On the 15th-16th of January 2025, the 4-year European Excellence Hub project EUSOME officially kicked off its activities, bringing together 16 partners in Cyprus for a 2-day kick-off meeting. The meeting was hosted at the KIOS Center of Excellence (KIOS CoE) at the University of Cyprus campus.
EUSOME stands for Enabling Autonomous Aerial Systems through Operational Methods and Technological Enhancements and aims to revolutionize the air mobility ecosystem in the Southeast Mediterranean region by addressing specific regional challenges, such as transporting goods and people, surveilling complex landscapes, tackling fire risks, and monitoring traffic congestion.
The project will address these challenges by developing (i) an open research and innovation infrastructure, (ii) mentoring and training programs, (iii) a masterplan to adopt EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations on Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), and (iv) services to assist entities in exploiting AAM.
A key novelty of the project is the establishment of the EUSOME Thematic Innovation Hub (TIH) which will explore open-access policies and market possibilities for project outputs. The EUSOME TIH will also develop a portfolio of consultancy services derived from soft skills cultivated in the project, offering valuable insights to entities entering the AAM market. Lastly, the EUSOME Hub will initiate an outreach program to promote public engagement and ensure widespread acceptance of the AAM technology.
According to the project’s coordinator Prof. Georgios Ellinas, “the EUSOME Excellence Hub project will play a pivotal role in establishing AAM as an integral component of the transportation landscape in the region, through a strategic framework, involving academia, business, government and society in Widening countries”.
The EUSOME project, a European Excellence Hub project under EU Horizon Europe, with a total budget of €5,998,806, is coordinated by Prof. Georgios Ellinas in collaboration with Prof. Panayiotis Kolios and Dr. Christian Vitale at the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence, University of Cyprus. The project comprises experts from across the AAM spectrum, that include cutting-edge research institutions, aircraft manufacturers, civil aviation authorities, public agencies, innovation specialists, and public representatives from Cyprus, Greece, Poland, and Serbia.
Specifically, partners include from Cyprus the KIOS Research and Innovation Center of Excellence (University of Cyprus), the Ministry of Transport (Department Civil Aviation Cyprus), N. Karaolides Designs Ltd, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industrials, Mediterranean Adventure Ltd, and the SocialTech Lab; from Greece, the Athena Research Center, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry of Digital Governance (General Secretariat of Telecommunication and Posts), HDRONES ltd, the Greek National Infrastructures for Research and Technology, ADRESTIA Research & Development, the Hellenic U-Space Institute and the Region of Epirus; from Poland the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences and from Serbia the Instituto Mihajlo Pupin.
About EU Excellence Hubs
Excellence hubs are part of the European Excellence Initiative and complement the science-oriented schemes: Teaming, Twinning, ERA Chairs and the European Excellence Initiative. Their aim is to strengthen regional innovation excellence, through innovation ecosystems in Widening countries and beyond, by teaming up, and creating robust linkages between academia, businesses, governments, and civil society.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
