XGain

Forschungspolitik & Entwicklung

Enhancing Competitiveness, Resilience & Sustainability of Remote Farming, Forestry and Rural Areas ...

A new EU project to diminish urban-rural digital inequalities via XG, last-mile connectivity and edge computing solutions.

XGain fosters a sustainable, balanced, and inclusive development of rural, coastal and urban areas by facilitating access to relevant stakeholders to a comprehensive inventory of smart XG, last-mile connectivity and edge computing solutions, and of related assessment methods. The XGain’s project overall objective is to deliver a Knowledge Facilitation Tool, facilitating business model development, supporting decision-making in the selection of an ecosystem of technologies, consisting of connectivity options and edge processing solutions, by following a multi-actor and practitioner-oriented approach, and by coherently assessing their socio-economic and techno-environmental effects.

Providing access to connectivity and computing solutions to rural, coastal and urban areas
Accessibility and connectivity are key issues to mitigate this erosion of socio-territorial cohesion. However, identifying a common solution for equipping rural communities with increased access to services, opportunities and adequate innovation ecosystems ensuring that no one left behind is a challenging task, mainly due to the diversity of challenges and needs of different locations. In this respect, XGain fosters a sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of rural, coastal and urban areas by facilitating access to relevant stakeholders, such as municipalities, policymakers, farmers, foresters and their associations, to a comprehensive inventory of smart XG, last-mile connectivity and edge computing solutions, and of related assessment methods.

Objectives

To empower public participation and multi-actor approach in transition towards enhanced sustainability design, social acceptance and fair solutions, through the interactive identification of end users’ needs and co-creation of XGain system and Use Cases requirements.
To design and deliver a user-centric, interoperable and easy-to-use knowledge facilitation tool, for supporting actors of rural and coastal communities in their decision-making process on internet connectivity and edge technology options with appropriate operational business models.
To develop, establish and facilitate the selection of the most appropriate innovative business models that will include systemic level and cross-sectoral approaches.
To validate the outcome of the Knowledge Facilitation Tool in 6 unique fields with different technical, environmental, societal and economical structures and needs.
To accelerate the adoption of XGain solutions by the wider community, and ensure impact maximisation to the realisation of sustainable, balanced and inclusive development of rural areas’ vision.

XGain’s core ambition is to gather all the necessary pieces of the puzzle called “Rural Digital Connectivity” into a Knowledge Facilitation Tool (Digital Platform). With an easy to use web-based interface, interested stakeholders will have the ability to select “pieces of their puzzle” (requirements). Options like sector of interest (e.g. Agriculture), service (e.g. Precision Farming), location needs (e.g. connectivity range) and scale (farm/community/regional), will be compiled as inputs and processed. In a consistent, efficient and effective way, XGain’s Knowledge Facilitation Tool, will utilize user’s inputs and based on the Knowledge “Gains” will provide recommendations for the “best-fit” technological solutions that are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly taking into consideration local-social aspects. Finally, XGain will identify existing and develop alternative business models adapted to real-life/real-needs conditions.

All in all, XGain’s platform is intended to provide the best digital connectivity solutions to all stakeholders in an ad-hoc way by answering all of their questions and hesitations.

The XGain consortium with 17 partner is led by the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems in Athens (ICCS). ZSI leads the workpackage "Interactive Definition of User-oriented Requirements" and contributes to further WPs.

At a glance - Key facts and figures