Baltic neighbours working together. Photo: Åse Karlén.

The workshop took place February 19–20, at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University.

“This workshop was part of a project under the SI Baltic Sea Neighbourhood Programme. The goal was to establish a research network in the region and plan for developing future project proposals on sustainable smart cities and the heterogeneous distributed computing continuum”, explains Sindri Magnússon, DSV.

Sindri Magnússon, DSV. Photo: Åse Karlén.

The heterogeneous computing continuum refers to a distributed computing environment; integrating cloud, edge, IoT devices and other computing resources. It aims to optimize performance, reduce latency, improve energy efficiency, and enhance resource utilization across various applications.

Estonia, Poland and Finland were present

Sindri Magnússon organised the event together with DSV colleague Praveen Kumar Donta. During the two days, several researchers from DSV exchanged knowledge with researchers from five academic institutions in Estonia, Poland and Finland: University of Tartu, Warsaw University of Technology, the Polish Academy of Sciences, University of Oulu and University of Helsinki.

“Participants shared insights on topics like smart environments, sensing and IoT applications. We discussed several international funding calls for 2025, to find opportunities for submitting ongoing research”, says Praveen Kumar Donta.

We aim to include a few more partners from the EU

The consortium that met at the workshop already has a proposal for the DUT 2024 call – a partnership under Horizon Europe where DUT stands for Driving Urban Transitions. It is eligible for the second stage, and ideas for strengthening the proposal were discussed.

The workshop participants also worked on a new proposal for another EU call, focusing on more efficient data processing.

“We aim to include a few more partners from the EU. To ensure progress, we plan to schedule regular meetings and actively brainstorm ideas for this call”, says Praveen Kumar Donta.

Praveen Kumar Donta, DSV. Photo: Åse Karlén.

To inspire more collaboration within the consortium, several presentations were given throughout the workshop, both by consortium members and DSV researchers.

Professor Jelena Zdravkovic, Head of department, gave an introduction to DSV and Stockholm University, highlighting key achievements and growth areas. Professor Panagiotis Papapetrou, DSV, presented his ongoing work on explainable AI in healthcare. Professor Rahim Rahmani, DSV, introduced his research on distributed systems. And associate professor Tony Lindgren, DSV, talked about the value of industrial data, having worked together with transport company Scania for many years.

Smart and sustainable

Keynote speaker Naser Hossein Motlagh is an academy research fellow at the University of Helsinki. His talk evolved around low-cost sensors that can collect real-time data from the environment – such as the air quality and water pollution. By integrating low-cost sensing with smart infrastructure, we enable data-driven decision-making for sustainable urban development, according to Naser Hossein Motlagh.

“The primary goal of this meeting was to bring partners together and share research expertise, and we are happy to have achieved that goal”, says Praveen Kumar Donta and Sindri Magnússon.

“The international funding proposals we are planning and developing have the potential to deliver significant benefits to society. Advancing the circular economy is one example, supporting the development of 15-minute smart city environments is another”, says Donta and Magnússon, looking forward to continue their collaboration with Baltic neighbouring countries.

Text: Åse Karlén