At the Heart of the CELTIC Community: the European AI-ACT & 6G Fuelling the AI Compute Continuum
Christiane Reinsch
CELTIC-NEXT Programme Coordinator
Welcome:
The day started with a warm welcome from José Carlos Pedro, the President of the Board of Directors from our host organization Instituto de Telecomunicações in Aveiro, Portugal, followed by a short welcome from the CELTIC-NEXT Director Mr. Xavier Priem.
Both underlined the importance of in-person gatherings to foster new project ideas and to exchange on the latest advancements in the next generation of telecommunication.
Keynotes:
Two keynotes in the area of AI have been presented focusing on International Regulation and legal Frameworks, highlighting the transformative potential of 6G, current trends in the compute continuum that underpin a European value-based AI ecosystem.
On the Path to the AI-ACT:
The first keynote gave insights “on the path to the AI-ACT”, kindly presented by Prof. Diogo Gomes from Instituto de Telecomunicações.
Prof. Diogo Gomes started with an overview on the EU AI-ACT that has been unanimously approved by the EU Council on 21 May 2024 and is foreseen to be fully applicable in 2026. The EU AI-ACT balances innovation with fundamental rights and safety, it is the first comprehensive European AI regulatory framework. Prof. Gomes touched on the basics of its Risk-based framework ranging from no obligation for minimal risk to conformity assessment for unacceptable AI risks as, for example, social scoring as well as unacceptable prohibited aspects of AI covered within the EU AI-ACT.
Transparency and Explainability, record-keeping as well as Auditability were mentioned as key requirements for High-Risk AI systems.
Open questions such as the ambiguity in definitions, enforcement capacity and expertise as well as risk of over-regulation vs under regulation have been discussed, as the importance of global competitiveness of AI systems is of utmost importance and the compliance is often seen as a burden to the industry.
He emphasized the need for adaptive flexible rules in a fast-moving field to underline the strength of the European industry in the Telecom ecosystem and the benefit it provides to its vertical markets. This approach strengthens vertical markets to thrive and fully leverage a strong alliance in the telecom sector.
In his keynote Prof. Gomes gave an overview on international legal frameworks such as for example the Algorithmic Accountability Act and the Stop Discrimination by Algorithmic Acts in the United States; the AIDA Act in Canada; the Basic Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of Foundation for Trust in Korea, and the Act on the Promotion of Research, Development and Utilization of Artificial Intelligence-Related Technologies in Japan.
GSMA RAI that provides guidance for mobile operators and ecosystem partners on designing and deploying AI responsibly have been touched as well as the technical standards for secure and trustworthy AI from ETSI supporting the EU AI-Act compliance ecosystem through harmonized standards.
6G: Fuelling the AI Compute Continuum
The second keynote, kindly presented by Wolfgang John, Principal Researcher at Ericsson Research Sweden, on the topic of “6G: Fuelling the AI Compute Continuum” began with an overview of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) process regarding the ongoing 6G 3GPP standardization activities, which are scheduled to start in end of 2024 and are expected to lead to commercial release in 2029 and beyond.
Wolfgang John provided insights on how AI-native networks, 6G Compute, Trustworthy systems and limitless connectivity capabilities of the 6G network platform serve as key enablers for co-creating a cyber physical world. First ideas on AI powered services have been shown working on today’s but also on tomorrows mobile networks that are both a communication and a computing platform.
Next generation of 6G networks include AI native infrastructure closely coupled to distributed data networks through a common platform functionality as cloud infrastructure, transport and data infrastructure serving end customers needs. The 6G network platform ensures service assurance, external interaction and business support through network assets that include cloud native and AI native infrastructure in a cyber physical world.
Especially the 6G AI compute continuum will simplify the procurement and deployment of future ready applications and devices. Optimization of connectivity compute and AI as well as network architectures supporting network insights and data as well as optimizing data transfer proved by large scale use cases have been highlighted during the presentation.
