Nokia takes the helm of Proactif to deliver ‘state-of-the-art’ UxV platforms

Aiming to strengthen Europe’s technology resilience and leadership in European Citizen Science (ECS) technologies and support the autonomy of the European Drone and Robotics industry, Nokia has been selected to lead Proactif, a project funded by the Chips Joint Undertaking (JU).

The European Union’s Chips Act was introduced in September 2023 to bolster Europe’s competitiveness and resilience in semiconductor technologies and applications, as well as in the latest development of the programme.

Described as a “significant” part of the chips for Europe Initiative, the Chips JU is implementing the first pillar of the European Chips Act and focuses on bridging the gap between Europe’s advanced research and innovation capabilities and their industrial exploitation, while fostering manufacturing activities, innovation and the scaling up of technologies across the value chain.

The Proactif consortium brings together 42 partners and four affiliates from 13 countries with a focus on critical infrastructure surveillance and emergency management in Europe. Under Nokia’s leadership, the venture will set about redefining how emergency situations and critical infrastructure are managed in Europe.

It is looking to unite academic institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industry leaders to develop cutting-edge, cost-efficient, eco-efficient, safe and cyber secure unmanned vehicle (UxV) systems to address European civil security needs.

The project will look to develop nine advanced technology building blocks and five state-of-the-art UxV platforms, emphasising interoperability, autonomy and rapid deployment to meet Europe’s societal and market needs. The use of UxV technologies, according to Nokia, will enable a more holistic understanding of an incident's location and severity, as well as comprehensive situational awareness, through frequent and efficient sensor data gathering.

The consortium anticipates generating around €90m in revenue, along with 50 products and more than 15 new industry patents by 2035, enabling increased market share and leadership. The project’s additional impact includes dozens of new collaborations, hundreds of jobs, and more than €40m of additional investments.

Commenting on the project and what his company can bring to it, Thomas Eder, head of embedded wireless solutions at Nokia, said: “Nokia’s extensive expertise has helped to establish drone technology best practices and transform drones into daily helpers for public safety and mission-critical operations.

“We are honoured to lead this project. It demonstrates Nokia’s commitment to fostering innovation and resilience across Europe. By collaborating with leading organisations, this initiative will address critical challenges in security and sustainability, delivering real-world benefits for society.”

Proactif partners across Europe include Acorde Technologies, AITEK, Ascento, Asya, Avular Innovations, Captain AI, Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique, CISC Semiconductor, CSEM, Citymesh, DEMCON, Unmanned Systems, Dimetor Fixposition, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung, Gdansk University of Technology, Heimann Sensor, HUN-REN Számítástechnikai és Automatizálási Kutatóintézet, InnoSenT, League Geophysics Services, Innovation River, Leonardo, Luna Geber Engineering, Nokia Solutions and Networks.

Other parties are Research Studios Austria Forschungsgesellschaft, Riga Technical University, Saab Finland, Safran Electronics & Defense/SED, Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Mikroelektroniki i Fotoniki, Silicon Austria Labs, Skyability, SSH Communications Security, Stichting IMEC Nederland, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, TST-Sistemas, Universidad de Granada, Universitá Degli Studi Di Perugia, Van Oord Ship Management B.V. (Netherlands), VIA electronic GmbH (Germany), ViNotion, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Würth Elektronik, YellowScan.