The journey towards a connected, sovereign European computing continuum is a shared one, advanced by many communities and projects working towards a common goal. Today we are glad to introduce a new project that joins this effort: INCLUDE.
What is INCLUDE?
INCLUDE (INtegrated CLoud, Edge, and DEvice Stakeholder Alignment) is a Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action that began in July 2026. It works to build a sovereign, open and interoperable European Telco-Edge-Cloud, acting as the coordination backbone of the 3C Initiative, the effort to build Connected Collaborative Computing Networks across the Telco-Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum.
Over three years, INCLUDE will bring together the supply and demand sides of Europe's digital ecosystem around a shared technology roadmap, a common governance framework, and an open catalogue of trusted building blocks. Its aim is to make sure that the infrastructure Europe builds reflects real market needs, shared rules and open standards, and that its results reach the industries and communities that will rely on them.
A shared vision with CEI-Sphere
For the CEI-Sphere community, much of this will feel familiar. Both projects are driven by the same conviction: that Europe's strength lies in connecting its fragmented efforts into a coherent, trusted and sovereign whole, built on openness and collaboration rather than working in silos.
CEI-Sphere has played a central role in consolidating the Cloud-Edge-IoT continuum community, supporting its projects, nurturing its ecosystem, and advancing the roadmaps and dialogue that give the continuum a shared direction. INCLUDE approaches the same landscape from the angle of the 3C Initiative, coordinating the peer projects building Europe's Telco-Edge-Cloud and aligning them with the needs of Europe's vertical industries.
These are complementary perspectives on the same future. Where the communities meet, whether around roadmaps, open-source building blocks, stakeholder engagement or the wider goal of European digital sovereignty, there is clear potential for the two efforts to learn from and reinforce one another.
Natural connections ahead
Several bridges already exist between the two initiatives. Trust-IT, an active partner in the CEI-Sphere ecosystem, is also part of the INCLUDE consortium, offering a natural point of connection between the communities. More broadly, the projects share overlapping stakeholder groups, from technology providers and open-source communities to the vertical sectors that will ultimately adopt these solutions.
As INCLUDE gets underway, we look forward to exploring these synergies: sharing knowledge, connecting communities, and amplifying the collective work of everyone building Europe's computing continuum. A stronger, more connected ecosystem benefits every project working towards it.
Find out more
You can learn more about INCLUDE and follow its progress on its website at include-csa.eu, and connect with the project on LinkedIn, Mastodon and YouTube. We look forward to the conversations and collaborations ahead.