenured Full Professor - Centre for Dependable Computing Systems: Department of Computer Systems and the Dean of the School of Information Technologies at TalTech. Involved in Tasks 1.1.-1.4, 2.2, 5.4

Fjodor Sergejev Expert in mechanics engineering

TalTech Tenured Associate Professor - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Dean at School of Engineering. Involved in Tasks 1.1.-1.4, 2.2, 5.4

Kristo Karjust Expert in production optimization

TalTech Head of Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, specialised in production optimization and monitoring, manufacturing processes control and analysis. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 5.4.

Tauno Otto

Expert in production digitalisation

TalTech Development Manager, Programme Director and Professor of production technology at TalTech and the head of SmartIC, the core infrastructure for smart production in Estonia. Director of the Centre of Excellence of Smart Industry. Member of the EC`s Made in Europe partnership. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.4, 2.2, 5.4

Juhan-Peep Ernits Expert in AI applications in robotics

TalTech Associate Professor at TalTech, whose research work focuses on applications of artificial intelligence in robotics (focus on computer vision and creation of reliable software for robots). Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 4.4, 5.3, 5.4

Innar Liiv Big Data Expert

TalTech Professor of Multidisciplinary Big Data at TalTech. He was previously a Cyber Studies Visiting Research Fellow (2016-2017) and a Research Associate (2018-2020) at the University of Oxford, a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University (2015), and a Postdoctoral Visiting Researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2009). His research interests include data science, financial technology, social network analysis, information visualization, computational international relations, and big data technology transfer to industrial and governmental applications. He is currently working on an interdisciplinary research question “How to use data science to improve governments innovatively and successfully? “ Involved in 1.2, 2.2, 5.4

Marten Madissoo Expert in manufacturing engineering and cutting tools

EMU Assistant Professor of Manufacturing Engineering Chair of Biosystems Engineering. AIRE coordinator at EMU Involved in Tasks 1.5, 2.2, 3.1, 3.4, 6.5

Margus Arak Expert for industry digitalisation

Steering Group member

EMU Director of Academic Affairs at EMU with key expertise in environmental physics. Building synergy with AI pilots in agriculture. Involved in Tasks 1.3, 1.4, 2.2, 3.1, 3.4, 6.5

Janar Kalder

Expert for Electronics and Programming

EMU Senior Lecturer at EMU with key expertise in Electronics and Programming. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 3.3

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Meelis Kull Expert in Artificial Intelligence

University of Tartu

Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science, head of Machine Learning research group, which focuses on developing AI systems that are aware of the limits of their own knowledge and can express uncertainty when necessary – making AI a more trustworthy partner. The Head of the Estonian Centre of Excellence in AI (EXAI). Involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 3.3-3.5, 5.4, 6.5

Vjatšeslav Antipenko Expert in Cybersecurity

University of Tartu

Junior Research Fellow of Information Security at the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science. Expert in cybersecurity. He has extensive experience in the telecommunications sector, and deep understanding of the intersection between theoretical knowledge and real-world applications, particularly in the fields of the Internet of Things and information security. Involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 3.3-3.5, 5.4, 6.5

Ardi Tampuu Expert in Artificial Intelligence

University of Tartu

Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science. Expert in Computer Vision. Highly involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 3.1, 3.3-3.5, 5.4, 6.5

Alvo Aabloo

Expert in intelligent materials and systems

University of Tartu

Professor at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu, head of the Intelligent Materials and Systems laboratory, expert in robotics, and intelligent materials and systems. Coordinated 20+ projects between industry and university, incl. FP7, Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe; also involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 1.3, 2.2, 3.1-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.2, 6.5

Karl Kruusamäe

Expert in human-robot interaction

University of Tartu

Associated professor at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu. Experienced researcher in robotics, incl. electronics and mechanical design, software development, systems integration, device prototyping, and professional training. Project leader for many EU-, state-, and industry funded projects at the University of Tartu; also involved in the AIRE project 2022- 2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.5

Arun Kumar Singh

Expert in collaborative robotics

University of Tartu

Associate Professor of Collaborative Robotics at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu. Head of the collaborative robotics group at the Institute of Technology. The group's research covers a wide range of applications, from human-robot collaboration and robot manipulation to autonomous driving. Project leader for different projects at the University of Tartu; also involved in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.5

Veiko Vunder

Expert in Robotics Technology

University of Tartu

Lecturer in Robotics Technology at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu. Experienced researcher in robotics, incl. electronics, software development, device prototyping, and the integration of AI technologies with edge computing. Involved in several EU-, state-, and industry funded projects at the University of Tartu, incl. the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1-3.5, 5.3, 5.4, 6.5

Mariana Kukk

Expert in marketing and communication

University of Tartu

Senior Specialist of Marketing and Communication at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu, leading outreach for the Computer Engineering and Robotics curricula and steering communication for EU projects (for example Erasmus+ and EIT Manufacturing). Involved also in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.3-3.4, 6.2, 6.5

Helen Jõesaar University of Tartu

Lead of Industry Collaboration at the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science. Experienced coordinator of academia– industry collaboration, incl. R&D partnerships, student-industry

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Expert in Industry Collaboration

Member of Steering Group

programmes, continuing education, and strategic cooperation development. Highly involved also in the AIRE project 2022-2025. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1, 3.3-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.5

Mari-Anne Suurpere

Expert in Industry Collaboration

University of Tartu

Industry Collaboration Specialist at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Tartu. Supports the development and implementation of collaboration between academia and industry, incl. coordinating events, managing communication with partners, and assisting in R&D and student engagement initiatives. Experienced in project financial management. Experienced in project financial management. Involved in Tasks 1.3, 2.2, 3.1, 3.3-3.5, 4.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.5

Lotte Parksepp Expert in marketing and communication

University of Tartu

Marketing and communications specialist for industry collaboration at the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science. Her main goal is to bridge science and business by encouraging institutions to collaborate with the university and encourage knowledge transfer. Experiences in showcasing success stories as well as running the AIRE newsletter. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.3-3.4, 6.2, 6.5

Mustafa Can Özdemir Project Manager and Human-Computer Interaction expert

Tallinn University

Mustafa Can Özdemir is a PhD student and guest lecturer at the School of Digital Technologies. His research in Human-Computer Interaction focuses on Human-Centered Ubiquitous Computing and human attention in time sensitive information transmissions and notification design. At AIRE, he is the project manager, looking over the projects that fall under Tallinn University. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.2, 3.1, 3.3, 6.5

Sónia Cláudia Da Costa Sousa

Trustworthy AI and Human-Computer Interaction expert

Tallinn University

Sonia Sousa is an Associate Professor of Interaction Design at the School of Digital Technologies, Tallinn University, Estonia. She holds two PhDs (2006 & 2023) and two postdoc projects (2010 & 2013) in Software Design, Distance Education and Human-Computer Interaction. Her research explores the interplay between trust, performance, and technology adoption. She leads the Trustworthy HCI lab and has been an active researcher and teacher since 2003. Involved in tasks: 2.2, 3.1

Martin Rebane Expert in Artificial Intelligence

Steering Group member

Tartu Science Park

Martin is the Head of AI at Tartu Science Park and has been working on AI solutions since 2011. Martin holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Warwick in England and has extensive experience working with various companies. At AIRE, he helps companies think through and design AI solutions daily. WP2 Task 2.1 leader. Involved in Tasks 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 5.3, 6.5.

Ingrid Hunt Expert in Project and Financial Management

Tartu Science Park

Ingrid is a Project Manager at Tartu Science Park, responsible for projects related to AI and robotics in manufacturing. Ingrid has extensive experience in financial management, strategic planning, business development and management. Involved in Tasks 1.1-1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 5.3, 6.5.

Ida Maria Orula

Expert in AI development

Tartu Science Park

Ida Maria is an AI developer at Tartu Science Park focused on test before demo projects. Ida Maria has a master's degree in computer science and experience in AI development. Involved in WP2 Task 2.1, 2.2.

Andrus Kurvits Expert in Strategic Planning

Tartu Science Park

Andrus is a member of the Management Board at Tartu Science Park. Andrus has extensive competencies and experience in strategic planning, business mentoring and network building. Involved in Tasks 1.3, 2.1.

Georg Lillo Specialist in Marketing and event organisation

Tartu Science Park

Georg is a Marketing Assistant at Tartu Science Park focused on event organisation and partner relations. Georg has competencies in marketing and finance. Involved in WP6 Task 6.5.

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Martin Goroško

Expert in private financing

Tehnopol Head of business services at Tehnopol who has worked with more than 200 early-stage companies. Member of the Estonian Business Angels Network. Involved in Tasks 3.1, 4.3, 6.5

Mariann Uudmäe

Project specialist Tehnopol Project Manager at Tehnopol Business Services Department with

previous experience in client verification and supply chain coordination in fast paced international environments. Involved in Task 1.3.

Riin Lepp Marketing

Tehnopol Marketing Project Manager at Tehnopol. Responsible for project related marketing, events and communication activities. Involved in WP 6 Task 6.4.

Jüri Riives

Expert in industry digitalization and robotization

IMECC R&D manager at IMECC. Jüri has long-term competences and practical experiences in digitalisation, robotisation, robot applications, AI in robotics, robot-cell design and performance monitoring, knowledge-driven performance and suitability analysis in robotics. He has both academic as well as industrial background. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1.

Tõnu Lelumees

Expert for industry digitalization and robotization

IMECC Expert in digital maturity evaluation and robotics with key skills in technological innovation, automation, productivity, robotics, digitalisation and management. Involved in Tasks 2.2, 3.1.

Kaia Lõun

Expert in project management and digitalization

IMECC Project expert, with wide competences in project management and administration. Also, expert in industry digitalisation and financial management. Involved in Task 1.1-1.5.

The staff list includes the main staff. There are more staff included in offering services.

Project staff changes according to market needs and additional staff will be involved if needed.

Outside resources (subcontracting, seconded staff, etc) If you do not have all skills/resources in-house, describe how you intend to get them (contributions of members, partner organisations, subcontracting, etc.) and for which role/tasks/professional profile/expertise If there is subcontracting, please also complete the table in section 4.

Sub-contracting is planned in total amount of €235 702, which is 4.3% of the total budget of €5,45m. Most of the tasks are carried out with in-house competences of seven partners but external expertise is planned in the following based on state tendering rules in an open and transparent process and procedure:

• Legal advice expert fees (Task 1.1). • AI suitability assessment of AIRE clients (Task 2.1) – a pool of AI mentors (external expertise) is

created for public-private collaboration and enrichment of expertise. • External experts for test before invest demoprojects and experiments (AI and robotics) (Task 2.2)

– public-private collaboration to include extra skills like AI, cyber security, big data, HPC, etc. • External experts to identify and map EU funding and programmes opportunities (Task 4.4). • External services on organizing events and meetings with EDIHs and other EU AI ecosystem

stakeholders (i.e. catering) (task 5.1). • External contracts for AIRE brand development, content creation and production (design, videos,

web features etc) and organizing AIRE clubs (Task 6.2, 6.5). Please see section 4.4 Sub-contracting, including sub-contracting budget.

Consortium management and decision-making (if applicable) Explain the management structures and decision-making mechanisms within the consortium. Describe how decisions will be taken and how regular and effective communication will be ensured. Describe methods to ensure planning and control.

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Note: The concept (including organisational structure and decision-making mechanisms) must be adapted to the complexity and scale of the project.

AIRE centre’s management and decision-making structure is fully established and well performing since autumn 2022. Coordination of the AIRE centre is based on a management structure reflecting the EDIH project context and complexity, to ensure efficient consortium management and to make sure that all project objectives are achieved within planned time, budget, and quality. Project management will rely on procedures and techniques jointly agreed on by all project partners (please see more under WP1 and section 2.2 Project management, quality assurance and monitoring and evaluation strategy). Highly competent AI, data management, big data, cybersecurity, HPC, IoT, Industry 5.0, international collaboration, marketing and communication as well as legal experts are involved based on the common vision and expectations of AIRE clients and follow in line with the coordination of the consortium (please see section 2.3 for the full consortium description).

Management structure and decision-making The management structure and related procedures of AIRE are defined to facilitate operations and management of the centre´s services and project WPs. Simple and effective procedures are set up to reduce the complexity.

Figure 7: The general governance structure of AIRE

The management of the project is structured in three layers:

1) The Project Management Group (PMG) consists of the project coordinator, Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), WP leaders (WPL) and task leaders (TL). The PC – Kirke Maar, TalTech – is liable for global project management and coordination (planning, implementation, and control of all project activities), administrative and financial aspects and reporting of project financial and budgetary status to the EC. Furthermore, the Project Coordinator will oversee the quality of the project implementation through dedicated quality management procedures and is also responsible for risk management and mitigation. The Project Coordinator is complemented by COO, who manages everyday processes and people. COO ensures clear and smooth procedures and quality of services. Any ad-hoc issues in implementation are carefully managed on daily basis. Together with CFO the COO ensures integrity of processes with financial management reducing risks for any mismanagement. Shared management responsibilities allow also Project Coordinator to focus on developing collaborations with EU level ecosystem stakeholders and find contracts for ensuring sustainability of the AIRE centre.

The WP Leaders are responsible for convening the work package team meetings and thus checking that the work is carried out according to the agreed plans and deliverables are ready in time. The WP Leaders are also responsible for managing the resources allocated to the WP, supervising the work of the Task Leaders and the team, acting as a link between the WP team and the Project Coordinator, reporting on the problems, results, progress of the work. The Task Leaders are responsible for specific tasks inside the WP and producing the first versions of related deliverables of interactions and project overhead. The AIRE general governance structure is outlined in the following figure.

2) The Steering Group (SG) is led by the Project Coordinator and consists of the legal representatives of all partners. The SG is the primary decision-making body of the project and supports the Project Coordinator in strategic project management issues. The SG ensures that project activities are properly monitored, coordinated, and kept on budget. The SG has the ultimate authority in resolving any issues that may arise (scientific, contractual, commercial or otherwise).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

3) The Advisory Board (AB) has a strategic advisory function in the project. The AB includes high-level external experts of industry and AI. The AB supports strategic implementation by providing project partners with the necessary feedback to increase the project’s relevance to the needs of its target groups. Moreover, the AB provides a vital link between the project and policy level and support the consortium in its networking activities as well as align it with relevant other regional/national/EU initiatives. Also, the AB is instrumental in evaluating the strategic documents, key deliverables, and impact of the AIRE project. There are 10 AB members at the moment, and the composition AB members will be reviewed at the beginning of the project.

New Consortium Agreement (CA) will be signed for the purposes of implementation of the project. The Consortium Agreement will be defined and signed before the start of the project activities to codify the responsibilities of each partner. The CA will specify the organisation of work between all parties involved use of project budget and payment procedure. It will define the partners´ rights and obligations, including their liability and indemnification. It will also supplement the provisions of the Grant Agreement (GA) concerning Access Rights, ensure adequate attention to gender equality and set out rights and obligations of the parties supplementing but not conflicting with those of the GA. The CA will also cover the following issues: confidentiality, IPR issues, with specific provisions; internal licensing of results during and after the end of the project; agreement on exploitation rights and cost-sharing at sales activities after the end of the project.

Any disputes and conflicts will be resolved, wherever possible, through mediation. The partners in dispute will first present their case to their respective WPL, who will then represent their case to the PC. The aim is to resolve the issue in a manner as simple as possible. However, if the partner(s) is/are not satisfied with the outcome, the dispute will be presented to the SC, where the legal representatives of all partners will jointly decide on how to solve the issue in alignment with the CA and the national legislation.

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3. IMPACT

3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables — Dissemination and communication

Expected outcomes and deliverables Define and explain the extent to which the project will achieve the expected impacts listed in Call document.

First, regarding the number of businesses and public sector entities that have used the EDIH’s services – AIRE will reach at least 250 unique SMEs and mid-caps. The focus is on all sectors, with strong emphasis on the manufacturing SMEs and companies providing services in the value chain of industrial companies (e.g. logistics, quality control, supply chain management, equipment maintenance etc.). During 2022 - 2025 AIRE offered services to more than 270 unique clients in 22 different domains. Moreover, in 2025 - 2028 AIRE aims to reach to 50% in cross-border clients (125 clients: 10 clients attending test before invest services, 50 clients attending trainings and webinars, 10 clients attending access to finance services and 55 clients attending in networking services). The most of AIRE clients operate in metalworking, timber production, electronics, production of machinery and food production. These industries are also the most important manufacturing industries in the Estonian economic context, considering their employment, exports, value-adding, strong linkages and clustering with other industries. As industrial sector in Estonia is still lagging in automatization and digitalisation31, the emphasis will still be on industrial SMEs, but AIRE will invite also clients from all economic sectors across the EU to participate in AIRE services (see client target groups in Section 1.1). Thus, AIRE’s potential client segment will be expanded significantly. It is expected that up to 50% of clients are from the manufacturing industry. Also, we expect at least 200 clients from SMEs across the EU, 30 mid-caps and 20 start-ups or spin-offs will participate in AIRE services. The KPI is monitored through AIRE CRM.

