In today’s Morning Brief:

COST Open Call

COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, invites proposals for Actions aiming at contributing to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or societal knowledge advancement and development of Europe.

COST does NOT fund research itself, but supports networking via different tools such as meetings, short-term scientific missions, training schools and dissemination activities as part of COST Actions.

Proposals for a COST Action must represent a network composed of proposers from at least seven (7) COST Members, amongst which ≥50% shall be from COST Inclusiveness Target Countries (ITC)¹ as detailed in Annex B with proposers having a registered e-COST profile.

Proposers benefit from a one-stage submission based upon a proposal of up to 15 pages. Proposals are evaluated against criteria of scientific and technological excellence, networking excellence, impact and implementation.

The 2022 Collection Date is set on 20 October 2022 at 12:00 (CET). Up to 70 new COST Actions are expected to be approved, subject to available budget.

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the e-COST online submission tool. Proposers will be able to submit proposals anytime throughout the year.

Further information here.

Webinar: Data privacy and monetization in the energy sector

The 12th “Power and Energy Webinar Series” will be organized on Monday, January 17, at 2:30 pm (GMT), under the motto “Data privacy and monetization in the energy sector”.

Ricardo Bessa (INESC TEC) and Pierre Pinson  (Technical University of Denmark) , will be responsible for leading this webinar. Vladimiro Miranda will be in charge of the moderation.

People interested in participating in the session should register on the initiative’s website. After completing the form available on the website (“participate” section), the participants will receive, closer to the session, an email from the organization with the credentials access.

EU Commission begins expert consultations on Complementary Delegated Act

The European Commission began consultations with the Member States Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and the Platform on Sustainable Finance on a draft text of a Taxonomy Complementary Delegated Act covering certain gas and nuclear activities.

The EU Taxonomy guides and mobilises private investment in activities that are needed to achieve climate neutrality in the next 30 years. The existing energy mix in Europe today varies from one Member State to another.

Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, as well as varying transition challenges across Member States, the Commission considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future. Within the Taxonomy framework, this would mean classifying these energy sources under clear and tight conditions (for example, gas must come from renewable sources or have low emissions by 2035), in particular as they contribute to the transition to climate neutrality.

In addition, to ensure transparency, the Commission will amend the Taxonomy Disclosure Delegated Act so that investors can identify if activities include gas or nuclear activities, and to what extent, so they can make an informed choice.

Read more about how this is planned to be done here.

European Commission launches new data and cloud alliance

The new European Commission powered Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud was officially launched last month. With 39 members, the initiative gathers some of Europe’s top-notch tech companies to collaborate on next-generation computing technologies.

“Data will transform the way we produce, consume and live”, said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who chaired the kick-off meeting.

“With energy-efficient, highly secure and interoperable solutions, we will enable the uptake of new digital technologies, provide businesses and public administrations with a trusted framework to process data, and strengthen the position of EU industry,” he added.

The new alliance has been in the pipeline since last year’s European data strategy, with a view to creating innovative synergies between European computing tech companies and advising the EU executive on its industrial strategy and investments plans.

In particular, the alliance will be consulted on the drafting of the regulatory cloud rulebook, expected in 2022.

Read more here.