Over the last few years, the European Union (EU) has placed significant emphasis on the interoperability of critical infrastructures (CIs). One of the main CI transportation infrastructures are ports. The control systems managing such infrastructures are constantly evolving and handle diverse sets of people, data, and processes. Additionally, interdependencies among different infrastructures can lead to discrepancies in data models that propagate and intensify across interconnected systems. This article introduces “BigDaM”, a Big Data Management framework for critical infrastructures. It is a cutting-edge data model that adheres to the latest technological standards and aims to consolidate APIs and services within highly complex CI infrastructures. Our approach takes a bottom-up perspective, treating each service interconnection as an autonomous entity that must align with the proposed common vocabulary and data model. By injecting strict guidelines into the service/component development’s lifecycle, we explicitly promote interoperability among the services within critical infrastructure ecosystems. This approach facilitates the exchange and reuse of data from a shared repository among developers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large vendors. Business challenges have also been taken into account, in order to link the generated data assets of CIs with the business world. The complete framework has been tested in the main EU ports, part of the transportation sector of CIs. Performance evaluation and the aforementioned testing is also being analyzed, highlighting the capabilities of the proposed approach.

Many farm-management practices focus on maximizing production, while others better reconcile production with the regulation of ecological processes and sociocultural identity through the provisioning of ecosystem services (ESs). Though many studies have evaluated the performance of management practices against ES supply, these studies often focused on only a few practices simultaneously. Here, we incorporate 23 distinct management practices in a rapid evidence assessment to draw more comprehensive conclusions on their supply potential across 14 ESs in European agriculture. The results are visualized using performance indicators that quantify the ES-supply potential of a given management practice. In total, 172 indicators are calculated, among which cover crops are found to have the strongest positive impact on pollination-supply potential, while extensive livestock management is found to have the strongest negative impact for the supply potential for habitat creation/protection. The indicators also provide insight into the state of the peer-reviewed literature. At both the farm and territorial levels, the literature noticeably fails to evaluate cultural services. Further, disparities between the number of indicators composed at the farm and territorial levels indicate a systematic bias in the literature toward the assessment of smaller spatial levels.

This study delves into the potential of 5G and blockchain technologies in smart agriculture, specifically targeting remote farming sectors. A conceptual architecture is proposed, aiming to leverage these cutting-edge technologies while ensuring energy efficiency and sustainable development within the agriculture industry. We provide an in-depth analysis of 5G applications and explore alternative communication channels that could empower remote communities, introducing them to state-of-the-art technological solutions. A unique aspect of our research is the detailed presentation of a parametric insurance business case, designed to align with the proposed architecture, thereby illustrating the practicality of our approach. Moreover, we propose an innovative solution to the challenge of providing internet connectivity in rural areas using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Current limitations due to the weight of onboard equipment, which includes an access network and a backhaul link for internet provision, are addressed by introducing a lightweight 5G system onboard the UAV. This system serves multiple user equipment on the ground, with one acting as a connection gateway to the internet. This unique approach not only streamlines the process of providing rural internet connectivity but also opens up new markets for service providers and businesses related to lightweight 5G systems and UAV technology. Our work presents an avant-garde solution to technical challenges and offers significant business opportunities in the rapidly evolving telecommunications sector and beyond.

During the design of a shoreline electrode station for High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) interconnections, the location of the electrodes plays a critical part, especially in the development of the near-electric field. The basic structure is their linear placement, in the form of successive frames, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the breakwater, as proposed by CIGRE and implemented in existing projects. However, this arrangement requires a considerable breakwater length, which may not be permissible, as in the case of Stachtoroi, one of the two electrode stations being built for the 1 GW, ±500 kV HVDC interconnection between Crete and mainland Greece. This troubled the preliminary study team of the electrode stations, which investigated other possible configurations. In this paper, configurations of linear placements of electrode frames are studied and compared at the preliminary study level in terms of electric field effects (especially the near-field), using an analytical simplified model and the superposition method, to determine the most appropriate arrangement of electrodes that will cover the respective requirements of CIGRE directives B4.61/2017. These arrangements are practically evaluated for two different electrode station locations at Korakia in Crete and at Stachtoroi in Aegina for the Crete–mainland-Greece interconnection, resulting in interesting alternative solutions.

The next generation of mobile networks, namely 5G, promises significant qualitative and quantitative advances for multiple vertical domains. However, most studies and investigations assess these advances under the implicit assumption of a single network service provider, with typical national coverage. In this article, we take a close look at the automotive sector and highlight a series of challenges emerging in the context of its inherent (inter)national mobility and the corresponding importance of cross-border and/or multioperator environments. Our target is to pinpoint the key influential factors affecting the transition toward seamless (cooperative) connected and automated mobility services within and across national borders. To this end, we identify and analyze a series of challenges in the areas of, networking, application, security, and regulation. We further present and discuss a series of corresponding solutions investigated in the pragmatic context of our experimental activities.

The DataPorts project aims to provide a data sharing platform with Artificial Intelligence capabilities for the different actors that operate in a port environment. The platform is being validated in two local demonstration sites (Valencia and Thessaloniki), where it offers data driven services to relevant stakeholders, addressing concrete problems. Additionally, the platform is being tested in two global use cases where it has been integrated with commercial platforms and tools. In this paper, several scenarios of the pilots are presented and the benefits of the DataPorts platform in each scenario are discussed.

The integration of renewable energy sources in the electrical grid imposes several operational issues for the energy markets and the transmission system operators, in particular. It is of great importance not only to detect events, but also to react in time to prevent faults in the transmission system that could lead to outages for the consumers or even to permanent damage to the energy equipment. Towards this scope, the criticality of the role of the Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) which provide readings of voltage, frequency and current, is explained in this paper. It is also discussed how the 5G network may assist in the transfer of the measurements with its low latency capabilities and high availability criteria. Based on a Smart5Grid project’s dedicated use case, the concept of 5G enhanced wide area monitoring is presented along with the associated field platform implementations both in Greece and Bulgaria. A complete list of defined Field Platform Validation Metrics is also elaborated with the equivalent targeted values.

5G mobile networks will soon be available to handle all types of applications and to provide services to massive numbers of users. In this complex and dynamic network ecosystem, an end-to-end performance analysis and optimisation will be “key” features to effectively manage the diverse requirements imposed by multiple vertical industries over the same shared infrastructure. To enable such a challenging vision, the MARSAL EU-funded project [1] targets the development and evaluation of a complete framework for the management and orchestration of network resources in 5G and beyond by utilizing a converged optical-wireless network infrastructure in the access and fronthaul/midhaul segments. In this paper, we present the network architecture of the MARSAL, as well as how the experimentation scenarios are mapped to the considered architecture.