Call for Pilots Work Strand 1 - Connecting Existing Local Digital Twins

The open call is designed to engage a diverse range of local and regional communities. Participation is open to public administrations at local, regional, and national levels, including European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs) such as the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC, businesses, technology developers, suppliers, research institutions, academia, as well as non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and other civil society actors.

To ensure the replicability and scalability of each pilot, every consortium is required to include at least one additional partner from the private sector, such as a service provider, private association with legal status, trusted third party, or a private representative of a use-case sector.

Members of the LDT4SSC Consortium are not permitted to join pilot consortia.

All partners must be based in eligible countries and be able to co-finance at least 50% of the project costs.

Consortia Eligibility Criteria

1. Each pilot consortium must comprise at least two local and regional authorities drawn from two different eligible countries. Eligible countries include EU Member States (including outermost regions and overseas territories), Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and listed EEA and DEP Associated countries.
2. To ensure the replicability and scalability of the pilot, each consortium is encouraged to involve at least one additional partner from one of the following categories: private entity (e.g., service provider), private association with legal status, trusted third party, or private representative of a use-case sector.
3. Security restrictions: Consortium members must not be controlled by an ineligible country. If there is a potential risk, entities may provide a guarantee.
4. Ownership Control Declaration (OCD) requirements: All entities except those validated as public bodies by EU countries must submit an OCD. It must be self-declared at proposal submission and, if the pilot is awarded, the official OCD must be provided within 14 days of notification. If a consortium member is controlled by an ineligible country, participation will be conditional on submission and acceptance of an adequate guarantee.

Scope:

WS1 is dedicated to connecting and federating LDTs across cities, communities and regions to create a unified, interoperable and reusable EU LDT ecosystem. In doing so, WS1 will support communities in accessing a comprehensive set of technical open specifications and open-source software components to interconnect their LDTs through Data Spaces, with most solutions expected to align with the SIMPL framework where appropriate. These efforts are expected to draw on the European Data Space for Smart and Sustainable Cities and Communities (DS4SSCC) as well as relevant thematic data spaces such as those for tourism, mobility and other domains, with which data exchange is envisaged.

By leveraging standards, pilots will break down silos, scale up EU-wide datasets and onboard less-advanced communities into the LDT network. The goal is hence to enhance decision-making (particularly in key EU policies (like mobility, energy efficiency, or environmental), reduce redundancies and foster a collaborative data economy, ultimately laying the foundation for a resilient, interconnected digital infrastructure that supports Europe’s green and digital ambitions.

Through real-world use cases, such as cross-border traffic management or multi-city resource optimisation, it is expected that WS1 will transform fragmented local initiatives into a cohesive, replicable, scalable and reusable federation of LDTs, driving collective innovation and efficiency.