CEI-Sphere has joined the ALICE Liaison Programme, opening new opportunities for cooperation between Europe’s Cloud-Edge-IoT and logistics communities.
The collaboration reflects a shared interest in advancing the digitalisation of logistics and supply chains through interoperable technologies, trusted data sharing and more connected digital ecosystems.
As logistics operations become increasingly dependent on real-time data, distributed infrastructures and automated decision-making, the ability of different systems to work together is becoming essential. Cloud-Edge-IoT technologies can support this transition by enabling data to be processed and exchanged across devices, edge infrastructures and cloud platforms, closer to where it is generated and needed.
Through the Liaison Programme, CEI-Sphere will engage with ALICE members, share project results and contribute to thematic discussions on digital transformation, interoperability, automation, Data Spaces and the future of connected logistics.
Connecting Cloud-Edge-IoT with logistics priorities
CEI-Sphere supports the development of an open, interoperable and competitive European Cloud-Edge-IoT ecosystem. Building on the work of the Large-Scale Pilots O-CEI and COP-PILOT, the project brings together research organisations, technology providers, industrial stakeholders, standardisation communities and policymakers.
Its activities aim to reduce fragmentation and support the transition from individual research results to scalable solutions that can be deployed across sectors such as energy, mobility, logistics and manufacturing.
The collaboration with ALICE is particularly relevant to CEI-Sphere’s Mobility, Logistics and Software-Defined Vehicles Sphere. This Sphere connects use cases and stakeholders working on freight transport, connected mobility, intelligent transport systems and real-time logistics operations. By bringing together technology developers and logistics stakeholders, the Sphere aims to better understand market needs, identify common challenges and explore how Cloud-Edge-IoT solutions can support more efficient and resilient freight flows.
Shared priorities for digital logistics
CEI-Sphere and ALICE share several areas of interest, including:
- interoperability and standardisation;
- digitalisation of logistics and supply chains;
- trusted data sharing and Data Spaces;
- automation and intelligent transport systems;
- connected, efficient and resilient logistics networks.
The collaboration also creates a link between CEI-Sphere’s work on open and interoperable digital infrastructures and ALICE’s vision for the Physical Internet, in which physical and digital logistics networks work together to improve the movement of goods and resources.
CEI-Sphere can contribute to this discussion through its ecosystem tools and methodologies, including its use-case catalogues, interoperability work, Task Forces and the Hourglass Model. The model helps stakeholders map the relationships between actors, capabilities, standards and open-source building blocks across complex digital ecosystems.
From liaison to practical cooperation
Joining the ALICE Liaison Programme provides a basis for continued exchange between the two communities. Planned cooperation may include participation in thematic activities, the sharing of project results and use cases, engagement with logistics stakeholders and joint discussions on future digital logistics ecosystems.
The partnership will help connect technology development with practical logistics requirements while creating new opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Through this liaison, CEI-Sphere and ALICE will work to support the deployment of interoperable digital solutions for more connected, efficient, resilient and sustainable logistics systems across Europe.