Imagine a digital bridge that connects city dwellers and country folk to solve local problems together. It uses virtual reality to let people test new ideas, like better farming or tourism, before building them in real life. Think of it as a digital matchmaking service for regional growth and smarter local governance.
Rural areas lack the services and economic connectivity available in cities, leading to depopulation and inefficient resource use. There is a gap in how city and country businesses collaborate to create mutual value.
A 'Community Store' digital platform and 6 specific technical tools (RUEs) covering logistics, biodiversity, bioeconomy, agrifood startups, tourism, and mobility.
If you are a local food processor dealing with inefficient supply chains — this project developed training and tools to process raw materials locally. This helps shorten value chains and increases the distribution of local food products.
If you are a tourism operator dealing with rural depopulation — this project developed cognitive computing tools to identify what attracts visitors. This allows for the promotion of sustainable tourism to bring more revenue to quiet areas.
If you are a transport company dealing with inefficient rural commuting — this project developed computer simulations to improve mobility. This optimizes routes and reduces wasted time for commuters.
Based on available project data, specific pricing is not mentioned, but the project aims to create business models to enable the broad application of its innovations.
The project uses 7 co-creation labs across 8 countries to test solutions in different contexts, providing a basis for scaling across the EU.
Based on available project data, the project will establish a Community Store and an Open Call to fund others to develop their own versions of these tools.
The project provides a suite of policies and a digital space designed to enhance territorial governance and existing policy tools.
The project runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31, meaning results will be fully available by the end of 2027.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward research and public entities, with 17 partners across 8 countries. Only 12% of the partners are from industry (2 companies), and 3 are SMEs. This suggests the project is currently more focused on validation and social experimentation than immediate commercial product launch.
Contact the Research Center of Communication and Computer Systems (REC) in Greece.
Contact us to identify which of the 6 innovation domains fits your regional business strategy.