Examples of relevant data and insights within a mobile network as fraud detection and prevention, connectivity status and prediction, spatial data and user density have been mentioned to evolve in the future by the implementation of 6G and the AI compute continuum.
Trust, privacy and data sovereignty has been highlighted as potential driver for local compute and AI services. This presents a significant opportunity for mobile network operators as a nationally regulated business partner offering trustworthy bundles of communication, compute, data handling and AI model management. Immediate questions from the audience were raised on when the solution would be ready to be used. Which underlined the interest from industry viewpoint on the 6G and AI native compute continuum.
Funding Landscape in CELTIC:
As part of the Proposers Day, representatives from the CELTIC funding bodies explained details of funding in their country. Mrs. Polina Pereira from ANI opened the session by warmly welcoming the CELTIC Community in Aveiro and then presented the funding scheme in Portugal. Following Mrs. Pereira’s presentation, Mrs. Juana Sánchez from CDTI, Spain, gave insights on new funding opportunities in Spain and encouraged the participants from Spain to submit a high quality proposals related to the advices given in her presentation.
Representative from ANI, Portugal: Mrs. Polina Pereira Representative from CDTI, Spain: Mrs. Juana Sanchez
Following the funding presentation in Spain, our new Public Authorities representative Mrs. Bahriye Özkara from TUBITAK, Türkiye, showed relevant details on how to apply on national level in Türkiye to the interested participants. The funding landscape in Finland and support of CELTIC Calls has been kindly explained by Mr. Heikki Uusi Honko from Business Finland. Mrs. Camille Tang-Taye Pinois from BPI France followed his presentation and provided insights on the processes in France to the audience.
Successful SME
Mr. Pedro Lousa from Beyond Vision, highlighted the impressive growth and success of Beyond Vision which is a high-tech drone company, noting that it is among the first drone operators to utilize 5G technology, enabling extended-range communications. He also emphasized the company’s coordination role within the CELTIC project Intelligent Edge of Things (IEoT) that operated and finished successfully even during the Corona Pandemic. The expected revenue for Beyond Vision’s Drone Group, which entered the market in 2021, is projected to reach approximately €13 million by 2025, supported by a workforce of around 70 employees. The company specializes in dual-use applications for both civil and military purposes.
Insights from the Experts
In the next session, hands on experience from the CELTIC Experts where given. The session was opened by Mr. Xavier Priem, CELTIC Director, followed closely by Prof. Ayman Radwan, who explained in detail his CELTIC project success in the Health area as well as useful advices on the journey from Proposal Idea to a successful project end including strong guidelines on how to prepare a successful CELTIC Proposal.
Pitching Session and Consortium Building
Overall 15 new project ideas have been presented in the pitching session moderated by Mrs. Christiane Reinsch, CELTIC programme coordinator, who also moderated the days proceedings.
The pitching session was highly interactive and showcased innovation, featuring presentations such as Secure X, presented by DFKI from Germany, which captivated the audience with its cutting-edge security solutions. Celtiberian SL from Spain impressed with DronaaS, highlighting the potential of drone-as-a-service. A team of two from Airties, Türkiye, introduced Scota and Wi-Excellence, their smart connectivity test automation solutions, which promise to enhance network performance and Wi-Fi connectivity. Finally, Screenlight presented the concept of Cinema Futuro, sparking excitement about the future of cinema and its evolving technologies. Many more presentations were given, each one not only informative but also interactive, engaging the audience in discussions about the future of their dynamic sectors. Each of the presenters invited to an online consortium-building sessions that took place the following week.
Throughout the day, the pitch presenters gathered around posters to discuss their presentations with potential new partners.
After the pitching session, the attendees enjoyed the guided tour through the Lab of Insituto de Telecomunicações.
Poster Session: Burcu Ergun, Airties, Türkiye At the Entrance, happy team of two: Mehmet Sükrü Kuran and Burcu Ergun from Airties, Türkiye
Further information
https://www.celticnext.eu/event/proposers-brokerage-day-on-11-september-2025-in-aveiro-portugal/