DIS-HUB

The European Digital Innovation Hub at NOI Tech Park, DIS-HUB, delves Artificial Intelligence to optimise processes, products and services. As part of the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) network, EDIH in South Tyrol helps companies (i.e. SMEs) in getting to their digital edge – and become (even) more competitive. The hub services encompass expertise, orientation, test-before-invest services including access to laboratories, along with financing and funding guidance. The hub also provides training sessions and workshops for company staff. 

The strenght of DIS-HUB combines the experience of research and technology transfer organizations with different and complementary specializations and will therefore have a multi-sector technology focus, fully in line with the Smart Specialisation Strategy South Tyrol 2014-2020 (and 2021-2027). The specialization domains selected by the DIS-HUB are sustainable agri-food systems, sustainable buildings and energy & water systems, smart rural areas, and smart manufacturing, which are consistent with the pillars of the new S3 strategy (automation & digital, food & life science, alpine technologies, green technologies). 

Therefore, DIS-HUB main objectives are:  

1. to set up a European Digital Innovation Hub in the NUTS2 Region of South Tyrol (Autonomous Province of Bolzano) and network this with the European EDIH Ecosystem.
2. to implement and deliver the foreseen services for the target groups according to the Workplan and the European Guidelines and policies 

The contribution of EURAC Research include competences from:

• Institute for Renewable Energy, supporting the development of Proof-of-Concepts in the domains of buildings, energy, smart cities and mobility
• Center for Sensing Solutions, supporting the development of Proof-of-Concepts in the domains of mobility, tourism, and environment. 

Activities description  

WP1 – Project Management 

WP2 - Test-Before-Invest services for sustainable agri-food systems 

WP3 - Test-before-invest services for sustainable buildings and energy & water systems 

Coordinated by Institute of Renewable Energies 

WP4 - Test-before-invest services for better living and working in smart rural areas 

CSS is mainly involved in WP4 activities. The core activity since M0 of this WP has the aim to make datasets and AI-tools related to the smart rural living and working accessible to SMEs. All this will be implemented on top of a technological data space which is in part already existing, namely the Open Data Hub platform managed by NOI and the Environmental Data Platform managed by EURAC CSS. These platforms are already operational with basic features since M0 of the project and will be further enhanced and integrated with each other and brought to the maturity level necessary for delivering all EDIH data transformation services proposed also in WP2, WP3 and WP5. 

WP5 - Test-before-invest services for smart manufacturing 

In this WP CSS will contribute to implement the organization and availability of open datasets related to the manufacturing systems, as well as the consolidation and further implementation of AI-based tools. Datasets and AI-based tools will be the basis of the data transformation and will be developed as a function of the needs of SMEs. 

Expected results: 

The main expected result will be the datasets and AI-tools implemented and made available to companies.