The main objectives of CEI-Sphere are to create an open, interoperable, and competitive cloud-edge IoT ecosystem and to conduct market and use case analyses of large-scale pilots. CEI-Sphere acts as a catalyst for sustainable digital transformation in Europe, particularly in the energy sector. A key focus of CEI-Sphere is the large-scale pilots (LSPs) that started in January 2025 and contribute to the digital transformation in various economic sectors. These pilots, with a focus on the energy sector, will serve as a test environment for the latest cloud-edge IoT innovations. The LSPs will also play a crucial role in defining the “spheres” around key vertical industries to ensure sustainable cross-sector cooperation and alignment with European priorities such as open source, data spaces, and standards. CEI-Sphere focuses on the following results: defining a high-level CEI reference architecture, creating a comprehensive catalog of use cases and conducting market analysis, developing a visualization tool for the innovation ecosystem, and creating a certification framework to ensure the long-term success of the CEI infrastructure. By clustering pilots and use cases into thematic spheres, CEI-Sphere aims to accelerate standardization, interoperability, and partnerships in the European cloud-edge IoT ecosystem.
VDI/VDE-IT supports the development of an open cloud edge IoT ecosystem involving SMEs, midcaps, and start-ups with a view to the emerging CEI value chains that are aligned with the European data strategy. Based on the use cases of large-scale pilot projects, we identify suitable privacy-enhancing technologies that enable new data-driven business opportunities in line with the European regulatory framework.