At the beginning of 2024, the European Commission and Horizon Europe embarked on an ambitious project: INPACE. This initiative aims to reinforce the execution of Digital Partnerships with Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore, alongside enhancing cooperation with India within the Trade and Technology Council framework. The goal is to establish a sustainable and dynamic multi-stakeholder Indo-Pacific European Hub, fostering a vibrant and interactive network about the future of digital technologies.
Measuring up to its ambitions: 42, 21, 16, 5, …
The Indo-Pacific-European Hub for Digital Partnerships and Trusted Digital Technologies for a Sustainable Well-Being, an impressive plan with imposing numbers. 42, 21, 16, 5, are respectively associated with the length of the project, the number of the related countries, the number of Thematic Working Groups, and the number of linked clusters. The INPACE project, notably characterised by its extensive duration – 42 months, a length that stands out among European-funded initiatives – brings together a robust network of 21 partners. A pivotal aspect of the project is the organisation of thematic discussions, focusing on 16 strategically significant areas through Thematic Working Groups (TWGs). These discussions are conducted at an expert level, ensuring a deep dive into the complexities of each area. Already, experts have begun to tackle 5 main clusters, setting the stage for in-depth exploration and collaboration.
Organised in three pillars, the INPACE Hub will work on policy aspects (Cluster 1 – Digital Dialogues, Policy and Education), rolling out digital technologies (Cluster 2 – Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Well-being), and pushing key digital and enabling technologies forward (Clusters 3 – Trustworthy Decision Support, 4 – Chips of the Future and 5 – Future Networks).
The INPACE Hub will create an INPACE Community Platform to support the implementation of Digital Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. This will lead to detailed and strategic outputs based on analytical work and deep domain knowledge. Experts across various industries will have the chance to connect with diverse groups thanks to events which will be oriented around one specific topic, the thematic events or integrated events, articulated around more topics. INPACE harmoniously combines three levels of interventions, feeding each other: the expert level, the government level, and the broader stakeholder community level.
In many ways, the Indo-Pacific region is where the future of our planet and of history will be decided.
Josep Borrell Fontelles, Vice-President of the European Commission
INPACE incorporates co-creation, stakeholder engagement, and community building, with a keen focus on the societal and humanistic impacts of digital technologies. It maintains a consistent dialogue with the European Commission and policymakers to align its initiatives with current efforts and priorities. Despite the explanations about clusters and their functionalities, the core enquiry remains: How do they interact with each other?
INPACE Hub: Exploring the five clusters
Each TWG will involve at least 6 key experts, ‘forward-looking leaders’ from Europe and from Asia, ideally 3 from Europe and at least 3 from Asian project partner countries where there is strong interest in the topic. Experts will be selected by the TWG lead after consultation with the INPACE country coordinator and the relevant Asian country leader. The final list of experts will be confirmed by the Project Coordinator.
Cluster 1 is about digital dialogues, policies and education. Experts selected in this cluster will dedicate their work to topics such as supply chains of semiconductors,human-centric AI, connectivity, including future-generation networks and submarine cables, and cybersecurity and post-quantum cryptography, for example. The mapping, synergies, and other related activities of the cluster will mainly focus on:
- Standardisation
- Regulation, legislation, policy
- Joint (bidirectional) programming
- Digital education and skills
Cluster 2 will focus on innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainable well-being and digital public infrastructure leveraging technology and data for:
- Smart cities and communities
- Digitalization for sustainable ecosystems
- Digitalization of industry, infrastructures and services
Cluster 3 will focus on digital technologies and trustworthy decision support. These experts wish to determine current state, needs, future priorities of R&I in the area and lead the generation of reports, strategic papers, and general policy briefs on:
- Trusted AI
- Data technologies
- High performance computing
Cluster 4 will concentrate on enabling technologies and chips for the future with:
- Advanced computing
- Advanced functionalities
- Ground-breaking technologies
Cluster 5 will work on digital technologies and future networks, for example cyber security or distributed systems of security, while fostering Europe’s technology sovereignty in 5G/6G.
- 5G and beyond
- Internet of trust and security
- IoT
INPACE has from its start embedded sustainability in the project execution, aiming at the hub becoming a sustainable long-term expert-driven mechanism for EU-Indo-Pacific collaboration in Digital Technologies and possibly beyond. Indo-European digital partnerships within Horizon Europe are about leveraging the strengths of both regions to drive innovation, address global challenges, and foster a more integrated digital economy. These partnerships are crucial for the future of digital transformation and technological innovation in the Indo-European region.