Having said this, in addition to industry value-chain companies we see potential new clients in recourse and energy efficiency, defence, health technologies, agriculture and forestry as well as IT and technology companies providing AI solutions for industries. Furthermore, AIRE will act as first-line AI helpdesk offering services to businesses across all domains (e.g. Tasks 3.1, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5). Also, we expect new clients from cross-border services under Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.4 and Task 5.3.

To maximise the impact, AIRE has decided to focus on and cooperate with 250 strategically chosen companies. There are approximately 9,000 manufacturing companies in Estonia and of these 8% are planning to introduce advanced AI solutions (such as machine learning technologies) in the upcoming two

31 Estonia IT industry: Paving the Way for the Digital Future

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years32. So, some 700-800 companies have interest, basic capacities and thus potential to benefit from technologies that AIRE is concentrating on. At the same time, some 100 of these companies belong to global value chains and the introduction of such innovative technologies is instructed by the technology development centres of the headquarters. In addition, cross-border clients will be contributing into achieving the objective. Thus, AIRE’s aim to focus on 250 SMEs directly is justified and a large share of the potential beneficiaries will be benefitting from WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP5 services.

Second, AIRE aims 36 clients will use and benefit from EU AI Innovation infrastructure services (expecting 20 clients to use HPC services, 16 clients using TEFs) during 2025 and 2028. AIRE will collaborate with EU AI Innovation infrastructures and will become a central point for companies ensuring a flexible and seamless digital journey and referring them the services provided by these AI Innovation infrastructures when appropriate. AIRE will first map AI Innovation infrastructure opportunities, establish contacts with them, identify AIRE’s clients' needs and help our clients benefit from these services (Tasks 5.2, 5.4). As an example, AIRE already has contacts with AI Factory LUMI, thus we will formalise the collaboration and expand it to other AI infrastructure. With these contacts AIRE will facilitate access for our clients to EuroHPC AI-optimised supercomputers as well as Testing and Experimenting Facilities. We hope these contacts will fine-tune AI solutions to our clients’ business needs and us cases. Furthermore, AIRE expects to bridge the gap between AI research and real-world applications, driving economic growth and improving public services across Europe. The KPI is monitored through AIRE CRM.

AIRE supported 54 demonstration projects (involving 38 SMEs) during 2022 – 2025 – the aim of these projects was to offer industrial companies researchers’ know-how to test and validate AI and robotics solutions before investments (test before invest). Companies having demonstration projects with AIRE scientific partners were more matured in digitalisation having often proper data management and digital roadmaps in place, thus we see a number of those companies will be ready to use EU AI Infrastructure services (e.g AI Factories or Testing and Experimentation Facilities). We continue collaboration with those companies towards EU AI Infrastructure services. Also, the IT and technology sector in Estonia is relatively strong serving clients worldwide, thus several clients is interested in using HPC centres for process large datasets, prototyping (e.g. cybersecurity) or train advanced AI models. Furthermore, among new client segments we see green energy, biotechnology or defence as a potential client for AI Factories running large datasets and using AI for prediction analytics, innovation and reducing time-to- market or solving complex challenges. Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 will serve reaching this target.

Third, AIRE is contributing to the increased investments (public and private) into digitalisation (including AI) and better access to finance in Estonia. AIRE will continue providing access to finance services including providing information and facilitating access to public and private funding sources as well as public and private investors. The demand for AI related solutions to be implemented in the companies is much higher than AIRE activities can provide.

Although the current project period (2022–2025) is still ongoing and many client companies have yet to finalize their post-AIRE investment activities, the AIRE centre has conducted a preliminary impact analysis of its services. According to the clients, the test-before-invest services are expected to generate, on average, a 23% increase in revenue and a 26% reduction in costs within the affected business or production line. These improvements are projected to translate into a 51% increase in added value per employee at the company level over the coming years. As a notable side effect, AIRE’s test-before-invest services have contributed to the emergence of five spinoff companies. These startups are built around the tested AI/robotics solutions, now being formalized into scalable businesses in their own right.

In addition, there are numerous spillover effects on both the academic and business fronts. Academically, many project teams included bachelor’s and master’s students who gained hands-on experience with real-life business cases—often experiencing the tangible success of their work. On the business side, companies closely observe their peers successfully upgrading production lines with AI and robotics solutions, which in turn influences their own strategic decisions. While these indirect impacts are harder to quantify and take longer to materialize, they are just as significant as the more immediate, measurable outcomes.

Furthermore, during the period 2022 - 2025 AIRE clients triggered additional investments in the amount of €62m (public and private, Estonian and EU funding). During this period AIRE actively built relationships with entrepreneurship ecosystem and put efforts into moving towards triple helix collaboration mechanism, where public, private and academic sectors collaborate on joint projects.

Based on the already established relations to our clients and introducing new services for 2025 – 2028 (Tasks 5.3, 5.4), but also thanks to the dissemination of information, good practices and the facilitation of the networking between public actors and companies, we expect continuation of SME investments in AI in the amount of about €100m by (1) public co-funding of the AIRE supported projects and other AI projects, (2) private co-funding of the AIRE supported projects and other AI projects, and (3) as new

32 Digital Decade 2024 country report

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successful applications to the national funding bodies, to the European R&D programs and investors. In overall, all AIRE services will contribute into achieving this target, but specifically Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 5.3 and 5.4 will have the highest impact. The KPI will be monitored based on Estonia’s Business and Innovation Agency’s, Tehnopol, TSP, EU programmes, companies’ and AIRE CRM data.

Fourth, AIRE will act as an access point to the European network of EDIHs, helping local companies to get support from other EDIHs in case there is no suitable domains or services available in AIRE. Thus, EDIH network will act as extension to AIRE’s services enabling AIRE’s clients get larger variety of services. Also, AIRE will looking to serve other EU countries and regions companies (KPI 125 cross- border clients in AIRE’s services) via already established MoUs and LoIs (see list of MoUs and LoIs in Annex 7), marking joint activities in strategic collaboration (WP1), testing and experimenting (WP2), skill and knowledge sharing (WP2, WP3), matchmaking and networking (WP5, WP6). Furthermore, AIRE will also serve as contact point for the AI Innovation infrastructures such as AI Factories, AI-on-demand platform and Testing and Experimentation Facilities. AIRE will offer first-line AI help desk including basic information on compliance with the AI Act.

A strategic partnership will be created with 40 key AI ecosystem organisations and initiatives (i.e. EDIHs, TEFs, EDICs and other) and SMEs or mid-caps from all over Europe that will benefit directly from AIRE or other EDIHs’ services (in addition to Estonian clients). Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.4, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 are directly targeted to achieve this outcome. The KPI will be monitored based on AIRE CRM.

More specifically, fifth, AIRE’s main contribution is related to increasing the digital maturity of the Estonian SMEs in all sectors. We expect at least a 15% increase by 2028 in the digital maturity of companies that have used the services of the AIRE network based on a digital maturity assessment (DMA) tool developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). This is an impact indicator to be collected and analysed. The KPI will be monitored based on DMA data.

Based on previous experiences from the period 2022 - 2025, AIRE will keep measuring the digital maturity level of its clients. We will do it based on JRC DMA tool. The JRC DMA tool covers basic digitalisation areas (Digital Business Strategy, Digital Readiness, Human-Centric Digitalization, Data Management, Automation & AI, and Green Digitalization) serving well AIRE’s expanded range of domains and clients as well as enabling comparison with sectoral and national averages and EU-wide benchmarks. The DMA will be obligatory for every client (at least 250 unique clients) entering AIRE services (T0 baseline assessment) (except Tasks 3.3, 3.4, 5.2, 6.4). The mid-term assessment in M18 (T1) and final assessment in M36 (T2) will be provided to all at least 250 unique clients to track evolution of digital maturity over time. The minimum level of questionnaires to be answered is 100 (e.g. 100 clients together for T1 and T2).

Lastly, it is essential fostering AIRE clients using EU AI technologies (e.g. AI systems, tools, platforms or research), which are developed and originated in the EU and follows EU trust and ethics (e.g. GDPR, AI Act etc). AIRE aims to support 100 clients using EU AI technologies through (1) awareness rising by trainings and webinars (Tasks 3.3, 3.4) and AI Act compliance counselling (Task 3.1); (2) test before invest services like AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1) and AI demo projects (Task 2.2); (3) support to find funding (Task 4.2, 4.3) and (4) using EU AI Innovation infrastructure (Task 5.4). AIRE supports its clients in these services with several experienced AI researchers and experts, who will consult on using AI technologies developed and originated in the EU. Furthermore, based on results and experiences from 2022 - 2025 AIRE will continue with dissemination and awareness rising activities on AI technologies through AIRE Clubs (Task 6.5), where best practices and real-world experiences will be shared. Also, AIRE expands its collaboration and activities with other EDIHs, thus best practices and insights can also be shared via webinars (Task 3.4) and seminars/joint meetings (task 5.2, 5.3). The KPI will be monitored based on AIRE CRM.

All services and KPIs are a subject to be adjusted during the project implementation according to the market demand.

Dissemination and communication of the project and its results If relevant, describe the communication and dissemination activities, activities (target groups, main messages, tools, and channels) which are planned in order to promote the activities/results and maximise the impact. The aim is to inform and reach out to society and show the activities performed, and the use and the benefits the project will have for citizens Clarify how you will reach the target groups, relevant stakeholders, policymakers and the general public and explain the choice of the dissemination channels. Describe how the visibility of EU funding will be ensured.

In case your proposal is selected for funding, you will have to provide a more detailed plan for these activities (dissemination and communication plan), within 6 months after grant signature. This plan will have to be periodically updated; in line with the project progress.

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The goal of AIRE’s dissemination and communication activities is to support accomplishing AIRE’s mission through dissemination of AIRE’s results and communication of AIRE’s impact (see also AIRE objectives in Section 1.1).

The communication activities for 2025–2028 are designed to support all AIRE’s strategic goals, with special focus on promoting collaboration with EU AI ecosystem to reinforce Europe’s position as a global innovation leader.

The communication and dissemination activities address all primary target groups presented in Section 1.1. The overall knowledge level of target audience about the value and opportunities of AI in Estonia has been increased, but still needs to be further addressed for reaching the critical minimum for ensuring sufficient investments into AI technologies. Also, the primary challenge of digitalisation the production is shortage of capital - the goal is to introduce the benefits of AI, provide needed support on the path, offer tailor-made solutions and help the target audience to find financing to start using AI in their processes and production. For dissemination and communication purposes the companies will be segmented into smaller target groups and messages will be tailored according to their specific needs (depending on the level of knowledge and assessed digital maturity; target groups will be determined in the Dissemination and Communication Plan (D6.1)). The basis of the segmentation, consortium will use digital maturity assessment results, collaboration partners client segments, clients’ economic sector, AIRE dissemination lists and CRM.

In addition, target groups include the EU AI ecosystem and EDIH customers across Europe, with AIRE serving as Estonia’s bridging centre for local clients expanding internationally, leveraging EU AI ecosystem services, the EDIH network, and adopting European AI technologies. For identifying EU customers across Europe, partner EDIHs’ client bases will be used. The potential client segments will be determined in collaboration with the relevant EDIH. Ecosystem stakeholders are welcomed to follow AIRE channels and participate in the networking and AIRE club events. They will be invited if relevant to the trainings, webinars, podcasts and content providers to the services. Information will be shared through partner EDIHs’ network.

Main messages to the different target audiences will be phrased based on the segment needs and finalised together with the consortium, then tested and fine-tuned. As communication activities either increase the brand awareness and basic knowledge of AI and the benefits of using it or emerge the desire to participate in the project, the messages are designed accordingly (e.g., unlock your company’s potential with AI and robotics; AI helps your company to gain competitive advantage! Join our AI training; How to make AI work … eventually, learning from the mistakes of the best practitioners, etc.). For the bigger campaigns, the A/B testing of visuals and messages will be held. A graphic designer will be involved to design the visuals.

Communication channels will be used based on the OSEP (Owned-Shared-Earned-Paid) model. Currently, AIRE has a website aire-edih.eu (150 000 visits since autumn 2021), Facebook page (reach 104 000, 225 600 views, 872 followers), Instagram page (active 7 months, reach 5700, 17 000 views, 130 followers), direct mailing list (appr. 1000 manufacturing companies and all together 9500 people from various partners and members of the network), LinkedIn page (1800 followers, 170 000 impressions per year). In addition to AIRE communication channels consortium partners’ channels will be used enabling multiplying the potential size of the end target group. The goal is to constantly increase the followers of the owned channels, use consortium partner’s channels and create an ecosystem and partner list, to reach the audience even better.

Communication and dissemination activities will be executed together with consortium partners. Below there are indicated the list of the key activities that will either provide needed insight for the plan and relevant messaging for target audience or create the content needed to gain the objectives of relevant WP.

• aire-edih.eu website update: New content to be included: updated services, renewed focus of the AIRE centre, renewed target groups, KPI-s and formats of telling the success-stories. General ser experience audit and refreshments.

• Events and activities pre- and post-communication to introduce the value that AIRE creates to the companies (trainings, webinars, AIRE Clubs, matchmaking and networking events, final event gala) and how it boosts the field of AI and its stakeholders. Calls for ideas will be provided to find demo projects that will be supported by AIRE throughout the path until the successful adaptation of AI into processes.

• Digital Maturity Assessment results will be compiled once a year and introduced to the wider audience as the important KPI that measures the digitalisation level of the target audience. AIRE services that are introduced under the WPs will be advertised and communicated to find users. When possible, the communication will use the actual clients and their recommendations as well as positive experience/impact sharing. Video blogs and videos of best practices and webinars will be created and disseminated by the consortium partners through their channels and AIRE

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channels. Positive quotes about collaboration from well-known entrepreneurs, experts, and researchers. The produced material will be used In AIRE’s digital communication channels as well as during AIRE Clubs and the biggest events in the region that focus on AI and robotics.

• Links to European AI infrastructure (AI-on-Demand Platform, AI Skills Academy, AI Factories, TEFs, AI Regulatory Sandboxes) will be created in AIRE’s communication activities.

• The visibility of EU funding will be ensured by including cooperation logos and messages on all marketing materials and visuals. EU funding will also be acknowledged at events and in all related coverage materials.

All dissemination and communication activities will be presented in the Dissemination and Communication Plan (D6.1) by M3.

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3.2 Competitiveness and benefits for society

Competitiveness and benefits for the society

Describe the extent to which the project will strengthen competitiveness and bring important benefits for society

AIRE is unlocking the untapped potential of digital technologies for increased competitiveness and resource-efficiency in Estonia´s SMEs not only in the manufacturing sector, but in all economic sectors addressing an important strategic challenge in Estonia (see Section 1.2). The intervention is mostly related to the actual implementation of innovative AI projects in the Estonian SMEs, thus addressing the R&D and innovation funding gap (see Section 1.4), complemented by training activities, consulting and networking, and contributing to the Estonian digital transition (see Section 3.1) and strengthening collaboration with EU AI Infrastructures (see Sections 1.1, 1.3 and 3.1).

During the period 2022 and 2025 AIRE’s focus was on introducing AIRE services in the domestic market and support Estonian manufacturing SMEs in digitalisation through AI and robotic solution (e.g. more than 270 unique clients, 54 demonstration projects on AI and robotics and more than 1200 participants in trainings). Strong ties with Estonian ecosystem were built - more than 2200 participants attended AIRE Clubs, joint AIRE 2025+ strategy development with all AIRE stakeholders was provided, more than 115 clients were directed to Estonian Business Innovation Agency. Furthermore, AIRE was attractive gameplayer to other EDIHs – we have tight connections with 18 EDIHs across Europe, we organised joint webinars with ShiftLabs from Sweden, ARIC from Germany and FAIR in Finland, as well as provided one international AIRE Club with 10 EDIHs in attendance. But the most important, we were presented at European level stages on EDIH Summit in 2024, but also on ADRA Annual Conference workshop and Frankfurt Technology Fair – AIRE has been actively built international network and has been seen on EU level (see also Section 1.2).

For 2025 – 2028 the main direct contribution of AIRE, in addition to raising awareness and increasing competitiveness of Estonian SMEs of all aspects of AI, is to considerably strengthen the collaboration with EU AI ecosystem, including EDIHs, AI Factories, TEFs, but also AI Regulatory Sandboxes and AI- on-demand platform. All AIRE’s services for 2025 – 2028 are designed based on this long-term objective. During 2022 and 2025 the impact of AIRE services has been significant – AIRE clients have triggered additional investments (public, private, Estonian and EU funding) for about €62m, the digital maturity level of AIRE clients has increased about 18% and within the coming two – three years AIRE clients plan to invest about additional €29m into AI and robotics solutions. One of the main conclusions from AIRE’s recent impact assessment, is that the level of awareness and ability of AIRE’s clients to invest into AI technologies has been increased over the last years. Having said this, the timing of putting AIRE services’ focus on supporting its clients conquering European markets cannot be better. Thus, for the period of 2025 – 2028 AIRE services will focus on supporting Estonian SMEs going global through the EU AI ecosystem services. Focus will be put on more digitalised companies with willingness to grow and continue investing into AI technologies. This approach is well in line with overall Estonian innovation ecosystem – along the roadmap of technology development/adaptation, universities address TRL 1-4 with basic research (collaboration with companies through academia – business contracts), Estonian Business Innovation Agency offers public measures to cover TRL 3-5 (Applied Research Programme) as well as digitalisation and overall innovation of businesses (Development support, Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator, Digital Transformation) and AIRE targets TRL 6-7 (testing and experimenting before market/investment), where the gap of funding is the biggest. Once the technology is tested or introduced to the market, private investors are more eager to come on board (TRL 8-9). Thus, AIRE targets the market failure phase, which is the riskiest in terms of unknown outcomes.

