ELASTIC Project Meeting – April 24-25, 2024, Chania, Crete

The ELASTIC Project meeting was successfully held on April 24-25, 2024, in Chania, Crete. The meeting brought together key consortium members to review progress, plan upcoming tasks, and coordinate efforts across various work packages (WPs).

Day 1: April 24, 2024

Introduction and Project Management The day began with a round table introduction, presentation of the meeting agenda, and practical information, led by TUC. This was followed by an in-depth discussion on WP7 – Project Management and Consortium Coordination. Key topics included the project’s objectives, task connections, milestone achievements (MS1-MS4), and KPIs. Detailed plans for WP7 tasks, including financial and technical management, quality assurance, and data management, were outlined. Critical deliverables such as D7.1 and D7.2 were reviewed, and action points with deadlines were established.

EU Perspective on ELASTIC A representative from the EU provided insights into the ELASTIC project from a European perspective, emphasizing the strategic importance of the project.

WP1: Efficient, Portable and Secure Executable Isolation A comprehensive session on WP1 was conducted by AAL, focusing on executable isolation using technologies like WASM and eBPF. Task leaders from IMEC, AAL, POLITO, and ZEN presented their objectives, dependencies, and detailed plans for the first 12 months. Action points and deadlines were defined to ensure progress.

WP2: Serverless FaaS Orchestration IMEC led the session on WP2, which covers serverless FaaS orchestration and in-network execution. Presentations from AMA, TID, POLITO, and THS detailed efforts in lightweight orchestration, serverless execution, and access control mechanisms. The session continued after lunch, ensuring a thorough examination of all aspects and setting clear deadlines.

WP6: Dissemination, Standardisation and Exploitation The final session of the day was dedicated to WP6, led by ZEN. The discussion covered communication plans, ecosystem expansion, scientific engagement, and innovation management. Tasks were detailed by ZEN, AAL, and ERS, with specific action points and timelines.

The day concluded with a social dinner at Kritamon, providing an opportunity for informal networking and collaboration.

Day 2: April 25, 2024

WP3: Privacy-preserving, Portable and Efficient Execution Using Confidential Computing The second day began with a session on WP3, led by THD. This work package focuses on confidential computing and privacy-preserving execution. Contributions from LUN, UVC, and THD were discussed, detailing efforts in TEE hardware, WASM runtime, remote attestations, and deployment orchestration.

WP4: Efficient, Portable and Secure Edge Workload Orchestration TID led the discussion on WP4, covering edge workload orchestration. Presentations from ZEN, TUC, and AMA highlighted support for various technologies on IoT edge nodes, including TinyML and federated ML orchestration. The session outlined task-specific plans and dependencies.

WP5: ELASTIC Demonstrators The final work package session, led by UVC, focused on WP5 demonstrators. Task leaders from ZEN, UVC, ERF, and THD detailed the specifications, setup, and execution plans for the project’s demonstrators. Two pilots were discussed: an IoT data fabric for 6G infrastructure and a confidential computing platform for IT/OT migration to the cloud.

Wrap-up and Next Steps The meeting concluded with a wrap-up session led by TUC. The six-month plan ahead was summarized, and future meeting schedules were discussed. Key issues, agreements, and potential risks were addressed to ensure continued project success.

Overall, the meeting provided a comprehensive review of the ELASTIC project’s progress and set the stage for the next phase of work, ensuring all partners are aligned and prepared for the upcoming tasks.