• Published on 18 Dec 2012
• About ARTEMIS

Eight billion opportunities

There is wide consensus that the time from now till 2030 will be a period of permanent change and constant disruption. By 2030 the planet will be home to 8 billion people, less than a quarter of whom will live in Europe and the Americas. The way of life and business will be fundamentally different from what it is today. A positive response to these trends is to see eight billion opportunities. 

A high-level report, Vision 2030 , the result of the ITEA-ARTEMIS sherpa group, describes these areas of major change and disruption as well as the role of ICT in the global economy and society in 2030 in the context of their common mission: to maintain European leadership in embedded systems and software-intensive systems and services. For Europe, an industry strong in ICT-based innovations is a prerequisite for maintaining global competitiveness. Moreover, such an industry creates high-value jobs in ICT and in other, more traditional ICT-dependent industries. 

A short SWOT analysis reveals the need for a new vision. On the weaknesses and threats side are:

• Fragmented  investments and different national policies
• Slowness to react to fast changing needs and technological developments
• Brain drain of excellent scientists / decrease of
• ‘Off-shoring’ of high-value-added products

On the strengths and opportunities side are:

• Competent and highly competitive industry, and strong SME base
• High quality supplies of goods and services,
• Strong industry backed by leading academics, and research organisations
• Incentivised innovation eco-system
• Recognition as ‘better supplier’

This SWOT reveals a strong position for the European industry but one that is under constant pressure and threatening to wane. Given the importance of the role of ICT in European industry and its products, a structural focus on the weaknesses and threats will remain essential for the next decades.

Vision
The vision that drives ARTEMIS is of mankind benefiting from a major evolution in intelligent systems, a world in which all systems, machines and objects are smart, have a presence in cyber space, exploit the information and services around them, communicate which each other, with the environment and with people, and manage their resources autonomously.  Digital convergence by emancipation of data, building embedded intelligence into every aspect of life and the internet revolution, are the opportunities of our time. These have changed the way we live as citizens and the way we do business in the new digital economy, and this trend is accelerating and will impact our society even more deeply.

Strategy
The ARTEMIS strategy mainly aims to cut barriers between application sectors to facilitate the cross-domain sharing of technologies and research through top-down strategic road mapping and an ambitious set of high level objectives. Such a strategy has generated an outstanding record of successful projects since ARTEMIS has been running (2007-2012). In 2010, the ARTEMIS strategy integrated a third dimension to address the societal challenges and foster innovation to support the development of high-value added Embedded Systems solutions that are reusable across a wide range of application sectors and that can be integrated to respond to a number of societal challenges. But today Europe faces further societal challenges arising from inverted demographic curves, constantly increasing demands for non-renewable natural resources, expectations for improved quality of life, and climate change. The implication for a successor programme is the adoption of a strategy that is inclusive of technology, market and society as well as flexible, open and dynamic to adapt to the continuously evolving challenges in the areas of major change:

• Globalisation 
• Management of scarce resources
• Climate change
• Urbanisation
• Mobility
• Healthcare and nutrition
• Digital society

Embedded systems technology
Already today, embedded software systems assist and control various aspects of our lives. They enable businesses to perform better and make citizen’s lives more fulfilling and convenient. Some systems, especially for automotive and aircraft control, medical systems and nuclear power supply, are already critical to human life. This will evolve drastically: future generations will experience “embedded intelligence” pervasiveness that can hardly be imagined today. Embedded intelligent systems will literally be found everywhere and control pretty well everything while citizens’ lives and well-being will depend on these systems to an inconceivable extent. Internet has become the dominant connection medium for all communication and will remain so, especially for communication between the myriad of connected Embedded Systems. Internet connected intelligent embedded systems having high-performance computing resources will provide the core of solutions for the major societal challenges as well as raise expectations and concerns about potential failures and safety, privacy and security making the quality and dependability of embedded systems key issues. The ‘bigger picture’ for Embedded Systems implies change from local networks to open networks of embedded systems leading, in turn, to a shift from single-system ownership to multiple-design processes and responsibilities involving many parties, multi-views and conflicting objectives, as well as advanced resource monitoring, virtualisation and dynamic adaptation. Networked Embedded Systems will, in effect, become the neural system of society, as explained in the ARTEMIS SRA.

The ARTEMIS SRA 2011 points to a series of technical issues that need to be resolved before 2030.   First, those issues related to foundational science and technology; second, those related to the application contexts; and third, those encompassing societal challenges. Such solutions to our pressing societal challenges will spur on European competitiveness. The key enabling role of Embedded Systems is becoming increasingly firmly established in European society in the shift from localised, sector-specific improvements – in homes, offices, vehicles, factories, traffic management, healthcare, etc – to smart cities, smart regions and even smart societies.

Major areas of change and opportunities for European industry competitiveness
ARTEMIS aims to establish a new, holistic approach to research, technology and development, innovation and skill creation in Embedded Systems by means of innovation ecosystems. This will increase the efficiency of technological development by seeding projects focusing on EU excellence and, at the same time, enhance the competitiveness of the market in the supply of Embedded Systems technology.

Europe, with its world class automotive, aerospace, communication and medical equipment industries, still has an excellent position in Embedded Systems, which play a key role in enhancing the capabilities, availability and usefulness of these products. Only through adequate coordination and collaboration and with the help of public funding can this position be maintained to help solve the enormous challenges emerging from the areas of major change and, at the same time, spur European competitiveness in many areas. Pan-European action is and remains essential to keep Europe at the forefront of product innovation by research in embedding intelligence. ARTEMIS is a key player in achieving a pan-European approach to product innovation and maintaining the competitiveness of the European industry towards 2030.