Companies directly receiving AIRE services as well as a wider set of companies are expected to benefit from the EU AI Ecosystem. Scalable AI pilots are preferred as test before invest demo projects that could be transferred to other companies, other sectors and domains (Task 2.2, Task 3.1). There is already an outstanding set of test before invest demo projects technological solutions tested (see AIRE

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GitHub), which will be shared via AI-on-demand platform (Task 2.3). We will carefully select a few AIRE clients already provided the demonstration project to be recommended for AI Factories to test and teach more complicated AI systems (Task 5.4). Also, AIRE is about to introduce its own AI toolbox (with collaboration of the Ministry of Justice) to be offered to its clients (Task 3.5). Furthermore, additional collaborations with at least 40 EDIHs will be established to offer cross-border services (Task 5.3).

In the long run, this should contribute to increasing the economic performance of Estonian companies. For example, the labour productivity of Estonian companies in the Estonia’s key exporting industries is 2-3 times less than that of Finland and Sweden, and this gap has not improved significantly in the last decade. There are many factors that have led to this, but the relatively slow digital transformation is also a key reason – digital transformation has been one of the most important sources of economic productivity growth in OECD countries in recent decades. Please see Figure 8 below:

Figure 8. Societal benefits of AIRE activities Another key contribution of the project is related to the overall improvement in the ecosystem. AIRE brings together the universities, science parks, research centres and the SMEs both in Estonia as well as on EU level. The networking spans across the borders as active cooperation is foreseen with other EDIHs and EU AI ecosystem parties, to provide access to the top EU level knowledge. AIRE will operate as access point to the European network of EU AI ecosystem (e.g. EDIHs, TEFs, AI Factories etc). AIRE has already been active player in the network of EDIHs – we will continue sharing best practices and specific knowledge (Task 3.4), bringing companies into contact with other companies of their value chain, and seeking synergies with innovators and adopters that test solutions in novel experiments and foster the adoption of digital technologies and notably AI, in working and business environments in a more human - friendly way. The latter is covered by the newest member of AIRE consortium – Tallinn University – bringing on board the human centric approach to AI. AIRE has become a national competence centre on AI playing central role in the EDIH ecosystem and bringing together relevant local and EU level actors. Having said this, AIRE has strong links with regional authorities, industrial clusters, SME Associations and Enterprise Europe Network, business development agencies, incubators/accelerators, research funding agency (Estonian Research Council) and policymakers (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Justice) (see the list of Associated Partners in Section 2.3). AIRE services 2025 – 2028 are designed and consulted with all stakeholders ensuring complementarity to other public funds (double funding within the local ecosystem is excluded). AIRE complements and builds synergy with existing national initiatives and is a central point for companies in issues related to AI.

As a national competence centre in AI, AIRE designs its operations and services to achieve sustainability beyond 2028 being able to raise funds for its future activities as well as continue providing societal benefits also in the long run. AIRE has several matured services, which are well accepted in the market and where societal benefits are clearly visible – we will continue with these services to maximise the benefits (Task 2.1, Task 2.2, Task 6.4). Specifically, economic benefits in the number of additional investments are foreseen 2025 – 2028 about €100m. In addition, services like trainings (Task 3.3) and webinars (Task 3.4), AI Act awareness and Toolbox (Task 3.5) or first-line AI Helpdesk (Task 3.1) will contribute into increasing skills and AI-capable workforce and ethical and trustworthy AI use. All AIRE services contribute towards increased use of AI technologies, but we will pay specific attention on supporting

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clients in the use of EU AI technologies (Task 2.2, task 2.2, Task 3.1, Task 3.4). Another clear benefit admitted during 2022 – 2025 is increased level of academic outputs – test before invest demonstration projects generated eight research articles and there is potential for five new spin-offs to be created. Most of the demonstration projects involved students from Bachelor, Master as well as PhD levels. Furthermore, most researchers being involved in the demonstration projects expressed their benefits from collaborating with companies - the aim of collaboration was clear, the period was quick, which required focusing, the project team had real-life challenge to solve, and hands-on experience gave better connection with the market.

3.3 Environmental sustainability and contribution to European Green Deal goals

Environmental sustainability and contribution to European Green Deal goals Describe the extent to which the project will contribute to environmental sustainability and in particular to European Green Deal goals

This might not be applicable to all topics — for details refer to the Call document.

Not applicable

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4. WORK PLAN, WORK PACKAGES, ACTIVITIES, RESOURCES AND TIMING

4.1 Work plan

Work plan Provide a brief description of the overall structure of the work plan (list of work packages or graphical presentation (Pert chart or similar)).

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4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing

WORK PACKAGES

Work packages

This section concerns a detailed description of the project activities. Group your activities into work packages. A work package means a major sub-division of the project. For each work package, enter an objective (expected outcome) and list the activities, milestones and deliverables that belong to it. The grouping should be logical and guided by identifiable outputs. Projects should normally have a minimum of 2 work packages. WP1 should cover the management and coordination activities (meetings, coordination, project monitoring and evaluation, financial management, progress reports, etc) and all the activities which are cross-cutting and therefore difficult to assign to another specific work package (do not try splitting these activities across different work packages). WP2 and further WPs should be used for the other project activities. You can create as many work packages as needed by copying WP1. For very simple projects, it is possible to use a single work package for the entire project (WP1 with the project acronym as WP name). Work packages covering financial support to third parties ( only allowed if authorised in the Call document) must describe the conditions for implementing the support (for grants: max amounts per third party; criteria for calculating the exact amounts, types of activity that qualify (closed list), persons/categories of persons to be supported and criteria and procedures for giving support; for prizes: eligibility and award criteria, amount of the prize and payment arrangements).

Enter each activity/milestone/output/outcome/deliverable only once (under one work package). Ensure consistency with the detailed budget table/calculator (if applicable). (n/a for prefixed Lump Sum Grants)

Objectives List the specific objectives to which the work package aims to achieve.

Activities and division of work (WP description) Provide a concise overview of the work (planned tasks). Be specific and give a short name and number for each task. Show who is participating in each task: Coordinator (COO), Beneficiaries (BEN), Affiliated Entities (AE), Associated Partners (AP), indicating in bold the task leader. Add information on other participants’ involvement in the project e.g. subcontractors, in-kind contributions. Note: In-kind contributions: In-kind contributions for free are cost-neutral, i.e. cannot be declared as cost. Please indicate the in-kind contributions that are provided in the context of the work package. The Coordinator remains fully responsible for the coordination tasks, even if they are delegated to someone else. Coordinator tasks cannot be subcontracted. If there is subcontracting, please also complete the table below. Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes) Milestones are control points in the project that help to chart progress (e.g. completion of a key deliverable allowing the next phase of the work to begin). Use them only for major outputs in complex projects, otherwise leave the section empty. Please limit the number of milestones by work package. Means of verification are how you intend to prove that a milestone has been reached. If appropriate, you can also refer to indicators. Deliverables are project outputs which are submitted to show project progress (any format). Refer only to major outputs. Do not include minor sub-items, internal working papers, meeting minutes, etc. Limit the number of deliverables to max 10-15 for the entire project. You may be asked to further reduce the number during grant preparation. For deliverables such as meetings, events, seminars, trainings, workshops, webinars, conferences, etc., enter each deliverable separately and provide the following in the 'Description' field: invitation, agenda, signed presence list, target group, number of estimated participants, duration of the event, report of the event, training material package, presentations, evaluation report, feedback questionnaire. For deliverables such as manuals, toolkits, guides, reports, leaflets, brochures, training materials etc., add in the ‘Description’ field: format (electronic or printed), language(s), approximate number of pages and estimated number of copies of publications (if any). For each deliverable you will have to indicate a due month by when you commit to upload it in the Portal. The due month of the deliverable cannot be outside the duration of the work package and must be in line with the timeline provided below. Month 1 marks the start of the project and all deadlines should be related to this starting date.

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

The labels used mean: Public — fully open ( automatically posted online on the Project Results platforms) Sensitive — limited under the conditions of the Grant Agreement EU classified — RESTREINT-UE/EU-RESTRICTED, CONFIDENTIEL-UE/EU-CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET-UE/EU-SECRET under Decision 2015/444. For items classified under other rules (e.g. national or international organisation), please select the equivalent EU classification level.

Work Package 1

Work Package 1: Project management and coordination

Duration: M1 – M36 Lead Beneficiary: 1-TalTech

Objectives

The specific objectives of this WP1 are to coordinate the project, manage administrative and financial matters, organise the Steering Group and the high-level Advisory Board of AIRE (level 3 management) and control quality and monitor impact based on milestones, deliverables and KPIs.

Activities and division of work (WP description)

Task No (continuous numbering linked to

WP)

Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions

and Subcontracting

(Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO, BEN,

AE, AP, OTHER)

T1.1 Strategic management Once a year a joint meeting is held with the AIRE team (project manager, COO, CFO, Client Relations Manager), WP leaders, project partners and other key experts, the Steering Group and the Advisory Board. Project management handbook is prepared for the kick-off meeting taking place at M1. Review meetings are planned M12 and M24 and M36.

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC TLU Associated partners (all)

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN AP

Yes (subcontracting)

T1.2 Organisation of the Advisory Board for test before invest (industry involvement)

Once a year, an Advisory Board (AB) meeting is organised with project partners, Associated Partners, external experts and their formal reviews prepared and presented. In addition to a review of KPIs and impact, AB takes part in the selection of AIRE test before invest demo projects. Minimum of 3 AB meetings will be organised. In addition,

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

ad-hoc consultations or meetings will be provided based on the need.

TLU Associated partners (ITL, EML, EEL)

BEN AP

T1.3 Steering Group (SG) meetings (internal management)

Once quarter Steering Group (SG) meetings are organised to monitor the financial management, project progress and impact as well as organisation of the AIRE/EDIH project. The SC consists of legal representatives of each partner or staff delegated by the legal representative. Also, reviews of AB members are presented to SG once a year.

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

T1.4 Progress and impact monitoring The progress and impact of the services is monitored throughout the service period by the leading service partner. Project progress is monitored through monthly progress meetings, organised with WP managers and project partners. The KPIs are monitored through CRM by Client Relations Manager. The progress overview to consortium partners is done quarterly on Steering Group meetings and the impact overview twice a year, in February and August to all consortium partners, associated partners, steering group members, including clients.

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

T1.5 Participation in DTA activities and collaboration

Participation in DTA activities and collaboration to build EDIH community, share experiences and get new knowledge, network, build cohesion between EDIHs and capacity to implement cross-border services.

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Milestone No

Milestone Name Work Package No

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month number)

Means of Verification

MS1 All project management structures and procedures in place

WP1 TALTECH A detailed overview of project management structures and procedures is provided in D1.1 Project Management Handbook

M3 D1.1 Project Management Handbook

Deliverable No

Deliverable Name Work Package No

Lead Beneficiary

Type Dissemination Level

Due Date (month

number)

Description (including format and language)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

D1.1 Project management handbook

WP1 TALTECH R PU M3 Project management handbook, consisting of all relevant templates and forms for effective coordination, administration and financial management created by M1. (ENG, pdf).

D1.2 Data Management Plan

WP1 UT R PU M6 Data Management Plan prepared including principles and procedures, methodologies and standards of collection, handling and managing of data (ENG, pdf).

D1.3 Sustainability Plan WP1 TALTECH R PU M18 Sustainability plan consisting of activities and partnerships for the centre’s long-term plan beyond the EDIH funding. (ENG, pdf).

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 61,65 person months

339 098 EUR

14 872 EUR

205 EUR 0 EUR 22 482 EUR

0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 26 366 EUR

403 023 EUR

UT 23,72 person months

104 380 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 7 307 EUR 111 687 EUR

EMU 11,60 person months

41 752 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 923 EUR 44 675 EUR

TEHNOPOL 6,26 person months

37 690 EUR

0 EUR 4 062 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 923 EUR 44 675 EUR

TSP 10,80 person months

41 751 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 923 EUR 44 674 EUR

IMECC 7,20 person months

41 752 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 923 EUR 44 675 EUR

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

TLU 3,6 person months

20 876 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 461 EUR 22 337 EUR

Total 124,84 person months

627 299 EUR

14 872 EUR

4 267 EUR

0 EUR 22 482 EUR

0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 46 824 EUR

715 744 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Work Package 2

Work Package 2: Test Before Invest Duration: M1 –

M36 Lead Beneficiary: 1-TALTECH

Objectives

The overall objective is to support SMEs with test before invest services ensuring the suitability and adaptability of the technology before making an investment. The specific aim is to carry out experimentation with new digital technologies related to AI – software and hardware – to understand new opportunities and return on investments, also including demonstration facilities and piloting. The test before invest services include AI suitability assessment (individual consulting, T2.1) and AI test before invest demo projects with the industry for testing, piloting and experimenting (T2.2). The WP also includes integration of AIRE services outcomes with EU AI Ecosystem (i.e. sharing and scaling of demoprojects’ results, Task 2.3).

Activities and division of work (WP description)

Task No Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions and Subcontracting (Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO,

BEN, AE, AP,

OTHER)

T2.1 AI suitability analysis With AI consulting services, AIRE assesses SME’s ability to implement AI solutions and gives concrete recommendations to SMEs. The assessment will result in an expert opinion, consisting of a mapping of the current state of business, an analysis of digital technologies and data usage, and the feasibility/probability and practicality of implementing AI solutions. AIRE also technically validates AI technologies, prototypes and runs SME’s data on established AI models to validate their suitability. The end goal is that after

TSP TEHNOPOL

COO BEN

Yes (Subcontracting)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

the service, SME will have a clear and executable action plan for implementing AI in their company. Potential for opening the service cross- border. KPI 130 companies will be consulted.

T2.2 Test before invest AI demo projects (incl EU AI Infrastructure, HPC, TEF etc)

To support digitalisation, increase awareness and support investments, the AIRE consortium collaborates with SMEs in carrying out test before invest AI demo projects and experiments (proof-of-concept phase of innovation projects). Projects/clients are selected via open calls for ideas. This is not cascade-funding (only consortium-related costs are budgeted). KPI: Total of 25 companies use-cases are involved to test before invest pilots in 2025- 2028. The demo projects will be carefully selected based on their objective to invest into AI technologies, growth ambitions and ability to collaborate with EU AI Infrastructure services. The precondition for applying for demo project is AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1), also impact assessment is recommended to present (Task 3.1). This service is followed with consulting related to access to funding (Tasks 4.2, 4.3), finding opportunities for cross- border services (Task 5.3) or Access to EU AI Infrastructure (Task 5.4).

TALTECH UT EMU TSP IMECC TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Yes (Subcontracting)

T2.3 Integration of AIRE results with EU AI ecosystem (i.e. AI on- demand platform)

There are 54 demo projects implemented during the period 2022-2025. All demo projects validated technological solutions are published in AIRE Github. The task is aimed to scale up AIRE’s technological solutions through sharing the results via EU AI ecosystem network making them available for wider range of SMEs in Europe.

TALTECH COO No

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Milestone No Milestone Name Work Package No

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month

number)

Means of Verification

MS2 Test before invest client engagement target on track by M18: 50% of the total number of clients in service by M18

WP2 TalTech 50% of the target number of clients in service in all test before invest service categories (AI and robotics suitability assessment, demo projects) by M18

M18 D2.1 Impact report

MS3 Integration of AIRE results established with EU AI Ecosystem M12

WP2 TalTech Connection to EU AI Ecosystem is created. AIRE results will be shared, and process how to collaborate with EU AI Ecosystem is clear and agreed.

M12 At least 10 projects are linked with AI-on-demand platform

Deliverable No Deliverable Name Work Package No

Lead Beneficiary

Type Dissemination Level

Due Date (month number)

Description (including format and language)

D2.1 Impact Report WP2 TalTech R PU M18 D2.1 Impact Report (Holistic report covering all WPs impact) (ENG, pdf)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

D2.2 Impact Report WP2 TalTech R PU M36 D2.2 Impact Report (Holistic report covering all WPs impact) (ENG, pdf)

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 92,93 person months

511 116 EUR

35 535 EUR

755 EUR 0 EUR 22 480 EUR

0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 39 892 EUR

609 778 EUR

UT 74,79 person months

329 093 EUR

8 000 EUR

4 000 EUR

0 EUR 25 000 EUR

0 prizes 0 EUR 4 000 EUR 0 EUR 25 907 EUR

396 000 EUR

EMU 33,93 person months

122 131 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 16 654 EUR

0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 9 715 EUR 148 500 EUR

TEHNOPOL 39,84 person months

240 062 EUR

9 000 EUR

4 798 EUR

0 EUR 16 000 EUR

0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 18 890 EUR

288 750 EUR

TSP 61,20 person months

373 445 EUR

0 EUR 15 000 EUR

0 EUR 25 000 EUR

0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 28 941 EUR

442 386 EUR

IMECC 15,90 person months

89 978 EUR

0 EUR 300 EUR 0 EUR 2 245 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 6 477 EUR 99 000 EUR

TLU 9 person months

44 762 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 500 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 3 238 EUR 49 500 EUR

Total 327,59 person months

1 710 587

EUR

52 535 EUR

24 853 EUR

0 EUR 108 879 EUR

0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 4 000 EUR 0 EUR 133 060 EUR

2 033 914 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Work Package 3

Work Package 3: Skills and training

Duration: M1 – M36

Lead Beneficiary: UT

Objectives

The objective of WP3 is to improve the industry’s knowledge, awareness and skills in the fields of digitalisation technologies, AI and robotics. AIRE will become the First- line AI Helpdesk for SMEs. Awareness on AI Act compatibility will be created.

