WS3 Piloting Activities - Adding New AI-Based Tools to the LDTs Toolbox
Brief Overview
This Work Strand is about experimenting with advanced AI-based services to push the boundaries of what Local Digital Twins (LDTs) can do. Pilots will test and apply cutting-edge approaches such as generative AI (GenAI4EU), virtual worlds, advanced simulation and modelling, and multi-sector services. These solutions will help cities improve critical services (energy, mobility, infrastructure, risk management) while involving citizens more actively in shaping their communities.
Key facts:
- 3–4 pilots will be selected
- Start of the pilots: May/November 2026
- Duration: 18 months
- Funding: 50% co-funding required
- Opening of Open Call 4: February 2026
- Opening of Open Call 5: May 2026
What is the goal?
- Pilot AI-driven use cases that go beyond current LDT capabilities.
- Test novel applications using generative AI, simulation, and immersive technologies.
- Strengthen citizen participation through co-creation and democratic engagement.
- Ensure that both advanced and less advanced communities can benefit from new AI tools.
Who Are We Looking For?
We invite applications from:
- Municipalities, groups of municipalities, or regions, syndicates which already have a public service (whichever) and want to experiment with AI-enhanced LDT services to improve public services and resilience.
- Cities, municipalities, or regions.
- Technology innovators and solution providers in areas such as AI, generative AI, Citiverse/virtual worlds, simulation, and modelling, who are ready to collaborate with cities and transfer their solutions into real-world pilots.
Minimum consortium composition:
- At least 2 public entities
- Plus 1 other partner from the following:
- Private entity (e.g., service provider)
- Private association (legal status)
- Trusted third party
- Representative of a use-case sector
WS3 Resources
This section provides a set of non-technical and technical resources that are directly targeted to the WS3 scope. These resources are designed to support pilots in preparing their proposals, planning their implementation, and ensuring compliance with interoperability, AI, and governance requirements.
Non-Technical Resources
| Title | Small Description | Source / Link | Thematic Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Act | Provides a clear regulatory foundation for AI deployment within data spaces and LDTs, ensuring adherence to EU standards and fostering trust among stakeholders. | AI Act | Legal |
| European AI Office | Central authority within the European Commission responsible for overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the AI Act across EU member states. | AI Office | AI for Smart Cities |
| The General-Purpose AI Code of Practice | The Code of Practice helps industry comply with the AI Act legal obligations on safety, transparency and copyright of general-purpose AI models. | AI Code of Practice | AI for Smart Cities |
| Data Governance - Hub France IA | (in French) Helps to operationalize data governance to comply with the AI Act. | Data Governance Guide | AI for Smart Cities |
Technical Resources
| Title | Small Description | Source / Link | Thematic Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simpl Open | An open-source software stack powering data spaces and cloud-to-edge federation initiatives. | Simpl Open | Data Spaces |
| Smart Data Models | Shared, standard and open-licensed data models & validation. | Website · GitHub | Interoperability MIMs |
| NGSI-LD | Information model and API for publishing, querying and subscribing to context information. | NGSI-LD | Interoperability MIMs |
| Stellio | NGSI-LD compliant context broker. | GitHub | Local Digital Twins (LDTs) |
| Scorpio | NGSI-LD compliant context broker. | GitHub | Local Digital Twins (LDTs) |
| Orion-LD | NGSI-LD compliant context broker. | GitHub | Local Digital Twins (LDTs) |
| Apache Kafka | Distributed event streaming for real-time data pipelines. | Kafka | Local Digital Twins (LDTs) |
| Apache Airflow | Orchestration platform for batch ETL, simulations, AI workflows. | Airflow | Local Digital Twins (LDTs) |
| Kubeflow | Full ML workflow orchestration. | Kubeflow | AI for Smart Cities |
| MLFlow | Experiment tracking & model registry. | MLFlow | AI for Smart Cities |
| KServe & Open Inference Protocol V2 | AI Inference Platform for Scalable, Multi-Framework Deployment on Kubernetes. | KServe · Inference Protocol V2 | AI for Smart Cities |