Digital for Planet
Horizon Europe
Horizon Europe 2025-27: Moving into a green, digital and more resilient future
The European Commission recently published the Horizon Europe strategic plan for 2025-2027. Acting as a bridge between EU policy priorities and the research and innovation (R&I) activities detailed in the Horizon Europe work programmes, this plan offers three key strategic orientations to the two-year cycle of Horizon Europe.
For the period of 2025-2027, Horizon Europe’s key strategic orientations will concentrate on the green transition, the digital transition, and the building of a more resilient, competitive, inclusive and democratic Europe. These strategic orientations for research and innovation are focused on achieving a fair transition to a climate-neutral and resilient society, preventing and preparing for disasters, addressing multiple threats, enhancing border management and situational awareness, advancing cybersecurity, and strengthening social and economic resilience.
From fundamental research to breakthrough innovation and deployment of innovative solutions, Martel Innovate is actively participating in the future plans and developments of Horizon Europe through 2027 and beyond.
Direction to the future of R&I
The three key strategic orientations will guide all parts of Horizon Europe and will be translated into specific research and innovation activities. The implementation of the strategic directions will involve funding research projects, supporting innovation and technology transfer, fostering collaboration and partnerships, promoting interdisciplinary approaches, and ensuring the alignment of national and EU research strategies.
“By setting out key strategic orientations for EU’s research and innovation funding, we can guide investments in cutting-edge research and breakthrough innovations,” says Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age. “Via the Horizon Europe Work Programmes we can address key challenges such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, the digital transition and an ageing population. Our strategic plan identifies nine new areas: Brain Health, Forestry for a Sustainable Future, Innovative Materials, Raw Materials for the Green and Digital Transition, Cultural Heritage, Social Transformations, Solar Photovoltaics, Textiles of the Future, and Virtual Worlds.”
These pivotal strategic directions are now the overarching guidelines for Horizon Europe, and their execution will be facilitated via the work programmes. The Horizon Europe main Work Programme 2025 will be developed following the orientations of the newly adopted strategic plan. In April 2024, the Commission will launch a feedback opportunity for the Work Programme 2025 open to all stakeholders.
Dedicated involvement by Martel Innovate
Digital transition, particularly in fostering Europe’s competitiveness and open strategic autonomy in core digital technologies, is deeply embedded in Martel’s projects.
“The digital transformation of our society is increasingly becoming a pivotal force across both public and private sectors,” says CEO of Martel Innovate, Dr. Monique Calisti. “Sustainability and the human-centric approach to this digital transition that our society is experiencing is a development that Martel takes immense pride in advancing through its collaborative efforts with partners and under the guidance of the European Commission. This partnership encompasses a wide array of initiatives, already in place, that align with the new strategic plan, encompassing sustainability, digital transition, and digital sovereignty.”
“Sustainability and the human-centric approach to this digital transition that our society is experiencing is a development that Martel takes immense pride in…”
Martel is involved in various projects, including 6G4Society and the plethora of 6GSNS projects such as Nexus Forum, Next Generation Internet (NGI) and the EU-Cloud-Edge-IoT (EUCEI) Initiatives. These projects enhance data privacy, security, and inclusion, promote digital sovereignty through the consolidation of the European Computing Continuum ecosystem and contribute to the promotion of open-source software and hardware. Martel’s dedicated involvement in this framework through its innovative projects positions us at the forefront of shaping a sustainable and technologically advanced future for Europe.
Background on the second strategic plan of Horizon Europe
The Horizon Europe strategic plan for 2025-2027 builds on an extensive analysis conducted by the Commission services, including a gap analysis on the missing topics and potential gaps within the intervention areas provided in the Horizon Europe legal basis. The strategic plan has been co-created by Commission services and co-designed with the European Parliament, Member States and Associated Countries as well as more than 2000 stakeholders and citizens who have contributed at various stages of the strategic planning process for Horizon Europe, such as the largest ever public consultation on European Research and Innovation Framework Programmes.
Since its start in 2021, Horizon Europe has been generating excellence breakthrough knowledge and investment in solutions to long-term global challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, digital transformation, health threats and an ageing population. Visit the Horizon Europe website to get more details: https://www.horizon-eu.eu