Activities and division of work (WP description)

Task No Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions

and Subcontracting

(Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO, BEN,

AE, AP, OTHER)

T3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation

The aim of the First-line AI Helpdesk in the context of AI innovation serves as an initial support mechanism designed to assist SMEs in navigating the complexities of adopting and implementing AI technologies. Its primary aim is to provide accessible, reliable, and immediate assistance to entities embarking on their AI journey, ensuring they can leverage AI effectively and responsibly. The service is aimed to be a flexible opportunity to address a variety of issues by clients, e.g. consult clients on ad-hoc questions related to AI, provide deeper digital maturity assessments complemented with consultation, allow clients to have pre-demo project consultation (i.e. feasibility and potential impact of the technological solution, follow-up technology roadmap to investment after demo project, consult on scaling up of the technological solutions, consultation on EU AI technologies, robotisation suitability assessment etc) KPI: total 486 client days of consultation (client day = 8h)

TALTECH UT EMU TEHNOPOL TSP IMECC TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Yes (Subcontracting)

T3.2 Analysis of needs and the skills development plan

Based on results and experiences from 2022-2025 skills and knowledge gap analysis and training needs of SMEs will be conducted (incl. publicly available reports, input from Associated Partners, clients, previous results and experiences etc.)

UT COO No

T3.3 Organisation of trainings

Training courses (min 8h) in the fields of AI to support the digital transformation of Estonian manufacturing and its related value chain companies. Trainings are designed to enhance practical skills, promote technology adoption, and build

UT TALTECH TLU

COO BEN BEN

Yes (Subcontracting)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

long-term capabilities among companies and specialists. KPI: total 130 participants trained

T3.4 Webinars to SMEs for AI skills

Webinars (1,5-3h) targeted at SMEs and public to strengthen their skills and knowledge in AI related topics. Webinars aim to raise awareness, provide practical insights, and encourage the adoption of AI technologies to boost innovation and competitiveness of SMEs. The service will be provided cross- border. KPI: total 260 participants attended

UT TALTECH EMU

COO BEN BEN

Yes (Subcontracting)

T3.5 AI Act awareness & Toolbox

The aim of the service is to increase SMEs’ awareness on AI Act and the associated Toolbox. The Act and the Toolbox is designed to assist SMEs, startups and public institutions in understanding, preparing for, and complying with the EU’s AI Act. This support is crucial as the AI Act introduces a comprehensive regulatory framework governing the development and use of AI within the EU. The aim is also to encourage SMEs to invest into AI solutions and give them confidence in the framework of the AI Act. Individual consultations on compatibility with the Act and advice on the use of AI Toolbox will be given. KPI: total 140 clients consulted

TALTECH COO No

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Milestone No

Milestone Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month

number)

Means of Verification

MS4 AI related skills and knowledge to be developed are recognised

WP3 UT Based on previous experiences, an analysis of skills and knowledge development needs is provided.

M3 D3.1 Analysis of needs and skills development plan

MS5 AI Toolbox is launched WP3 TALTECH The AI Toolbox is created and launched and is ready to be offered to SMEs.

M12 Print screen (and link) of the online Toolbox

Deliverable No

Deliverable Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Type Disseminat ion Level

Due Date (month

number)

Description (including format and language)

D3.1 Analysis of needs and skills development plan

WP3 UT R PU M3 An overview of local trainings market and SME needs analysis, i.e. skills and knowledge on AI Act. Analysis is based on experiences from 2022-2025 and clients’ feedback. (ENG, pdf)

D3.2 Final report on training and skills

WP3 UT R PU M36 Final report on trainings and webinars carried out (including a list of participants, company profiles, obtained skills and feedback). The report includes overview of activities and results of the First-Line AI Helpdesk and AI Act awareness services. (ENG, pdf)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 51,43 person months

282 842 EUR

2 497 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 7 517 EUR 0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 20 500 EUR

313 356 EUR

UT 61,30 person months

269 724 EUR

3 000 EUR

1 000 EUR

0 EUR 4 000 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 1 000 EUR 0 EUR 19 511 EUR

278 724 EUR

EMU 5,74 person months

20 668 EUR

0 EUR 3 000 EUR

0 EUR 4 500 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 972 EUR 30 140 EUR

TEHNOPOL 3,60 person months

21 690 EUR

19 431 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 878 EUR 43 999 EUR

TSP 3,60 person months

16 449 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 151 EUR 17 600 EUR

IMECC 16,90 person months

95 992 EUR

0 EUR 2 700 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 6 908 EUR 105 600 EUR

TLU 5 person months

27 841 EUR

0 EUR 3 000 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 2 159 EUR 33 000 EUR

Total 147,57 person months

735 206 EUR

24 928 EUR

9 700 EUR

0 EUR 16 017 EUR

0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 1 000 EUR 0 EUR 55 080 EUR

841 931 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Work Package 4

Work Package 4: Support to Find Investments

Duration: M1 - M36 Lead Beneficiary: TEHNOPOL

Objectives

The objective of WP4 is to consult clients (mainly manufacturing companies) in finding state, regional, EU and private funding and loans (collaboration with banks) for financing AI related digitalisation projects and thus supporting investments to innovation.

Activities and division of work (WP description) Task No

(continuous numbering linked to

WP)

Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions

and Subcontracting

(Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO, BEN,

AE, AP, OTHER)

T4.1 Funding roadmap development Mapping public funding measures, private capital and accelerators to understand the market and funding opportunities. Collaboration with EEN.

TEHNOPOL COO No

T4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding)

The aim of the service is to support SMEs in finding funding for investments into AI technologies. While, for example, AI suitability assessment (Task 2.1), AI demoprojects (Task 2.2), but also First-Line AI Helpdesk (Task 3.1) and AI Act awareness consultation (Task 3.5) are for consulting and testing technologies before investment, then this task provides opportunities to find funding for investments from public measures. The task includes keeping the list of Estonian and EU public funding measures updated; keeping and developing contacts with Estonian entrepreneurship funding ecosystem; investigating new EU public funding opportunities; consulting clients on public funding measures. Mixed funding (public and private) will be used when necessary. Also, clients will be consulted on participating on AI tenders. KPI: 200 clients will be consulted.

TALTECH UT

COO BEN

T4.3 Consulting on access to funding (private funding)

In parallel with Task 4.2 AIRE’s clients are consulted on finding funding opportunities from private funding. The task involves: consulting clients involving private funding and loans for AI investments; consulting clients involving private funding and loans for innovation projects; managing contacts with Estonian and EU entrepreneurship funding ecosystem and investors. Mixed funding (public and private) will be used when necessary. KPI: 50 clients will be consulted

TEHNOPOL COO No

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

T4.4 Preparation and submission of funding proposals for EU collaboration of EDIHs etc.

The aim is to map and manage opportunities for further collaboration with EDIHs on joint funding proposals. The task includes creating and updating a list of EU projects funding calls and opportunities (e.g. Horizon, DEP, Interreg etc); identifying collaboration opportunities with other EDIHs, clients and AIRE consortium partners; facilitating collaboration negotiations, proposals' development and contract signature; manage projects' implementation.

TALTECH COO Yes (Subcontracting)

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Milestone No Milestone Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month

number)

Means of Verification

MS6 Support-to-find funding client engagement target on track by M18

WP4 TEHNOPOL 50% of the target number of clients consulted related to financing opportunities (regarding both public and private funding sources) by M18.

M18 50% of total number of clients serviced (based on AIRE CRM)

Deliverable No Deliverable Name

Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Type Dissemination Level

Due Date (month

number)

Description (including format and language)

D4.1 Roadmap for financing measures for AIRE centre and its clients 2025 - 2028

WP4 TEHNOPOL R PU M6 Funding roadmap covers a list of funding measures, keywords, eligibility, co-financing rules, budget limits, etc as a tool for consulting clients in finding funding. (ENG, .pdf)

D4.2 Final report on support to find investments

WP4 TEHNOPOL R PU M36 The final report provides an overview of the results of all WP4 activities and outlines total public (state, regional and EU) and private financing engaged by AIRE´s clients and key stakeholders (incl. consortium projects). (ENG, pdf)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 33,60 person months

184 796 EUR

17 628 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 9 852 EUR 0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 14 859 EUR

227 135 EUR

UT 4,45 person months

19 561 EUR

0 EUR 1 000 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 439 EUR 22 000 EUR

EMU 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

TEHNOPOL 13,91 person months

83 824 EUR

0 EUR 649 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 5 913 EUR 90 386 EUR

TSP 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

IMECC 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

TLU 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

Total 51,95 person months

288 181 EUR

17 628 EUR

1 649 EUR

0 EUR 9 852 EUR 0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 22 212 EUR

339 521 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Work Package 5

Work Package 5: Innovation Ecosystem and Networking Opportunities

Duration: M1 – M36 Lead Beneficiary: TALTECH

Objectives

The aim is to strengthen ties with EU AI Ecosystem and develop opportunities for European level networking. Contacts with EU AI Infrastructure will be created and developed, processes for consulting clients on attending EU AI Infrastructure services will be provided.

Activities and division of work (WP description)

Task No (continuous numbering linked to

WP)

Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions

and Subcontracting

(Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO, BEN,

AE, AP, OTHER)

T5.1 Strategic coordination of AIRE EDIH role in EU AI Ecosystem

Setting up and coordinating tasks 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4. Ensuring smooths service delivery.

TALTECH COO Yes (Subcontracting)

T5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs (including for the promotion of the AI technologies made in Europe

The overall aim is to setting the scene for tasks 5.3 and 5.4. Mapping EU AI Ecosystem opportunities and describing relevant services, i.e. mapping EDIHs fields of activity and opportunities for AIRE clients. Identifying services and contacts to be offered to the clients. Negotiating with EDIHs on collaboration and establishing cross-border services. Identifying possible client segments and defining value added and impact for AIRE clients. Hosting EU AI ecosystem partners and clients in Estonia. KPI: 250 EDIH partners and clients consulted

TALTECH TEHNOPOL

COO BEN

T5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross- border service delivery

The aim is to establish opportunities and offer for cross-border services – AIRE’s clients to other EDIHs’ services and vice versa. Consulting clients about EDIHs opportunities (during other AIRE services and stand-alone). Facilitating negotiations between clients and EDIHs including collaboration contract/deal. Negotiating with other EDIHs clients on AIRE's services. KPI: 42 clients consulted

TALTECH UT TEHNOPOL TSP

COO BEN BEN BEN

T5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem

The aim is to enable AIRE’s clients to attend EU AI Infrastructure services. Mapping of EU AI infrastructure services and client needs (starting with existing demo projects and AI/robotics

TALTECH UT

COO BEN

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

suitability assessment clients). Creating contacts with AI Infrastructure services providers and identifying collaboration opportunities. Consulting and matchmaking clients about EU AI Infrastructure opportunities. Assisting clients to sign collaboration agreement and enter into the service. This task is complementary to Tasks 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, covering all sectors) KPI: 36 clients consulted

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Milestone No (continuous numbering

not linked to WP)

Milestone Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month

number)

Means of Verification

MS7 At least two AIRE services are open for cross-border collaboration

WP5 TALTECH At least two AIRE services are open for cross-border clients.

M12 Services are described and presented on AIRE homepage

MS8 At least four collaborations with EU AI Infrastructure services are established

WP5 TALTECH Established contacts with EU AI Infrastructure services in order to offer services to AIRE clients.

M12 Signed MoUs or other similar agreements

Deliverable No (continuous numbering

linked to WP)

Deliverable Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Type Dissemination Level

Due Date (month

number)

Description (including format and language)

D5.1 Final report of AIRE EDIH integration into EU AI ecosystem

WP5 TALTECH R PU M36 Overview of WP5 results and outcomes (i.e. which EU AI Infrastructure was used, number of clients in cross-border services, etc). (ENG, .pdf)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 22,01 person months

121 080 EUR

9 164 EUR

39 814 EUR

0 EUR 64 082 EUR

0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 16 390 EUR

250 530 EUR

UT 21,36 person months

93 972 EUR

0 EUR 10 000 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 7 278 EUR 111 250 EUR

EMU 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

TEHNOPOL 5,48 person months

33 000 EUR

0 EUR 17 841 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 3 559 EUR 54 400 EUR

TSP 9 person months

33 701 EUR

0 EUR 12 000 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 3 199 EUR 48 900 EUR

IMECC 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

TLU 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

Total 57,85 person months

281 753 EUR

9 164 EUR

79 655 EUR

0 EUR 64 082 EUR

0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 30 426 EUR

465 079 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Work Package 6

Work Package 6: Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results

Duration: M1 – M36 Lead Beneficiary: TALTECH

Objectives

Develop brand awareness of AIRE among target audiences as well as AI and robotics ecosystem on the level that emerges interest towards the value that AIRE creates in Estonia and Europe and makes them follow AIRE’s communication channels. To promote collaboration with other European EDIHs by offering companies the opportunity to access the services of EDIH centers in other European countries. To encourage and facilitate the use of know-how and services within the European AI ecosystem. Generate sufficient applications feed and participants to the AIRE services, trainings, initiatives, services, events, and AIRE Clubs.

Task No (continuous numbering linked to

WP)

Task Name Description Participants In-kind Contributions

and Subcontracting

(Yes/No and which)

Name Role (COO, BEN,

AE, AP, OTHER)

T6.1 Development of Dissemination and Communication Plan

Designing a detailed plan for communication and dissemination (D6.1). TALTECH UT EMU IMECC TSP TEHNOPOL TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

T6.2 Implementation of the Dissemination and Communication Plan

Execution of activities according to the plan and project needs: campaign for call for ideas of AI demo projects; events, trainings and activities pre- and post-communication to provide visibility and participation according to the project KPIs; production and dissemination of videos, posters and banners about demo projects (linked to T6.3), best practices, services and events.

TALTECH UT EMU IMECC TSP TEHNOPOL TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Yes (subcontracting)

T6.3 Updating the aire-edih.eu website. Content to be included: updated services, renewed focus, target groups and formats of telling the success-stories. General UX audit and refreshments.

The aire-edih.eu website will be updated with the new content: several new services available, shift in focus target groups, etc. There will be new formats of telling the success stories. AIRE networking events will be attractively displayed. A technical development of the new displays and functionalities will be produced with the chosen partner. EU AI technologies in focus.

TALTECH UT EMU IMECC TSP TEHNOPOL TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Yes (subcontracting)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

T6.4 Client relationship management (Service and CRM management)

Already existing AIRE’s CRM will be updated regarding EDIH2 principles. The system consists of: automated service and client management system for the project, service and customer management in CRM; client-oriented customer journey with client and target group-centric principles; analytics- driven feedback loop for service and delivery improvement regionally and technically. The client journey will be improved to target EU-level service reach, EU AI technology uptake and cross-border service delivery.

TALTECH UT EMU IMECC TSP TEHNOPOL TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

T6.5 Organisation of AIRE Clubs The main networking format for the AIRE centre is AIRE Clubs. There will be several AIRE Clubs run by AIRE consortium partners in different locations in Estonia and in Europe and in co-operation with other EDIHs. The main KPI is to gather the expected number of participants and initiate impactful new co-operations, development and investment decisions.

TALTECH UT EMU IMECC TSP TEHNOPOL TLU

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Yes (subcontracting)

Milestones and deliverables (outputs/outcomes)

Mileston e No

Milestone Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Description Due Date (month

number)

Means of Verification

MS9 AIRE's new services have been described and featured across communication channels

WP6 TALTECH AIRE’s existing services description has been adjusted to 2025-2028 target group and published on webpage. AIRE’s new services for 2025-2028 have been described and published on webpage.

M12 Screenshot from AIRE’s webpage

MS10 Outreach to new target groups has been achieved to the extent of 50%

WP6 TALTECH The new target groups have been analysed, and appropriate channels for reaching them have been identified. AIRE’s services have been introduced to 50% of these new target groups.

M18 Extract from AIRE CRM

Deliverab le No

Deliverable Name Work Package

Lead Beneficiary

Type Dissemination Level

Due Date (month number)

Description (including format and language)

D6.1 Communication and Dissemination Plan

WP6 TALTECH R PU M3 Communication and Dissemination Plan including activities, communication frequency, channels, target groups, events (ENG, .pdf)

D6.3 Report on the communication and dissemination activities carried out

WP6 TALTECH R PU M18 Report presenting activities, channels, target groups, messages, events (ENG, .pdf)

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Estimated budget — Resources

Participant Costs (n/a for Lump Sum Grants) A. Personnel B.

