In February, the DigiTwins initiative submitted a first proposal to the EC and thus took the first step, of a three stage process, towards becoming an EU Flagship for Future and Emerging Technologies (FET). Stage two, in which a full proposal for a candidate FET-Flagship is submitted, will kick-start with a DigiTwins partner meeting in Berlin at the end of this month. If successful, DigiTwins would be financially supported by the EC over a one-year period to prepare for stage three: the final selection of the FET-Flagships. FET-Flagships are science- and technology-driven, large-scale, multidisciplinary research initiatives built around a visionary unifying goal that are promoted and financed by the European Commission under its Research and Innovation Program Horizon 2020 with one billion euros over ten years.

DigiTwins, a large research initiative in Europe and beyond aims at revolutionizing healthcare and biomedical research for the benefit of citizens and society and at contributing to Europe’s Digital Single Market strategy through the creation of Digital Twins. Since its foundation, DigiTwins has grown from an innovative idea to an initiative with more than 200 partners in 32 countries and first applications of its concept in real-life trials.

The DigiTwins Coordination Team has gathered to celebrate and to plan the next steps leading up to the submission of the full proposal to the EC in September this year. “We’re well prepared for the next stage of the competition, but the next three months will be marked by intensive efforts together with all partners and stakeholders, to create a convincing application.”, predicts Dr. Nora Benhabiles, Co-Coordinator of the initiative.