Workshop and 10th concertation meeting Brussels, 10th October 2012

Agenda Presentation of cluster o General aims and mission of the cluster o Improving research projects collaboration (clustering) o Involved projects and their interactions o CaON technical outputs during the last period and Impact on the CaON architecture o CaON input to HORIZON2020 Feedback from ECOC Newcomer projects (3 IPs and 5 STREPs) short introductions Standardization CaON representation to FUNEMS Conclusions o Reached objectives o Welcome to newcomers and goodbye to ending projects o Next challenges and actions

General aims and mission of the cluster I Define an architecture view of the CaON cluster towards an ICT converged scenario Identify common goals and challenges between projects: White paper : ICTON 2012 :Research trends on ICT convergence from the CaON Cluster: H2020 strategic paper: Support of multi-Gbps access rates: faster and affordable access beyond 1 Gb/s per user Spectrum management: for capacity management and bandwidth granularity provisioning bandwidth Optical Network and IT convergence: for enabling high performance, global reach clouds empowered by optical network infrastructures Cognitive, self managed optical networks Energy efficient/Green optical networking Optical network control plane

General aims and mission of the cluster II Support the CaON vision within the WP Expose project outcomes Support the FuNEMS workshops/conferences Extra links between PO’s and projects Support the unit/objectives and provide visibility of CaON challenges Monitor events to position CaON within the Future Networks scope Provide a collaboration framework Wiki with all the information/documentation/events: Mailing list with formal and informal discussions: Organization of the first CaON workshop and demos session (the demos session has been coordinated by Robert Llorent on behalf of the FIVER project)

DEMOS I

DEMOS II

DEMOS III

DEMOS IV

Improving research projects collaboration (clustering) I Project collaboration process ("concertation process") : How to improve it ? Propose views and suggestions on possible improvement to the current approach Current projects are "grouped" on the basis of their main themes of research in order to facilitate exchanges on topics of common interest Clusters are large, and their number and scope may have to be adapted more regularly as technology evolves even faster than a few years ago. Risk of overlap with other established fora where researchers meet regularly Working methods may also offer room for further improvement. For example, the number and format of meetings, the organisation of the participation of external parties when required, the method for the selection and prioritisation of topics, etc. Be ambitious regarding inter-project collaboration: EU projects are not only about individual project results, it is also about creating relationships and cross-fertilisation between researchers and between companies at an EU level What are the barriers?

Improving research projects collaboration (clustering) II Project's perspectiveCommission's perspective 1.Identify cooperation opportunities (pre-standardisation, dissemination, exploitation, etc) 2.Exchange information on research topics 3.Networking 4.Get information on the future direction of the research programme 5.Establish sinergies and technical collaborative work between projects 1.Foster cross-fertilisation between projects in order to increase impact (e.g. on pre-standardisation) 2.Get input on research trends 3.Facilitate a common (European) view on key research topics 4.Enable liaison between research and other policy area (e.g. regulatory units) 5.Inform projects about activities of other E1-related projects/programme- wide activities Various points of view on the purpose of the collaborative process as follows:

Improving research projects collaboration (clustering) III The core mission of project collaboration (to be discussed) should be to facilitate a common (European) view on key research topics (topics to be in limited numbers and agreed between projects and the Commission, avoiding overlaps with other fora). To support the ongoing FP7 projects in sharing their latest research achievements To enhance the project cooperation activities, share best practices and opportunities for (pre-) standardisation Set future activities and topics of common interest for each cluster To facilitate networking and discussion among the participants The KEY issue is: do we have the right mechanisms in place to achieve these goals?

Improving collaboration: open questions Structure of the collaborative process Are the current "clusters" fit-for-purpose? Is there a need to adapt their scope, their number, their format? Should we create "working groups" to address specific topics (and facilitate cross-cluster collaboration)? If we start having working groups, what should be the respective role of each tool (clusters versus working groups)? Organisation and working methods What is the best approach to identify/select/define/prioritise activities? Should we be able to start and stop activities in a more "dynamic"/ad-hoc way? What should be the role of the Commission services in setting the agenda, in steering the activities? What should be the "mix" between strategic and more specific/niche topics? How often should projects meet in plenary? Is it optimum to hold two planned plenary meetings a year (relation with FuNeMS conference?)? Should we introduce additional ways of working/meeting (videoconference, webinars, distant collaboration)? How to better match needs and resources?

Sergi Figuerola, Dimitra Simeonidou, Andrea Di Giglio, Juan Fernandez Palacios CaON Chairs ans co-Chairs