Subcontra cting

C.1 Travel and

subsistenc e

C.2 Equipmen

C.3 Other goods,

works and services

D.1 Financial support to third

parties

D.2 Internally invoiced

goods and services

D.3 PAC procuremen

t costs (for PAC

Grants for Procurement)

E. Indirect costs

Total costs

TALTECH 95,94 person months

527 671 EUR

106 575 EUR

11 314 EUR

0 EUR 91 599 EUR

0 grants 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 51 601 EUR

788 760 EUR

UT 23.98 person months

105 516 EUR

10 000 EUR

6 000 EUR

0 EUR 74 000 EUR

0 prizes 0 EUR 3 000 EUR 0 EUR 13 896 EUR

212 412 EUR

EMU 1,83 person months

6 578 EUR

0 EUR 1 644 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 576 EUR 8 798 EUR

TEHNOPOL 2,07 person months

12 500 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 6 000 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 295 EUR 19 794 EUR

TSP 5,40 person months

12 499 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 6 000 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 1 295 EUR 19 794 EUR

IMECC 0 person months

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR

TLU 2 person months

8 222 EUR

0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 prizes 0 EUR 0 EUR 0 EUR 576 EUR 8 798 EUR

Total 131,22 person months

672 986 EUR

116 575 EUR

18 958 EUR

0 EUR 177 599 EUR

0 grants 0 prizes

0 EUR 3 000 EUR 0 EUR 69 238 EUR

1 058 356 EUR

For Lump Sum Grants, see detailed budget table/calculator (annex 1 to Part B; see Portal Reference Documents).

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Staff effort (n/a for Lump Sum Grants)

Staff effort per work package Fill in the summary on work package information and effort per work package.

Work Package

Work Package Title Lead Participant

Lead Participant Short Name

Start Month End Month Person-Months

1 Project management and coordination 1 TALTECH M1 M36 124,84 2 Test before invest 1 TALTECH M1 M36 327,59 3 Training and skill development 2 UT M1 M36 147,57 4 Support to find investments 4 TEHNOPOL M1 M36 51,95 5 Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities 1 TALTECH M1 M36 57,85 6 Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation of

Results 1

TALTECH M1 M36

131,22 Total Person- Months 841,03

Staff effort per participant Fill in the effort per work package and Beneficiary/Affiliated Entity. Please indicate the number of person/months over the whole duration of the planned work. Identify the work-package leader for each work package by showing the relevant person/month figure in bold. Participant WP 1 WP 2 WP 3 WP 4 WP 5 WP 6 Total Person-Months TALTECH 61,65 92,93 51,43 33,60 22,01 95,94 357,56 UT 23,72 74,79 61,30 4,45 21,36 23,98 209,60 EMU 11,60 33,93 5,74 0 0 1,83 53,1 TEHNOPOL 6,26 39,84 3,60 13,91 5,48 2,07 71,16 TSP 10,80 61,20 3,60 0 9,00 5,40 90,00 IMECC 7,20 15,90 16,90 0 0 0 40,00 TLU 3,6 9 5 0 0 2 19,6

Total Person-Months 124,84 327,59 147,57 51,95 57,85 131,22 841,03

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Subcontracting (n/a for prefixed Lump Sum Grants)

Subcontracting Give details on subcontracted project tasks (if any) and explain the reasons why (as opposed to direct implementation by the Beneficiaries/Affiliated Entities). Subcontracting — Subcontracting means the implementation of ‘action tasks’, i.e. specific tasks which are part of the EU grant and are described in Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement. Note: Subcontracting concerns the outsourcing of a part of the project to a party outside the consortium. It is not simply about purchasing goods or services. We normally expect that the participants have sufficient operational capacity to implement the project activities themselves. Subcontracting should therefore be exceptional. Include only subcontracts that comply with the rules (i.e. best value for money and no conflict of interest; no subcontracting of coordinator tasks).

Work Package

Subcontract No

(continuous numbering

linked to WP)

Subcontract Name

(subcontracted action tasks)

Description (including task number and

BEN/AE to which it is linked)

Estimated Costs (EUR)

Justification (Why is subcontracting necessary?)

Best-Value-for-Money (How do you intend to ensure it?)

WP1 S1.1 Task: T1.1 All subcontracting related to WP1 (external experts, legal advice)

14 872 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. legal advice)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

WP2 S2.1 Task: T2.1; T2.2 All subcontracting related to WP2 (AI advice)

52 535 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. AI expertise to provide AI assessments and evaluate demo projects)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

WP3 S3.1 Task: T3.1; T3.3; T3.4

All subcontracting related to WP3 (external experts, trainers)

24 928 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. AI experts for AI roadmaps or other specific technological expertise, trainings and webinars)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

WP4 S4.1 Task: T4.4 All subcontracting related to WP4 (expertise related to EU funding measures)

17 628 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. identify and map EU funding and programmes opportunities)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

WP5 S5.1 Task: 5.1 All subcontracting related to WP5 (activities related to collaboration with other EDIHs)

9 164 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. organising events/ meetings (i.e. catering) with other EDIHs)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

WP6 S6.1 Task: T6.2; T6.3, T6.5

All subcontracting related to WP6 (Dissemination, communication and design)

116 575 To include expertise that is not available internally (e.g. graphic designer, videos, writing articles, organising AIRE Clubs)

Open and transparent selection (state tendering rules applied) with quality criteria and methodology.

Other issues: If subcontracting for the entire project goes beyond 30% of the total eligible costs, give specific reasons.

Not applicable

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Purchases and equipment

Purchase costs (travel and subsistence, equipment and other goods works and services) Details for major cost items (needed if costs declared under ‘purchase costs’ are higher than 15% of the claimed personnel costs). Start with the most expensive cost items, down to the 15% threshold. Participant 1: TALTECH

Cost item name Category WP(s) Explanations Costs (EUR)

Travel & subsistence Travel and Subsistence

WP5, WP6 Summarized travel costs to bilateral meetings with EDIHs, participate in EDIH network (i.e. ADRA) events, attend target group events to promote AIRE services

51 128

Other goods and services Other goods and services

WP5, WP6 Organising events and meetings with other EDIHs and EU AI ecosystem parties. Summarized costs on dissemination and communication (e.g. marketing services, AIRE clubs, videos, graphic design, writing articles, demo areas for participating in conferences to promote AIRE services)

155 681

Total EUR 206 089

Participant 2: UT

Cost item name Category WP(s) Explanations Costs (EUR)

Other goods and services Other goods and services

WP6 Costs on dissemination and communication (e.g. AIRE clubs, marketing services, participating in conferences to promote AIRE services)

74 000

Total EUR 74 000

Participant 3: EMU

Cost item name Category WP(s) Explanations Costs (EUR)

Travel & subsistence Travel and Subsistence

WP3, WP6 Summarized travel costs related to client visits in Task 3.1. Costs on dissemination and communication (e.g. AIRE clubs, marketing services, participating in conferences to promote AIRE services)

4 644

Other goods and services Other goods and services

WP3 Organising trainings and webinars. 4 500

Total EUR 9 144

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Participant 4: TEHNOPOL

Cost item name Category WP(s) Explanations Costs (EUR)

Travel & subsistence Travel and Subsistence

WP5 Summarized travel costs to bilateral meetings with EDIHs, participate in EDIH network (i.e. ADRA) events, attend target group events to promote AIRE services

17 841

Other goods and services Other goods and services

WP6 Organising AIRE Clubs. 6 000

Total EUR 23 841

Participant 5: TSP

Cost item name Category WP(s) Explanations Costs (EUR)

Travel & subsistence Travel and Subsistence

WP5 Summarized travel costs to bilateral meetings with EDIHs, participate in EDIH network (i.e. ADRA) events, attend target group events to promote AIRE services

12 000

Other goods and services Other goods and services

WP6 Organising AIRE Clubs. 6 000

Total EUR 18 000

Total purchase costs EUR > 15% (all participants) 337 794

Remaining purchase costs EUR < 15% (all participants) 200 199

Total purchase costs EUR (all participants) 537 993

Equipment with full-cost option For calls where full-capitalised costs are exceptionally eligible for listed equipment (see Call document), indicate below the equipment items for which you request the full- cost option, and justify your request. Ensure consistency with the budget details provided in the previous table.

Equipment Name Description (including WP, task number and BEN/AE to which it is

linked)

Estimated Costs (EUR)

Justification (why is reimbursement at full cost

needed?)

Best-Value-for-Money (how do you intend to

ensure it?) Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

Other cost categories

Other cost categories (financial support to third parties, internally invoiced goods and services, etc) Complete the table below for each participant that would like to declare costs under other costs categories (e.g. financial support and internally invoiced goods and services), irrespective of the percentage of personnel costs.

Participant 1: UT

Cost category Explanations Costs (EUR)

Internally invoiced goods and services

Various internal university services, such as use of laboratory equipment, printing of promotional material, use of HPC service, rental of other facilities, etc.

8 000

Timetable

Timetable (projects of more than 2 years) Fill in cells in beige to show the duration of activities. Repeat lines/columns as necessary. Note: Use actual calendar years and quarters. In the timeline you should indicate the timing of each activity per WP. You may add additional columns if your project is longer than 6 years.

ACTIVITY YEAR 1 YEAR 2 YEAR 3

Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4

T1.1 Strategic management

T1.2 Organisation of the Advisory Board for test before invest (industry involvement)

T1.3 Steering Group (SG) meetings (internal management)

T1.4 Progress and impact monitoring

T1.5 Participation in DTA activities and collaboration

T2.1 AI suitability analysis

T2.2 Test before invest AI demo projects (incl. EU AI Infrastructure, HPC, TEF etc)

T2.3 Integration of AIRE results with EU AI ecosystem (i.e. AI on-demand platform)

T3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation

T3.2 Analysis of needs and the skills development plan

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

T3.3 Organisation of trainings

T3.4 Webinars to SMEs for AI skills

T3.5 AI Act awareness & Toolbox

T4.1 Funding roadmap development

T4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public funding)

T4.3 Consulting on access to funding (private funding)

T4.4 Preparation and submission of funding proposals for EU collaboration of EDIHs etc

T5.1 Strategic coordination of AIRE EDIH role in EU AI Ecosystem

T5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs (including for the promotion of the AI technologies made in Europe

T5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery

T5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem

T6.1 Development of Dissemination and Communication Plan

T6.2 Implementation of the Dissemination and Communication Plan

T6.3 Updating aire-edih.eu website. All relating content to be updated

T6.4 Client relationship management

T6.5 Organisation of AIRE Clubs

#§WRK-PLA-WP§#

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

#@ETH-ICS-EI@#

5. OTHER

5.1 Ethics

Ethics If the Call document contains a section on ethics, the ethics issues and measures you intend to take to solve/avoid them must be described in Part A.

See Application Form Part A.

#§ETH-ICS-EI§# #@SEC-URI-SU@#

5.2 Security

Security The security issues and the measures you intend to take to solve/avoid them must be described in Part A. Note: Beneficiaries must ensure that their projects are not subject to national/third country security requirements that could affect the implementation or put into question the award of the grant (e.g. technology restrictions, national security classification, etc).

Not Applicable

#§SEC-URI-SU§# #@DEC-LAR-DL@#

6. DECLARATIONS

Double funding

Information concerning other EU grants

Please note that there is a strict prohibition of double funding from the EU budget (except under EU Synergies actions).

YES/NO

We confirm that to our best knowledge none of the projects under the action plan as a whole or in parts have benefitted from any other EU grant (including EU funding managed by authorities in EU Member States or other funding bodies, e.g. EU Regional Funds, EU Agricultural Funds, etc). If NO, explain and provide details.

YES

We confirm that to our best knowledge none of the projects under the action plan as a whole or in parts are (nor will be) submitted for any other EU grant (including EU funding managed by authorities in EU Member States or other funding bodies, e.g. EU Regional Funds, EU Agricultural Funds, etc). If NO, explain and provide details.

YES

Financial support to third parties (if applicable) If in your project the maximum amount per third party will be more than the threshold amount set in the Call document, justify and explain why the higher amount is necessary in order to fulfil your project’s objectives.

Not applicable

#§DEC-LAR-DL§#

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

ANNEXES

LIST OF ANNEXES

Standard Detailed budget table/Calculator (annex 1 to Part B) — mandatory for certain Lump Sum Grants (see Portal Reference Documents) CVs (annex 2 to Part B) — not applicable Annual activity reports (annex 3 to Part B) — not applicable List of previous projects (annex 4 to Part B) — mandatory, if required in the Call document Special Other annexes (annex 5 to Part B) — mandatory, if required in the Call document

The following Annexes are added to the Application:

Annex Heading Format of the Annex

Annex 1 Detailed budget Inserted into the Participant Portal

Annex 4 List of Previous Projects Added as separate file

Annex 5 List of Services and Prices Added as separate file

Annex 6 List of KPIs and targets Added as separate file

Annex 7 List of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) and Letters of Intent (LoI) for collaboration with EDIH network, Signed MoUs and LoIs

Added as separate file

Letter of designation by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia (added as separate file

Added as separate file

Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)]

EU Grants: Application form (DEP): V2.0 – 01.06.2022.0 – 01.06.2022

LIST OF PREVIOUS PROJECTS

List of previous projects Please provide a list of your previous projects for the last 4 years.

Participant Project Reference No and Title, Funding

programme

Period (start and end date)

Role (COO,

BEN, AE, OTHER)

Amount (EUR)

Website (if any)

See Annex 4

HISTORY OF CHANGES

VERSION PUBLICATION DATE CHANGE

1.0 01.11.2021 Initial version (new MFF). 2.0 01.06.2022 Consolidation, formatting and layout changes. Tags added.

Annex 4: List of previous projects (Period 2021 – 2024) AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

Participant Project Reference No and Title, Funding programme

Period (start and end date)

Role (COO, BEN, AE, OTHER)

Amount (EUR)

Website (if any)

TALTECH

EMU

TSP

Tehnopol

IMECC

101083677 AIRE

„AI and Robotics Estonia

(EDIH)“

Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL); Republic of

Estonia Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications

01.07.2022 - 31.08.2025

COO

BEN

Project total KAVA

6 000 000 €

https://aire-edih.eu/

Tartu Science Park, UT, Tehnopol , TALTECH, Tartu City Government, Tallinn City Government and others

European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre

(ESA BIC) - ESA BIC Estonia Consortium

08.2017 – 08.2023

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Total investment 1 175 000 EUR, incl funding from European Space Agency and consortium partners (only direct funding for startups and events)

https://www.esabic.ee/

Tartu Science Park, UT, Tehnopol , TALTECH, Tartu City Government, Tallinn City Government and others

European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre

(ESA BIC) - ESA BIC Estonia Consortium

09.2023 – 08.2026

COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

Total investment 1 380 000 EUR, incl funding from European Space Agency and consortium partners (only direct funding for startups and events)

https://www.esabic.ee/

Tartu Science Park, Tehnopol, Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Enterprise Europe Network

EEN ESTONIA (#101052754, funded by

SMP - Single Market Program)

01.2022 – 06.2025 BEN BEN COO

EEN Estonia budget 1 021 693 €

EU investment 613 000 €

https://enterprise-europe.ee/

Tehnopol Tartu Science Park Contributing to the network of testing centers across the Alliance are: TALTECH, UT CR14, the Estonian National Defence College, Estonian Academy of Security Sciences Estonian Aviation Academy.

