Advancing Standards in Swarm‑Driven AI
On 1 July 2025, the CoGNETs project participated in a webinar titled “Standardisation Activities in the Cognitive Computing Continuum”, convened within the Horizon Europe Cognitive Computing Continuum Cluster. Hosted by the HYPER‑AI project, the session brought together seven Horizon Europe initiatives—HYPER‑AI, INTEND, EMPYREAN, ENACT, MYRTUS, Swarmchestrate, and CoGNETs—to spotlight ongoing efforts in standardising AI‑enabled swarm and edge‑cloud collaboration.
As CoGNETs’ designated speaker, Angel Cataron (Siemens) presented an overview of the project’s contributions toward standardization in smart IoT–Edge–Cloud systems. Cataron detailed how CoGNETs is aligning its architecture and protocols with emerging industry standards—particularly in distributed learning, device interoperability, identity management, and secure federated AI processes.
Following individual project presentations, a joint panel brought together experts to compare approaches, identify common needs across initiatives, and explore how to harmonize standardization roadmaps. The dialogue emphasized the urgent need for interoperable, trustworthy, and scalable methods across distributed AI and swarm computing domains—a critical step toward adoption at industrial scale. The webinar’s panel discussion revealed strong synergies among projects, including opportunities to jointly address data management, edge AI interoperability, and secure identity frameworks. Each project presented its technical focus, relevant use cases, and engagement with standardisation bodies, highlighting overlaps in areas such as TOSCA, data management, security, and interoperability. Participants also explored contributing combined inputs to the European Commission’s ICT Rolling Plan, amplifying their influence on emerging standards.
Key Takeaways
- Convergence across projects: All seven initiatives recognize the urgency of unified standards for cognitive computing spanning from IoT devices to central cloud infrastructures.
- Collaborative momentum: The panel discussion highlighted shared challenges—data privacy, energy-efficiency, identity management—and opened pathways for cross-project collaboration shaping future standardisation frameworks.
Why It Matters
Standardisation is not just a technical checkbox—it’s the bridge between cutting-edge research and real‑world impact. As European projects race to build AI‑powered swarm systems, establishing common frameworks is crucial to ensure scalability, interoperability, and safety. CoGNETs’ active involvement, backed by Angel Cataron’s contribution to the dialogue, underscores the project’s dedication to shaping the broader ecosystem—not just its own deliverables.
