Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship research and innovation framework program, aims to foster research across borders, accelerate the twin transition, and encourage the commercial implementation of innovative research results. It brings together industry, academia, and public institutions in projects across a variety of sectors, fostering the European innovation ecosystem.
The use of industrial IoT, edge, and cloud solutions supports the shift of European industry toward more software-defined, connected systems, strengthens technological independence, and boosts Europe’s competitiveness in new and emerging technologies. Digitalization can improve efficiency and productivity and create local demand, while also driving the development of cybersecure solutions that can process large amounts of sensitive real-time data for AI integration at the edge and in the cloud. Horizon Europe supports projects that ensure research and commercial applications are well aligned for future practical applications.
In November 2025, Horizon Europe released a report on the MetaOS (Meta Operating System) initiative, compiling the results of six projects focusing on IoT-edge-cloud continuum architectures.
MetaOS represents a collection of primarily open-source technologies developed in the associated research projects, each featuring distinct architectures and components. Rather than being a commercial solution available for purchase, MetaOS serves as a research-driven base for experimenting with new technologies in real-world scenarios, enabling companies and project partners to test compatibility and market alignment without exposing proprietary technology.
MetaOS thus forms the umbrella concept for operating systems (OS) across industries – from CarOS and AgriOS to aerOS and EnergyOS, with technology readiness levels typically ranging from 4 to 6, indicating validation in relevant technical environments.
Learn more about the MetaOS initiative and download the report.
Leveraging research from academia to industry
TTTECH is a spin-off of the TU Wien (Technical University of Vienna) and remains highly active in research initiatives as part of its commitment to productizing innovative research results and to leverage its core technologies across industries in new applications and solutions for its global customer base.
“Taking part in research initiatives enables us to contribute to Europe’s innovation ecosystem and strengthen our ties with institutional, academic, and industrial partners. Collaboration can result in new ideas and developments that benefit not only our business but European industry as a whole,” says Dr. Francesca Flamigni, Senior Innovation Projects & Funding Manager at TTTECH.
Participation in Horizon Europe allows TTTECH to support the latest trends in R&D, for example following initiatives like EuroStack, which aims to enhance Europe’s independence by promoting European digital infrastructures from the IIoT to the cloud.
Innovative research plays a key role in developing cutting-edge technology as a base for customer-centric solutions. TTTECH’s research activities include several projects focusing on IoT, AI, machine learning, and edge and cloud competence:
- The aerOS project developed a European meta‑operating system that unifies resources across the IoT–edge–cloud continuum to enable flexible, efficient deployment of distributed applications. It focused on orchestrating services, data processing, and AI/ML computation close to where data is generated. The aim was to improve performance and autonomy and to establish a common platform that simplifies intelligent edge‑cloud operations.
- AI4DI aimed to bring AI from the cloud to the edge to accelerate Europe’s industrial digital transformation. The project deployed machine learning (ML) and AI from cloud to edge in applications for 15 industrial demonstrators, ranging from robotics to semiconductor manufacturing.
- AIMS5.0 looks to strengthen European digital sovereignty by adopting, extending, and implementing AI tools and methods, as well as chip technology, across the industrial value chain to increase efficiency. Twenty use cases across ten domains will result in lower manufacturing costs, higher product quality, less time-to-market, and increased user acceptance of versatile technology offerings.
- IoTwins developed distributed digital twins for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) modeling manufacturing production plants and facility management deployment, using a combination of IoT, edge computing, and cloud technologies.
- In the THEIAXR project, the focus was on enhancing human‑machine interaction in off‑highway machinery using extended reality (XR) technologies to make non‑visible or non‑perceivable information accessible to operators. THEIAXR validated its proposed solutions in three real‑world use cases for snow grooming, logistics, and construction.
Discover all our research activities
Tech updates on trends, innovation, and industrial transformation
According to Dr. Flamigni, cross-industry research and ecosystem partnerships are an asset in developing market-ready solutions, “Our participation in research and innovation projects allows us to try out new ideas and applications and to work directly with industry partners in pilot projects. We can gain a better understanding of which trends are relevant to the industry and which challenges companies face in implementing new digital technologies. We gain experience and know-how that we can then apply to improve our services and solutions across industries.”
TTTECH has a wide portfolio of solutions for the industrial IoT, edge computing and AI-enhanced solutions – be it for manufacturing and production applications, the aerospace industry, mobile machinery, or the energy sector. In its quarterly spotlight format (CEO Talks) and newsletter, TTTECH highlights different megatrends and discusses their relevance across industries – check out some of our CEO Talks below:
- The transformative potential of edge computing
- Automation to autonomy: From vision to execution
- Smart farming and precision agriculture
- Software-defined solutions: Openness, security, and real-time performance
- Cybersecurity – Embedding trust into every layer
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