NATO Diana Estonia 2024 2025 COO BEN

The implementation of the accelerator in Estonia is funded

yearly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, with

support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, and

the city of Tallinn.

https://www.diana.nato.int/

Tartu Science Park, Häme University of Applied Sciences, Linna Business Development, Krakow Technology Park, K8 Institute for Strategic Aesthetics, Academy of Fine Arts Saar, Riga Technical university, Luleå university of technology, VMG Lignum Systems, VIZULO, Industrial Development Center North AB, Ventspils High Technology Park

CIRC-2-Zero

Interreg Baltic Sea Region

03.2025 – 02.2028 BEN COO BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

3 296 687 € circ-2-zero

Tartu Science Park,

TALTECH,

EIT Digital Hungary, AI Data end Robotics Association,

HORIZON-WIDERA-2024- TALENTS-03 ROBO-KNOT nr 101216484

09.2025 – 08.2028

BEN BEN COO BEN BEN

2 974 196 € N/A

Cofa Vooperativa de Fomacocao e Animacao Cultural CRL, Institut Josef Stefan, Aristotle Uni fo Thessaloniki, PACT Parque, OZZIE Robotics, ROBOTNIK AUTOMATION SL, CTAG

BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN BEN

UT 101235377

APOLLO-V (proposal submitted)

„Advanced Photovoltaic

Onboard Lightweight and

LOw-Emission Vehicles“

Horizon Europe

01.11.2025 -

31.10.2029

BEN Project total KAVA

6 895 406,51 €

101189836

XSCAVE

“Explainable, Safe, Contact-

Aware Planning and Control

for Heavy Machinery

Manipulation and Navigation”

Horizon Europe

01.01.2025 -

31.12.2028

COO Project total KAVA

7 975 530 €

https://www.xscave.eu/

TALTECH

2021-2027.4.04.23-0002

“Engineering Academy”

Inseneriakadeemia ja IT

Akadeemia kõrghariduses

01.01.2024 -

31.12.2026

BEN

Project total KAVA

20 051 116 €

https://harno.ee/inseneriakadee

mia

2021-2027.1.01.23-0350

MOB3JD1221

01.05.2024 -

30.04.2026

COO Project total KAVA

144 000 €

https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec

ts/Display/8bcbae19-eeee-46b7-

96b3-fcef9c820676

„Soft Robotic Scope for

Minimally Invasive Surgery

Procedures“

Mobilitas 3.0

UT 300000108

AI-Decision

„AI-Decision for flexible and efficient manufacturing“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2025 -

31.12.2025

BEN Project total KAVA

233 030,90 €

23361

M-Master

„EIT Labelled Mater

Programme“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2023 -

31.12.2025

BEN Project total KAVA

4 139 964 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

what-we-do/education/master-

school/

23362

DSL

„EIT labelled PhD“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2023 -

31.12.2025

BEN Project total KAVA

1 422 504 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

what-we-

do/education/education-

programmes/empower-

programme/doctoral-school/

24238

InnovatED

„INNOVATive EDucational

program for doctoral school“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2024 -

31.12.2024

BEN Project total KAVA

259 982 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

what-we-

do/education/education-

programmes/empower-

programme/doctoral-school/

23008

STRADA

„Supporting Training and

Networking of Women in

Manufacturing“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2023 -

31.12.2023

BEN Project total KAVA

327 492 €

https://stradawomen.eu/

23060

CompetenSEE

„Hybrid training course for promoting competence

development in manufacturing in South-East

Europe“

Horizon Europe, EIT Manufacturing

01.01.2023 -

31.12.2023

BEN Project total KAVA

197 127 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

news-

events/activities/competensee/

23059

OPEN-TeaLeaF

„Open and Portable

Education uNits as TEAching

and LEArning Factories“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2023 -

31.12.2023

COO Project total KAVA

234 781 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

news-events/activities/open-

tealeaf-project/

22235, 23517

RIEMANN

ROS-based Education of

Advanced Motion Planning

and Control

Horison Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2022 -

31.12.2023

COO Project total KAVA

249 693 € + 249 385 €

year 2022:

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

wp-

content/uploads/2022/11/EDU20

22_RIEMAN.pdf

year 2023:

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

news-events/activities/riemann-

project/

22128; 23091

TURING

(flexy enhance) EITM digiTal

Upskilling and ReskIlliNG

programme

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2022 -

31.12.2023

BEN Project total KAVA

250 000 € + 300 000 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

what-we-

do/education/education-

programmes/empower-

programme/enhance-flexy-

programme/eit-labelled-

fellowship/

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

news-events/activities/turing-

programme/

22071

ConnectSEE

Connecting Learning

Factories for Promoting

Manufacturing Education in

South-East Europe

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2022 -

31.12.2022

BEN Project total KAVA

299 504 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

wp-

content/uploads/2022/11/RIS202

2_ConnectSEE.pdf

22029

ROS4DEV

„Flexible learning for ROS

developers“

Horizon Europe, EIT

Manufacturing

01.01.2022 -

31.12.2022

BEN Project total KAVA

243 730 €

https://www.eitmanufacturing.eu/

wp-

content/uploads/2022/11/EDU20

22_ROS4DEV.pdf

22107

Demo4Green

„Green Manufacturing:

Demonstrating technologies

to fight Climate Change“

01.01.2022 -

31.12.2022

BEN Project total KAVA

379 922 €

https://demo4green.eu/

2021-2027.1.01.24-0769

INNOINSENER

„Integration of high-tech

innovation in engineering

studies at the University of

Tartu“

Sektorite vaheline mobiilsus

SEKMO (Tippspetsialistid)

01.01.2025 -

31.12.2026

COO Project total KAVA

70 072,80 €

2021-2027.1.01.24-0674

ELEKTROONIK

„Integrating a top specialist

in electronics into technical

education at the University of

Tartu“

Sektorite vaheline mobiilsus

SEKMO (Tippspetsialistid)

01.10.2024 -

30.09.2026

COO Project total KAVA

70 072,80 €

https://tuit.ut.ee/et/uudis/elektroo

nika-tippspetsialisti-

integreerimine-tartu-ulikooli-

tehnikahariduse-oppesse

2021-2027.1.01.24-0530

MULTIINSENER

„Integration of engineering

skills and innovative

technology into studies at the

University of Tartu“

Sektorite vaheline mobiilsus

SEKMO (Tippspetsialistid)

01.08.2024 -

31.07.2026

COO Project total KAVA

140 145,60 €

https://tuit.ut.ee/et/sisu/insenerio

skuste-ja-innovatiivse-

tehnoloogia-integreerimine-

oppesse

UT Artificial Intelligence for Smart Automation

TEM-TA101, 2021- 2027.1.01.24-0627

01.09.2024 - 31.08.2028

COO 458 460,00 €

UT, TALTECH, Cybernetica AS

Estonian Centre of Excellence in Artificial

Intelligence

01.01.2024 - 31.12.2030

COO 3 848 666,76 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/10dbbcb3-e392-4f72- 9791-5f2306f88851

TK213

Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen, OneVision Healthcare, UT

AI for Healthcare Professionals

230192

01.06.2023 - 31.12.2025

BEN 139 312,00 €

UT National Competence Centres in the framework of

EuroHPC Phase 2

101101903

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2025

COO 1 422 199,06 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/c55d4a20-d241-415f- 900a-995305ba32cc

UT, CSC-Tieteen tietotekniikan keskus Oy, Aalto- korkeakoulusäätiö sr, Teknologiateollisuus - Teknologiindustrin ry, Helsingin yliopisto, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, SIGMA2 AS, Akademia Gorniczo- Hutnicza im. Stanislawa Staszica w Krakowie

LUMI AI Factory - Service Center

101234208

01.03.2025 - 29.02.2028

BEN 218 750,00 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/1844a4b4-94f2-4c0d- 86b7-844bb7851ba5

UT, Better Medicine, Pärnu Hospital

Fortissimo Plus 01.01.2025 - 31.10.2025

BEN 70 000,00 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/8c3be14a-b638-48e1- 95b9-cda0abff6906

UT, University of Stuttgart, scapos AG, Cineca Consorzio Interuniversitario, Barcelona Supercomputing

Coordination and Support for National Competence

Centres and Centres of Excellence on a European

Level Phase 2 (CASTIEL 2)

101102047

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2025

BEN 180 000,00 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/706453af-867a-4f15- b59a-aa65fabd22d6

Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación Teratec, Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe AISBL, Technischen Universität Wien

UT Big data and machine learning applications: developing a research

direction

ÕÜF6_ATI; 2021- 2027.6.01.23-0034

01.01.2024 - 31.12.2028

COO 606 444,00 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/082204dc-0f47-480a- 9d20-d40fc97b4fb5

TALTECH 101058505

Horizon Europe – Innovation

Action: 5G-Enabled Twin

Transition for the Timber

Industry (Detection of

blockages with cameras and

anomalies in the behavior of

5G modems)

01.06.2022 –

31.10.2025 COO 1 409 188,76 € https://www.5g-timber.eu/

TALTECH

101160182

HORIZON-WIDERA-2023- ACCESS-02 TAICHIP:

Boosting TalTech Capacity in Reliable and Efficient AI-Chip

Design

01.09.2024 – 1.08.2027

COO 1 700 000.00 € https://taichip.taltech.ee/

TALTECH Explainable Machine Learning for Human-Assisted Classification of Freshwater Fish Biodiversity in Fishways

01.04.2022 – 01.04.2025

COO 165 000.00 € N/A

TALTECH Software development for the automatic identification of

26.08.2021 – 26.08.2024

COO 150 000.00 € N/A

fish in underwater videos from fishways

TALTECH ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME. STRATEGIC

PARTNERSHIPS (KEY ACTION 2)

TSAAI: Transversal Skills in Applied Artificial Intelligence

28.02.2022 – 27.02.2025

BEN 50 112.00 € N/A

TALTECH H2020 Work Programme ILIAD:

INTEGRATED DigitaL Framework FOR

Comprehensive MARITIME DATA AND INFORMATION

SERVICES

01.02.2022 – 31.07.2025

BEN 476 250.00 € https://cordis.europa.eu/project/i d/101037643

TALTECH HORIZON-MSCA-2023-DN- 01

101169378

TIRAMISU: Training and Innovation in Reliable and Efficient Chip

Design for Edge AI

01.09.2024 – 31.08.2028

BEN 477 014.00 € https://tiramisu-project.eu/

TALTECH DIGITAL-2023-CLOUD- DATA-04-DIGIPASS

CIRPASS-2

Digital Product Passports Enabling At-Scale and Real- Life Circular Economy Use

Cases in electronics, textiles, tires and construction value

chains

01.05.2024 – 30.04.2027

BEN 249 888.00 € N/A

University of Life

Sciences

EAG304 Autonomous movable power

station

01.11.2023– 31.10.2024

BEN/ COO

150 000 € https://mi.emu.ee/agrorobootika- tooruhm

University of Life

Sciences

PM210001TIBT Development of precision fertilization technology for

cultivated berries

01.01.2021– 31.12.2024

BEN/ COO

392 000 € https://mi.emu.ee/agrorobootika- tooruhm

Tallinn University AI-Mind: Intelligent digital tools for screening of brainconnectivity and

dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment

01.03.2021– 28.02.2026

BEN 443 125 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/d310b069-9953-485d- abb3-a99c6bdd3a90

Tallinn University Malicious actors profiling and detection in Online Social Networks through Artificial

Intelligence

01.01.2023– 31.12.2025

BEN 99 935 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/bb96e37b-7f3e-4379- b63b-83355d29c511

Tallinn University Factors influencing trust in technology

01.11.2021– 30.04.2025

BEN 161 041 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/f5222c20-09d6-4101- b102-22465658a45e

Tallinn University Cultural Data Analytics (CUDAN)

01.01.2019– 31.08.2024

BEN/COO 2 500 000 € https://www.etis.ee/Portal/Projec ts/Display/bf5dc583-824b-4996- a1b7-5641c18ef2cb & https://cudan.tlu.ee/

Service title & description Service category Target Client Type of services Nominal

price - fixed State aid Unit of measure Price remaining to be paid by client

T2.1 AI Suitability assessment Test before invest Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 7500 4125 €/per service 0

T2.2 Test before invest AI demo projects Test before invest Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 90000 49500 €/per service 0

T3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 1600 880 €/client-day 0

T3.3 Organization of trainings for AI skills Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) collective 1400 770 €/trainee participant (SME-s) 0

T3.4 Organization of webinars Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) collective 200 110 €/webinar participant (SME-s) 0

T3.5 AI Act awareness & Toolbox Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 1600 880 €/client-day 0

T4.2 Consulting on access to Public funding Support to find investments Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 1600 880 €/per service 0

T4.3 Consulting on access to Private funding Support to find investments Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 1600 880 €/per service 0

T5.2 Match-making with SMEs Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 100 55 €/match with EDIH partner and client 0

T5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 5000 2750

1)€/ per service: Estonian clients receiving services from other EDIHs 2) €/ per service: foreign clients registering to AIRE EDIH services 0

T5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 5000 2750 €/per service 0

T6.5 AIRE club events Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results Primary target group (see section 1.1) events 200 110 €/per participant 0

Annex 5 List of Services and prices. Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)] AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

KPI title and description Type of KPI Reference to description in Part B Category Targeted clients Type of services

Target Year 1

Target Year 2

Target Year 3 Total Target

2.1 AI suitability assessment output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Test before invest Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 26 52 52 130

2.2 Test before invest AI demoproject output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Test before invest Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 5 10 10 25

3.1 First-line AI helpdesk on AI innovation output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 97 195 194 486*

3.3 Trainings output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) collective 26 52 52 130**

3.4 Webinars output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) collective 52 104 104 260**

3.5 Consultation on AI Act awareness output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Training and skill development Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 28 56 56 140*

4.2 Consulting on access to funding (public measures) output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Support to find investments Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 40 80 80 200*

4.3 Consulting on access to funding (private funding) output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Support to find investments Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 10 20 20 50*

5.2 Matchmaking with the SMEs (including for the promotion of the AI technologies made in Europe) output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 50 100 100 250

5.3 Collaboration with EDIHs for cross-border service delivery output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 8 17 17 42

5.4 Consulting SMEs on access to EU AI Ecosystem output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities Primary target group (see section 1.1) individual 7 14 15 36

6.5 Organisation of AIRE Clubs output KPI 4.2 Work packages, activities, resources and timing Dissemination, communication and exploitation of results Primary target group (see section 1.1) events 179 358 358 895

KPI1 Number of clients in AIRE services outcome KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 50 100 100 250

KPI2 Number of clients using EU AI infrastructure outcome KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 7 14 15 36

KPI3 Amount of additional investments successfully triggered outcome KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 20 35 45 100

KPI4 Number of collaboration with EDIHs outcome KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 8 16 16 40

KPI5 Increase in digital maturity of AIRE clients impact KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 0 7 8 15

KPI6 Number of clients using EU AI technologies impact KPI 3.1 Expected outcomes and deliverables NA Primary target group (see section 1.1) NA 0 40 60 100

* number of client days (8 hours)

** number of participants

Annex 6 List of KPIs and Targets Call: [DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-CONSOLIDATION-EU-EEA-08-STEP — Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)] AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

Annex 7: List of Memorandum of Understandings and Letters of Intent signed by AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE

EDIH.

AI & ROBOTICS ESTONIA 2.0 (EDIH)

# Type EDIH name EDIH 2.0 Areas of Collaboration

1 MoU Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs MoU participants: ShiftLabs EDIH AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE EDIH (AIRE) Oceanopolis EDIH Robocoast EDIH EDOcobot EDIH MIGHTY EDIH DigIT Hub Sweden EDIH TechCircle/ED-EDIH AM-EDIH Nemonoor EDIH

1) Developing and offering joint services in areas

such as digital twins and virtual testbeds, enabling

companies to simulate and optimise manufacturing

processes before implementation.

2) Conducting joint training activities (e.g.

webinars) and ecosystem events.

3) Support SMEs in expanding internationally by

facilitating market access, international

partnerships, and integrating them into the

European AI ecosystem.

4) Continue to enhance competitiveness and

sustainability within the Nordic manufacturing

sector in line with the goals of the European Digital

Innovation Hubs network.

2 MoU Northern Netherlands EDIH (NN EDIH) AIRE NN EDIH:

1. Provide access to research findings and case studies related to digital transformation. 2. Organize initial meetings to set the collaborative agenda. 3. Contribute personnel for joint initiatives and workshops. AIRE EDIH: 1. Share insights on implementation challenges and solutions in digital projects. 2. Facilitate networking opportunities with industry experts. 3. Co-host workshops and events with EDIH NN.

3 MoU EDIH pro_digital AIRE 1) Forwarding of suitable beneficiaries to the

respective services of the pro_digital and AIRE, with particular emphasis on “Skills and training” and “Innovation ecosystem and networking” services, in accordance with funding restrictions set up by the local (non-EU) funding bodies, 2) Mutual opening and promotion of activities and events for suitable beneficiaries, 3) Connecting pro_digital and AIRE ecosystems, 4) Mutual training and awareness raising activities, 5) Cooperation with other EDIHs in applying to Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, Creative Europe and other EU funding calls that might reinforce collaboration in the mutual benefit of both EDIHs ecosystems, 6) Sharing best practices in performing and managing EDIH’s activities, thematic topics; 7) Thematic visits; 8) Co-creating any other mutually beneficial activity.

4 MoU Artificial Intelligence Centre Hamburg (ARIC EDIH) AIRE

1) Both parties engage in promoting the different services of each EDIH as well as their activities, to develop and expand relationships in order to help SME in their digital transformation. 2) AIRE agrees to work with and coordinate with ARIC the development of their initiatives to improve and expand support to the SME for digitalization transformation and the application of AI & Robotics.

4) Joint innovation and learning infrastructure between ARIC and AIRE is to be established, and the existing strengths of the specific locations are to be made accessible and jointly used in the sense of a European technology alliance. 5) Both parties shall encourage and promote, in accordance with their respective laws and regulations, co-operation between the two Signing Institutions in the field of artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies, technology transfers, research and development and collaborations based on equality and mutual benefit and shall determine, by mutual agreement, the areas and subjects of such cooperation. 6) The cooperation partners would like to work closely together in the four strands of the EDIH: Test-before-Invest; Innovation Ecosystem and Networking; Skills & Training; Support to Find Invest.

5 MoU All Safe City OÜ AIRE

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Non- Disclosure Agreement (NDA) established for collaborative framework between All Safe City (ASC) and Tallinn University of Technology represented by AIRE. The purpose is to validate the Active Air Protection System (AAPS), explore AI and machine learning applications, and safeguard confidential information exchanged during the collaboration.

6 MoU TEDIHT AIRE The Parties agree to explore potential collaboration

opportunities within, but not limited to, the following areas of mutual interest: 1) AI Readiness and compliance support; 2) Digital and AI skills development; 3) Testing and experimentation access (Test Before Invest; 4) Support in accessing financing and investments; 5) Knowledge exchange and capacity building; 6) Cross-regional collaboration and EU integration activities; 7) Strategic communication and dissemination of EU Priorities

7 MoU EDIH Vilnius AIRE The Parties agree to collaborate in the field of

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and all the details and further ways of cooperation will be agreed between the Parties during negotiations and meetings.

8 LoI DI4LithuanianID EDIH AIRE Through cooperation, both parties aim to

contribute meaningfully to the success of the EDIH2.0 initiative and to support the overarching objectives of the European Digital Strategy, specifically in: 1) Accelerating the uptake of Artificial Intelligence among SMEs and mid-caps across Europe; Bridging the innovation gap between research and real-world industrial application; 2) Advancing the twin transitions – digital and green – across our respective regions.

As EDIHs committed to excellence and impact, the LoI confirms the intention to collaborate through the following actions: 1) Knowledge exchange: Sharing best practices, methodologies, and tools related to AI deployment,

digital skills, innovation ecosystems, and SME support. 2) Service collaboration: Facilitating access to services for SMEs via coordinated outreach, matchmaking, and mutual referrals within our EDIH service portfolios. 3) Joint initiatives: Exploring opportunities for co- organizing training programs, cross-border pilot projects, awareness-raising events, and innovation support measures. 3) International collaboration: Jointly contributing to the development and delivery of the International Digital Innovation Academy (IDIA) aimed at supporting SME digital capability building at the European level.

9 LoI DIH4CAT AIRE

AI Factory collaboration with BSC: As part of this collaboration, both parties welcome the potential engagement of BSC – Barcelona Supercomputing Center, a key technological partner in DIH4CAT and Spain’s national supercomputing center. BSC hosts the AI Factory and MareNostrum, one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers, and contributes to EuroHPC and the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES). The collaboration will offer opportunities for SMEs and industry to access BSC’s AI and HPC services, infrastructure, and talent within the framework of AI Factories and the EuroHPC JU initiative. Where relevant, AIRE and DIH4CAT will explore synergies with the AI Factory ecosystem to enable high- impact AI use cases in manufacturing and other verticals. 1) Promote joint activities in the fields of test-before- invest, skills and training, innovation ecosystem collaboration, and support to find investment. 2) Pursue collaborative applications under relevant EU funding instruments including Digital Europe, Horizon Europe, and national innovation schemes. 3) Facilitate knowledge exchange, including best practices, methodologies, and SME support tools for AI, robotics, and deep tech deployment. 4) Enhance access for SMEs to cross-border expertise, infrastructure, and services by creating referral pathways between DIH4CAT and AIRE. 5) Develop and participate in joint pilot activities, innovation programmes, and awareness-raising actions across the regions of Estonia and Catalonia.

10 LoI

InnDIH EDIH AIRE

Test before invest; Skills and training; Support to find investments; Innovation ecosystem and networking. The following technology and application fields are of mutual interest: Technology fields: Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing, Big Data, Robotics. Application fields: Manufacturing, Health, Quality of life, Life sciences, Tourism

The following specific activities and services are of mutual interest between the two EDIHs: Exchange of use cases; Joint webinars, courses and/or digital roundtables to exchange experiences; Matchmaking events and activities to foster the adoption of digitalisation; Conferences or workshops and specific working groups; Foster collaboration in already running and new inter- regional projects; Commonly developed, next-to- come shared services.

The complementarity of services will also be taken into consideration. These actions may be triggered through the following specific tasks: Definition of the Collaboration Framework at a legal, financial and operational level; Scouting of regional entities (SMEs, midcaps and public entities) interests and needs in terms of the technologies and application fields previously identified; Definition of a Shared Services Catalogue; Quality control, Reporting of the services provided.

11 LoI EDIH AICS2 AIRE

AIRE is commited to supporting EDIH-AICS activities via artificial intelligence thematic collaborations in EDIH activities: 1) strategic management and knowledge sharing of experiences; 2) finding opportinuties for joint test before invest and funding collaborations 3) organising joint activities with the inclusion of regional SMEs and public sector entities; 4) jointly, with EDIH-AICS finding collaboration areas that benefit the clients and EDIH2.0 objectives.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU)

January 8, 2025

BETWEEN

All Safe City OÜ (ASC)

Register code:

16249500

Operating address:

Pirita tee 20a/1 Tallinn Harjumaa 12011

Legal address

Pirita tee 20a/1 Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn Harju maakond 12011

AND

Tallinn Technical University (TalTech)

Tallinna Tehnikaülikool

Register code:

74000323

Operating address:

Ehitajate tee 5 Tallinn Harjumaa 19086

Legal address

Ehitajate tee 5 Mustamäe linnaosa, Tallinn Harju maakond 19086

1. Purpose

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) establish a collaborative framework between All Safe City (ASC) and Tallinn Technical University (TalTech). The purpose is to validate the Active Air Protection System (AAPS), explore AI and machine learning applications, and safeguard confidential information exchanged during the collaboration.

2. Scope of Cooperation

The cooperation will take place in three phases, covering air purification testing, data collection, and advanced AI development, in accordance with the proposal submitted by TalTech and the agreement to be concluded between the parties:

Phase 1: Physical and Platform Testing

● Validate the AAPS’s air purification performance under controlled laboratory conditions.

● Test controllable parameters such as fan speed and UV light ON/OFF via ASC’s existing app and cloud platform.

● Conduct initial environmental testing for performance under varying temperature and humidity levels.

Phase 2: Data Collection and Integration

● Deploy AAPS devices in real-world environments (schools, elderly care, public facilities) to collect and bundle over 12,000 lines of sensor data.

● Consolidate the data through ASC’s cloud platform and API access for TalTech’s analysis.

Phase 3: AI Sorting and Advanced Applications

● Develop AI/ML models for anomaly detection, environmental predictions, and real-time actionable insights.

● Integrate data into an AI-driven “sorting station” for advanced applications, such as Smart City solutions, healthcare insights, and sustainability tools.

3. Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Terms

Both parties agree to:

1. Definition of Confidential Information: ○ All technical, business, operational, and proprietary information is

shared, including but not limited to device performance, testing results, software, algorithms, designs, and research data.

○ Any data accessed through the ASC platform or APIs, including sensor outputs, anonymized user data, and analytics.

2. Obligations: ○ Both ASC and TalTech shall:

■ Use Confidential Information solely for the purposes of the collaboration outlined in this agreement.

■ Maintain strict confidentiality and protect all shared information against unauthorized access or disclosure.

■ Ensure that Confidential Information is shared only with personnel or students directly involved in testing or research, on a need-to-know basis.

○ Confidentiality obligations remain in effect for 5 years after the termination of this agreement.

3. Exclusions: ○ Information already in the public domain or independently

developed without access to Confidential Information is excluded from confidentiality obligations.

4. Return or Destruction of Information: ○ Upon termination, all Confidential Information, whether written

or digital, shall be returned or destroyed, unless required for academic research (with prior ASC approval).

4. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

1. Existing IP: ○ All existing technologies, designs, and solutions (material)

belonging to the ASC remain the exclusive property of the ASC. TalTech retains ownership of its existing intellectual property.

○ If ASC transfers material protected by intellectual property rights to TalTech for the purpose of implementing the cooperation project, the company shall also grant TalTech the right (license) to use said materials for the purpose of implementing the project. ASC confirms that it holds all intellectual property rights to the transferred material, and ASC shall be solely liable for any infringements of intellectual property rights of third parties that may be raised by third parties in connection with the use, improvement, modification, etc., of the transferred material.

○ If intellectual property belonging to TalTech is necessary for the ASC’s business activities, TalTech shall grant the company the right to use such intellectual property. The terms of use of the intellectual property shall be agreed upon in good faith, presumably for a reasonable fee.

○ ASC shall also have a preferential right to acquire a sole license or acquire ownership with a right of first refusal to the proprietary intellectual property rights to the intellectual property created by TalTech during the cooperation, if TalTech wishes to dispose of the intellectual property or grant its use under a sole license.

2. New Developments: ○ Any innovations, enhancements, or discoveries directly derived

from ASC’s ideas or technologies remain the property of ASC. TalTech will have the right to use such developments strictly for academic, non-commercial purposes, with the Company's prior written consent. This consent will be granted in good faith and without undue delay unless justifiable reasons are provided.

○ The ownership of new intellectual property first created during the implementation of the project activities, and which inevitably uses or incorporates material transferred by ASC shall be determined in accordance with the Copyright Act. As a general principle, the author of a derivative work acquires copyright to their own work.

3. Jointly Developed IP: ○ Any jointly created intellectual property will be subject to a

separate, mutually agreed-upon agreement for ownership, usage, and commercialization.

5. Roles and Responsibilities

ASC Responsibilities:

● Provide AAPS devices, technical documentation, and API access for testing and research.

● Cover costs for initial deployment and facilitate collaboration with TalTech teams.

● Maintain sole ownership of any shared platforms, data, and results derived from ASC technologies.

TalTech Responsibilities:

● The cooperation project is coordinated by AI and Robotics Estonia Center of Excellence in TalTech and will engage the necessary parties and manage all documentation related to the agreement's conclusion and execution.

● Conduct testing and validation phases, including environmental performance and data integration.

● Offer expertise in AI/ML modeling and provide analytical support. ● Engage students and researchers in testing processes under strict

confidentiality guidelines.

6. Timeline

Phase 1: Physical and Platform Testing Q1 2025 – Q2 2025

Phase 2: Data Collection & Integration Q2 2025 – Q4 2025

Phase 3: AI Sorting & Development Q2 2025 – Q4 2025

7. Dispute Resolution

Any disputes arising under this agreement will be resolved amicably between the parties. If unresolved, disputes will be submitted to the courts in Tallinn, Estonia.

8. Term and Termination

This agreement takes effect upon the signature of both parties and will remain valid for two (2) years unless terminated earlier by mutual written consent. Upon termination, all confidentiality and IP obligations outlined herein remain in force.

9. Mutual Benefits

● ASC: Gain academic expertise for testing, validation, and AI/ML development.

● TalTech: Access cutting-edge technology, real-world testing opportunities, and collaborative AI research for societal benefit.

10. Signatures

All Safe City (ASC): Name: Gennadi Batsoutenko Title: CEO Date: _________________________

Tallinn Technical University (TalTech): Name: Kirke Maar Title: Head of AIRE Date: _________________________

May 9th, 2025

Subject

Letter of Intent for the Establishment of a Collaborative Framework between DI4LithuanianID EDIH and AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) EDIH.

This Letter of Intent expresses the commitment to initiate and develop a strategic collaboration between DI4LithuanianID and AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) – two European Digital Innovation Hubs dedicated to advancing digital transformation across the Baltic region and the broader European Union.

Through cooperation, both parties aim to contribute meaningfully to the success of the EDIH2.0 initiative and to support the overarching objectives of the European Digital Strategy, specifically in:

• Accelerating the uptake of Artificial Intelligence among SMEs and mid-caps across Europe;

• Bridging the innovation gap between research and real-world industrial application;

• Advancing the twin transitions – digital and green – across our respective regions.

As EDIHs committed to excellence and impact, this LoI confirms our intention to collaborate through the following actions:

1. Knowledge exchange: Sharing best practices, methodologies, and tools related to AI deployment, digital skills, innovation ecosystems, and SME support.

2. Service collaboration: Facilitating access to services for SMEs via coordinated outreach, matchmaking, and mutual referrals within our EDIH service portfolios.

3. Joint initiatives: Exploring opportunities for co-organizing training programs, cross- border pilot projects, awareness-raising events, and innovation support measures.

4. International collaboration: Jointly contributing to the development and delivery of the International Digital Innovation Academy (IDIA) aimed at supporting SME digital capability building at the European level.

Both EDIHs recognize the complementarity of the service offerings and commit to ensuring that this collaboration is aligned, mutually beneficial, and designed to maximize the value delivered to SMEs and public sector entities in our regions.

Both parties agree to explore the establishment of a joint monitoring mechanism to identify relevant indicators that track the collaboration’s impact, including shared services delivered, customer exchange, and cross-regional service uptake by SMEs and public administrations.

This Letter of Intent serves as a non-binding expression of mutual interest and may be further formalized into specific cooperation agreements as the partnership evolves.

(Signed digitally) AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE Kirke Maar Head of AIRE

Letter of Intent

As part of the work conducted in the innovation ecosystem of the European Digital Innovation Hubs Network, this Letter of Intent aims to express the strong support for the further implementation of the European Digital Innovation Hub applied Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity (EDIH-AICS).

We firmly believe in the crucial role that EDIH-AICS plays in fostering innovation and digital transformation within our region and beyond, and we are eager to continue our collaboration to ensure its successful and impactful development. This letter serves as a clear indication of AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE EDIH’s commitment to contributing to the growth and sustainability of the EDIH- AICS initiative and is intented to outline the direction of future joint efforts in order to address digital challenges.

The European Digital Innovation Hub AIRE established in Tallinn, Estonia, and European Digital Innovation Hub EDIH-AICS established in Karlsruhe, Germany, are both innovation entities actively supporting digitisation and structural transformation with the help of digital technologies in order to support the development of entepreneurs and SMEs in their respective regions.

AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) is dedicated to supporting the digital transformation of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in Estonia and beyond. AIRE focuses on the adoption of artificial intelligence across SMEs, aiming to accelerate automation, improve competitiveness, and foster innovation capacity in manufacturing and other key sectors of economy. AIRE is commited to supporting EDIH-AICS activitites via artificial intelligence thematic collaborations in EDIH activities: 1) strategic management and knowledge sharing of experiences; 2) finding opportinuties for joint test before invest and funding collaborations 3) organising joint activities with the inclusion of regional SMEs and public sector entities; 4) jointly, with EDIH- AICS finding collaboration areas that benefit the clients and EDIH2.0 objectives.

The objective of this Letter of Intent is to explore how to unite the efforts and capacities with the already established EDIH-AICS to provide services, carry out activities and events in support of the digital transformation in SMEs and PSOs, while strengthening their support ecosystem.

This document was signed on: (date in digital container)

On behalf of AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE

First name and surname: Kirke Maar

Signature (digitally signed)

Tallinn, Estonia

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May 15th, 2025

Subject

Letter of Intent for the establishment of a collaboration framework between “INNDIH – Valencia

Region Digital Innovation Hub” and AIRE Estonia EDIH

This Letter of Intent lays the foundation for the development of a joint collaboration between the two

Digital Innovation Hubs.

AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) is Estonia’s European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH), dedicated to

supporting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Estonia and

beyond. AIRE focuses on the adoption of artificial intelligence across SMEs, aiming to accelerate

automation, improve competitiveness, and foster innovation capacity in manufacturing and other key

sectors of economy.

INNDIH is the Digital Innovation Hub based in the Valencia Region representing a major public-private

collaborative effort where the business ecosystem, universities, technological and research centres,

healthcare-biotech-research institutes, and public administrations join forces to promote the

digitalization of SMEs of industry and Public Administration and achieve the main boost the economic

development of the Valencia Region by bringing digital technologies, guaranteeing that any company

and public administration in the region has access to know-how, training, technologies, infrastructure,

and laboratories to improve and accelerate its digitalization.

Both EDIHs incorporate and implement the concept of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH)

through the provision of testing and experimentation services that facilitates the investment decision-

making process, supports the identification of financing sources and provide services for the

development of digital skills and training programmes among other services.

The areas of collaboration are related to:

● Test before invest,

● Skills and training,

● Support to find investments,

● Innovation ecosystem and networking

The following technology and application fields are of mutual interest:

● Technology fields: Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, High Performance Computing,

Big Data, Robotics.

● Application fields: Manufacturing, Health, Quality of life, Life sciencies, Tourism

The following specific activities and services are of mutual interest between the two EDIHs:

Página 2 de 2

● Exchange of use cases

● Joint webinars, courses and/or digital roundtables to exchange experiences

● Matchmaking events and activities to foster the adoption of digitalisation

● Conferences or workshops and specific working groups

● Foster collaboration in already running and new inter-regional projects

● Commonly developed, next-to-come shared services

Likewise, the complementarity of services will also be taken into consideration.

This actions may be triggered through these specific tasks:

✔ 1. - Definition of the Collaboration Framework at a legal, financial and operational

level.

✔ 2.- Scouting of regional entities (SMEs, midcaps and public entities) interests and

needs in terms of the technologies and application fields previously identified.

✔ 3.- Definition of a Shared Services Catalogue

✔ 4.- Quality control, Reporting of the services provided.

The main application domain where EDIHs may collaborate or cooperate with the objective of

seeking greater efficiency in the provision of services to clients is Manufacturing, Health, Quality

of life, Life sciencies, Tourism.

The parties agree on considering setting up a monitoring common task, with the aim to identify

indicators that can clearly describe the activity of the Hubs, number of shared services, customers,

and the number of SMEs, Companies and Public Authorities based in one of the Regions accessing

to the services provided by the counterpart.

This letter of intent can be developed into more specific joint collaboration agreements between

the two EDIHs if necessary.

Signed digitally

_______________________

Representative of AIRE

Kirke Maar (signed digitally)

Head of AIRE

_____________________

Representative of INNDIH

Dª. Laura Olcina Puerto

General Manager. Instituto Tecnológico

de Informática

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Letter of Intent

This Letter of Intent expresses the mutual interest and commitment of AI & Robotics

Estonia (AIRE) and DIH4CAT to initiate a strategic collaboration as part of the continued

strengthening of the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) network, under the

framework of the DIGITAL-2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08-CONSOLIDATION-STEP call.

Both parties acknowledge the importance of cross-border collaboration to foster digital

transformation across European industry and SME ecosystems. Through this agreement,

the parties aim to:

 Promote joint activities in the fields of test-before-invest, skills and training,

innovation ecosystem collaboration, and support to find investment.

 Pursue collaborative applications under relevant EU funding instruments including

Digital Europe, Horizon Europe, and national innovation schemes.

 Facilitate knowledge exchange, including best practices, methodologies, and SME

support tools for AI, robotics, and deep tech deployment.

 Enhance access for SMEs to cross-border expertise, infrastructure, and services by

creating referral pathways between DIH4CAT and AIRE.

 Develop and participate in joint pilot activities, innovation programmes, and

awareness-raising actions across the regions of Estonia and Catalonia.

AI Factory collaboration with BSC:

As part of this collaboration, both parties welcome the potential engagement of BSC –

Barcelona Supercomputing Center, a key technological partner in DIH4CAT and Spain’s

national supercomputing center. BSC hosts the AI Factory and MareNostrum, one of

Europe's most powerful supercomputers, and contributes to EuroHPC and the Spanish

Supercomputing Network (RES). The collaboration will offer opportunities for SMEs and

industry to access BSC’s AI and HPC services, infrastructure, and talent within the

framework of AI Factories and the EuroHPC JU initiative. Where relevant, AIRE and

DIH4CAT will explore synergies with the AI Factory ecosystem to enable high-impact AI

use cases in manufacturing and other verticals.

This Letter of Intent represents a non-binding expression of interest. The parties agree to

further define the scope and operational modalities of the collaboration as the partnership

evolves.

Signed on behalf of:

AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE Kirke Maar

Head of AIRE

(signed digitally) (date in digital container)

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

Between The European Digital Innovation Hub in Transilvania (TEDIHT)

and AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of Technology

Preface

This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is concluded between:

The European Digital Innovation Hub in Transilvania (TEDIHT), coordinated by Asociatia Transilvania IT (Transilvania IT Cluster), in collaboration with its partners: Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB), Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN), Hygia Consult and INCDTIM Cluj-Napoca (National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies), headquartered in Cluj-Napoca, North-West Region of Romania, established for the participation to the call for proposals DIGITAL- 2025-EDIH-EU-EEA-08-CONSOLIDATION-STEP "Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)", represented for the purpose of this MoU by The European Digital Innovation Hub in Transilvania (TEDIHT), hereinafter referred to as "TEDIHT";

AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of Technology, headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, active in (to be adapted based on partner's main field of activity), supporting digital transformation, AI adoption and innovation ecosystems and committed to contributing to the objectives of the European Digital Innovation Hub Network, represented for the purpose of this MoU by AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of Technology, hereinafter referred to as "Partner".

Both parties, hereinafter referred to collectively as "the Parties", acknowledge the importance of strengthening collaboration within the European network of Digital Innovation Hubs to foster innovation, support the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies by SMEs, mid-caps and public sector organizations and contribute to achieving the objectives of the European Digital Transformation Agenda.

This MoU is non-binding and serves to establish a mutual understanding and framework for voluntary collaboration.

This collaboration aims to enhance the impact of the European EDIH network and reinforce the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in line with EU Digital Decade targets.

Article 1: Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this MoU is to set the framework for cooperation between TEDIHT and AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of Technology to:

● Facilitate digital transformation and AI integration across SMEs, mid-caps and public sector organizations;

● Provide joint support services for "test-before-invest", AI readiness, digital maturity, skills building and access to finance;

● Promote knowledge transfer, innovation and sustainable growth in line with EU digital policies;

● Strengthen cross-regional collaboration and cohesion among European DIHs.

The collaboration could involve, but is not limited to, activities such as the following, depending on areas of mutual relevance:

● Joint provision of services (e.g., digital maturity assessments, AI prototype validation, test-before-invest services);

● Exchange of expertise, knowledge, best practices;

● Joint organization of events (e.g., trainings, workshops, matchmaking, conferences);

● Participation in common European or national projects;

● Mutual support in promoting each other's activities and results.

Article 2: Areas of Collaboration

The Parties agree to explore potential collaboration opportunities within, but not limited to, the following areas of mutual interest:

● AI Readiness and compliance support

● Digital and AI skills development

● Testing and experimentation access (Test Before Invest)

● Support in accessing financing and investments

● Knowledge exchange and capacity building

● Cross-regional collaboration and EU integration activities

● Strategic communication and dissemination of EU Priorities

Article 3: Confidentiality

Both Parties shall treat as confidential any information disclosed during their collaboration which is designated as confidential or reasonably should be understood as confidential.

Confidential information shall not be disclosed to any third party without the prior written consent of the disclosing Party, except where required by law. Both Parties agree to process any personal data solely for purposes related to this MoU and in full compliance with the GDPR Regulation (EU 2016/679).

Article 4: Non-Binding Nature

This MoU is an expression of goodwill between the Parties. It does not create any legal obligation or financial commitment, nor does it establish a formal partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship.

Any legally binding agreements or collaborative activities arising from this MoU shall be subject to separate agreements signed by the Parties.

Article 5: Duration and Termination

This MoU shall enter into force on the date of signature by both Parties and shall remain valid for a period of five (5) years, unless otherwise terminated earlier by either

Party. Each Party may terminate this MoU by providing thirty (30) days written notice to the other Party, without any penalty or liability. This MoU may be amended or extended upon mutual written agreement between the Parties.

Article 6: Contact Points

Each Party shall designate a Contact Point for communication and coordination purposes.

For TEDIHT: Bianca Muntean, Cluster Manager, Coordinator, [email protected]

For AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of Technology: Kirke Maar, Manager of AI & Robotics Estonia, [email protected]

Signatures

Signed in two original copies, one for each Party, on the date indicated below.

For TEDIHT - The European Digital Innovation Hub in Transilvania

Name: Bianca Muntean

Position: Cluster Manager, EDIH Coordinator

Date: 09.05.2025

Signature: _____________________

For AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE EDIH) at Tallinn University of

Technology

Name: Kirke Maar

Position: Manager of AI & Robotics

Estonia

Date: 09.05.2025

Signature: _____________________

European Digital <y‘<• • ■ Innovation Hub Northern Netherlands

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

Between: EDIH NN Paterswoldseweg 810 9728 BM Groningen info@edih-nn-n|

And: EDIH AIRE Ehitajate tee 5 19086 Tallinn Estonia [email protected]

Purpose The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to establish a collaborative partnership between EDIH NN and EDIH AIRE to enhance digital transformation efforts within both projects. Both

parties aim to share resources, knowledge, and best practices to achieve common goals and address challenges associated with digitalization.

Objectives The objectives of this MoU include:

1. Knowledge access and knowledge transfer (e.g., tools like Digital Maturity and Autonomous System assessments)

2. Solving digital problems (technology/use cases), e.g., Autonomous Shipping: MindChip OÜ, registration number 14639243

3. Sharing resources and know-how Sharing structure, work processes (including best practices and lessons learned)

Roles and Responsibilities Both parties agree to undertake the following roles and responsibilities:

EDIH NN: 1. Provide access to research findings and case studies related to digital transformation. 2. Organize initial meetings to set the collaborative agenda. 3. Contribute personnel for joint initiatives and workshops.

EDIH AIRE: 1. Share insights on implementation challenges and solutions in digital projects.

Co-funded by EDIH NN - DIGITAL-2O21-EDIH-O1 the European Union PROJECT: 101083001

European Digital Innovation Hub Northern Netherlands

2. Facilitate networking opportunities with industry experts. 3. Co-host workshops and events with EDIH NN.

Duration This MoU shall commence on the date of signing and will remain in effect for two years, unless terminated by either party with 30 days written notice.

Confidentiality Both parties agree to maintain confidentiality regarding sensitive information Shared as part of this partnership. This confidentiality obligation shall survive the termination of this MoU.

Amendments This MoU may be amended or modified only by a written agreement signed by both parties.

Signatures By signing below, both parties agree to the terms outlined in this Memorandum of Understanding.

EDIH NN:

EDIH AIRE:

Co-funded by EDIH NN - DIGITAL-2O21-EDIH-O1 the European Union PROJECT: 101083001

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

between

AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) at Taltech, Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)

and

EDIH Vilnius at Sunrise Tech Park, Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park (Lithuania)

In accordance with a mutual desire to promote collaboration between AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) at

Taltech, Tallinn University of Technology (hereafter abbreviated as “TalTech AIRE”) and EDIH Vilnius

coordinated by Sunrise Tech Park (hereafter abbreviated as “EDIH Vilnius ”), both institutions enter into

this Memorandum of Understanding on research, education and cultural cooperation.

TalTech, represented by Kirke Maar, Head of AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) at Taltech, and Sunrise Tech

Park, represented by Laima Balčiūnė, Director of Sunrise Tech Park and Manager of EDIH Vilnius,

(hereinafter referred to as the “Parties”), agree with the following:

The Parties agree to collaborate in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and all the details

and further ways of cooperation will be agreed between the Parties during the following negotiations

and meetings.

No financial commitment and/or any other commitment or liability by either party is to be implied

from this Memorandum of Understanding.

Cooperation in specific areas and details will be implemented upon mutual agreement and will be

outlined in a separate agreement on cooperation or addendum to this Memorandum upon its

signature by the authorized representatives.

Both Parties agree that all financial issues necessary to implement this Memorandum will be

negotiated and will be subject to the availability of funds.

Both Parties agree to seek possibilities for funding from both public and private sources in support of

their joint interests.

The Memorandum of Understanding will come into effect after being signed by the authorized

representatives of both Parties and is valid for the period of 5 (five) years.

The Memorandum of Understanding is concluded in English and signed digitally.

Contact person at TalTech AIRE: Kirke Maar, Head of Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics AIRE,

[email protected].

Contact person at EDIH Vilnius: Laima Balčiūnė, Director of Sunrise Tech Park, [email protected].

For Sunrise Tech Park

EDIH Vilnius

Saulėtekio al 15-316, 10225 Vilnius Lithuania

_______________________________

Laima Balčiūnė

Director

Date ____________________________

For TalTech

AI & Robotics Estonia (AIRE) at

Taltech

Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn 19086 Estonia

_______________________________

Kirke Maar

Head of Centre

Date ________________________

Memorandum of Understanding for Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs cooperation

Date: 6.05.2025

Parties

The undersigned European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) specialising in the manufacturing sector across the Nordic region.

Purpose

The Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs establish this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise their collaborative network aimed at accelerating digital transformation and EU AI Ecosystem development within the manufacturing sector across the Nordic region.

Background

During the EDIHs 2022-2025 call, the Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs group has successfully:

• Formed a cohesive collaboration network for manufacturing-focused EDIHs. • Fostering cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange. • Conducted benchmarking activities to identify best practices ensuring high-quality support for

SMEs. • Started to develop joint strategies to address common challenges in digitalization and

sustainability within the manufacturing industry in the framework of EDIHs.

Commitments

The Nordic Manufacturing EDIHs agree to:

• Developing and offering joint services in areas such as digital twins and virtual testbeds, enabling companies to simulate and optimise manufacturing processes before implementation.

• Conducting joint training activities (e.g. webinars) and ecosystem events. • Support SMEs in expanding internationally by facilitating market access, international

partnerships, and integrating them into the European AI ecosystem. • Continue to enhance competitiveness and sustainability within the Nordic manufacturing

sector in line with the goals of the European Digital Innovation Hubs network.

The collaboration is coordinated by ShiftLabs EDIH (Sweden).

Validity

This Memorandum reflects the mutual intentions of the parties and serves as a basis for continued cooperation. It is not legally binding but expresses a strong commitment to joint action.

Duration This MoU shall commence on the date of signing by all parties and and will remain in effect for EDIH 2.0 period until the end of December 2028.

Signatures:

Johan Kostela, ShiftLabs EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed) Kirke Maar, AI & Robotics Estonia AIRE EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed) Stig Marthinsen, Oceanopolis EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Mikko Puputti, Robocoast EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Kasper Aagaard, EDOcobot EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Torbjörn Jonsson, MIGHTY EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Magnus Bäckmark, DigIT Hub Sweden EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed) Lars Mønsted Nielsen, TechCircle/ED-EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Lars Nyborg, AM-EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Eirik Andreassen, Nemonoor EDIH Date (digital container) Signature (digitally signed)

Johan Kostela (digitally signed) Date signed: 06.05.2025 at 06:44

Kirke Maar (digitally signed) Date signed: 06.05.2025 at 14:21 Signature encrypted in digital container

Stig Marthinsen (digitally signed) Date signed: 07.05.2025

Mikko Puputti (digitally signed) Date signed: 06.05.2025 at 08:08

Kasper Aagaard (digitally signed) Date signed: 07.05.2025 at 06:27

Torbjörn Jonsson (digitally signed) Date signed: 06.05.2025 at 12:56

Magnus Bäckmark (digitally signed) Date signed: 07.05.2025 at 15:34

Lars Mønsted Nielsen (digitally signed) Date signed: 06.05.2025 at 08:23

Lars Nyborg (digitally signed) Date signed: 12.05.2025 at 09:22

Designate signatory: Eirik Andreassen Alternate Signatory: Mikael Melitshenko (digitally signed) Date signed: 07.05.2025

We, Nemonoor EDIH, confirm that Mikael Melitshenko, who signed the MoU on 7th of May 2025, is duly authorised to sign on behalf of our center. The name listed in the MoU document was erroneous. This declaration affirms our binding acceptance of the terms as agreed by the other signatories.

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Lisa 3_AIRE_jatkusuutlikkuse_mudel_tegevuskava.pdf

Lisa 4: AIRE jätkusuutlikkuse mudeli väljatöötamise tegevuskava

AIRE’l on kohustus töötada välja jätkusuutlikkuse mudel ehk AIRE toimemudel alates 2028.

aastast, kui lõppeb Euroopa Komisjoni ja MKMi rahastus käesoleva lepingu alusel. Mudel

peab sisaldama isetasuvuse aspekti. Mudeli väljatöötamine toimub koostöös konsortsiumi

partnerite ja koostööpartnerite, Majandus- ja Kommunikatsiooniministeeriumiga (MKM),

erasektori ja teiste ökosüsteemi osapooltega, igas kvartalis toimuvate aruteludena.

Jätkusuutlikkuse mudel tuleb esitada MKMile hiljemalt novembriks 2026 ning Euroopa

Komisjonile 28. veebruariks 2027. Alljärgnev esialgne tegevuskava kirjeldab etappe, mille

kaudu AIRE käivitab ja viib ellu jätkusuutlikkuse mudeli arendamise protsessi. Täpsem

tegevuskava töötatakse välja protsessi esimeses etapis.

Esialgne tegevuskava

Etapp Kirjeldus Aeg Oodatav tulemus

Ettevalmistav

faas

Koostööraamistiku määratlemine,

visiooni täpsustamine ja täpsema

tegevuskava koostamine

Oktoober -

detsember

2025

Täpne tegevuskava

jätkusuutlikkuse

mudeli

väljatöötamiseks

2. Sisendi

kogumine

Vestlused ja ümarlauad AIRE

partneritega , tagasiside kogumine:

 missioon ehk miks on AIREt

2028+ vaja

 visioon ehk mis roll on AIRE’l

2028+ AI ökosüsteemis

 turuanalüüs/jätkusuutlikkuse

analüüs

Jaanuar -

aprill

2026

Visioonipaber AIRE

vajadusest ja

eesmärkidest

2028+-

3. Töötubade

ja arutelude

faas

Koostööseminarid partneritega ,

EDIH võrgustiku kogemused:

 AIRE 2028+ strateegiline

eesmärk

 AIRE 2028+ fookus ja

ressursid

 AIRE 2028+ tegevused ja

mõõdikud

Mai –

august

2026

Esialgne

visioonipaber on

koostööpartneritega

valideeritud

4. Mustandi

koostamine ja

valideerimine

Jätkusuutlikkuse Mudelite

koostamine, valideerimine MKMi,

erasektori ja AIRE juhtkomiteega.

September

november

2026

AIRE tulevane roll

ja positsioon Eesti

innovatsiooni

ökosüsteemis on

sõnastatud

5. Lõplik

versioon ja

rakendusplaan

Lõplik versioon, rakendusplaani

koostamine, AIRE juhtkomitees

kinnitamine

November

2026 –

jaanuar

2027

AIRE 2028+

jätkusuutlikkuse

mudel on koostatud

6. Mudeli

esitamine

Euroopa

Komisjonile

Mudeli vormistus ja esitamine. Veebruar

2027

AIRE 2028+

jätkusuutlikkuse

mudel on esitatud

Euroopa

Komisjonile

Seosed

Nimi	K.p.	Δ	Viit	Tüüp	Org	Osapooled
Teatis	19.03.2026	4	10-2/1048-1	Väljaminev kiri	mkm	Rahandusministeerium
Leping	27.02.2026	24	8-1/39-1	Leping	mkm
Leping	30.06.2025	266	8-1/201-1	Leping	mkm

Leping

Failid

Digiallkirjad

Seosed