HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-03

Open Internet Stack Support for Scale (CSA) -

Related topics

Drag to rearrange · hover a topic or connection to preview why it's linked, click to pin that panel open

Topics in this graph

Bold node = current topic · node color = call status · hover for details, click to pin · smaller, lighter topics are two steps away

Call text (as on F&T portal)

View on F&T portal

Expected Outcome:

Projects results are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:

  • A common approach and hub for cataloguing, packaging, reviewing and validating Open Internet Stack components and projects.
  • Long term viability by advising on Open Source sustainability and maintenance models including business and foundation; Promotion of the EU and Associated Countries as ideal location for Open Source Foundation sieges.
  • A common branding, marketing, training and communication plan ensuring consistent perception and scale-up.

A close interleave with policy development through a dedicated policy sandbox.

Scope:

Applicants should devise a plan for:

  • Cataloguing solutions in a structured and easy to discover way
  • Performing security and accessibility audits on the selected solutions under the Open Internet Stack.
  • Screening and selecting European funded Open Source projects, including by exploring the relevant Horizon Europe programmes, and devising a strategy for the Open Internet Stack to become a central hub for those solutions.
  • Establishing links and mutual support with national, multi-country and pan-European initiatives supporting Open Source sovereign solutions.
  • Advising on sustainability models (both for and non-for profit), on standardisation, licencing schemes, or localisation/internationalisation
  • Elaborating a common branding with associated marketing and communication tool
  • Developing training material on these solutions that stresses their value in terms of EU legislation compliance (GDRP, DSA/DMA, CRA…), security (e.g. reference to security audits, list of dependencies), use cases, funding/business model, deployment requirements (server side, user side), link to repository and community resource (maintainers, community manager, discussion board…). Training material will be tailored to each target audience: Operators of infrastructure, Integrators, Government & verticals IT, end users.
  • Implementing measures to identify/attract technology adopters (e.g. services providers, integrators, OSPOs in governments/verticals) to become promoters of these technologies.
  • Developing sandbox tools for ensuring smooth compliance-by-design of the Open Internet Stack with relevant existing or futures EU policies.
  • Supporting Open Source awards scheme and sustainability models after the action is finished.

We consider that proposals with an overall duration of typically 36 months would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other durations.

Beneficiaries that intend to transfer ownership or grant an exclusive licence must formally notify the granting authority (i.e. DG-CNECT and HaDEA) before the intended transfer or licensing takes place and the granting authority may up to four years after the end of the action object to a transfer of ownership or the exclusive licensing of results.

News flashes

2026-10-09

EVALUATION RESULTS

Call HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

Published: 12.12.2025

Deadline: 15.04.2026

Available budget: EUR 221,800,000.00

The results of the evaluation for each topic are as follows:

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

DATA-02

DATA-03

DATA-06

EMERGING-01

EMERGING-08

EMERGING-09

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

31

6

63

4

8

41

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

0

2

1

0

0

Number of ineligible proposals

1

2

3

1

3

2

Number of above-threshold proposals

24

2

39

2

3

30

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

222,798,016.25 €

7,993,073.04 €

538,094,514.11 €

33,999,387.25 €

53,990,531.25 €

173,178,667.04 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

3

1

3

1

1

1

Number of proposals in the reserve list

1

1

1

1

1

1

Funding threshold [1]

14.00

14.00

14.50

12.50

14.50

14.50

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

3

1

8

0

1

2

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

7

0

5

0

1

3

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

14

1

26

2

1

25

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04

EMERGING -14

EMERGING-15

EMERGING-17

EMERGING-19

HUMAN-01

HUMAN-02

Number of proposals submitted (including proposals transferred from or to other calls)

1

2

1

18

105

32

Number of inadmissible proposals

0

1

0

0

1

0

Number of ineligible proposals

0

0

0

2

0

3

Number of above-threshold proposals

1

1

1

12

81

19

Total budget requested for above-threshold proposals

3,043,282.50 €

999,976.25 €

1,163,306.74 €

179,979,870.75 €

387,981,592.72 €

126,943,323.25 €

Number of proposals retained for funding

1

1

1

3

6

2

Number of proposals in the reserve list

0

0

0

3

2

1

Funding threshold [1]

11.50

13.50

12.50

13.50

14.50

13.50

Number of proposals with scores lower or equal to 15 and higher or equal to 14

0

0

0

2

12

1

Number of proposals with scores lower than 14 and higher or equal to 13

0

1

0

1

20

3

Number of proposals with scores lower than 13 and higher or equal to 10

1

0

1

9

49

15

[1] Proposals with the same score were ranked according to the priority order procedure set out in the call conditions (for HE, in the General Annexes to the Work Programme or specific arrangements in the specific call/topic conditions). For HE, to determine the ranking for ‘Innovation actions’, the score for ‘Impact’ is given a weight of 1.5.

Summary of observer report:

The two independent observers were tasked by the EC services to follow the evaluation processes of call HORIZON-CL4-2026-04 with respect to their conduct, transparency, and fairness, and to provide recommendations for process improvement. This Observers’ Report consolidates their observations and recommendations. Based on the observed Consensus Meetings and Panel Meetings, the evaluation procedures for all topics were carried with transparency, efficiency, fairness, consistency, impartiality with homogenous criteria in compliance with the applicable evaluation rules for each stage of the selection exercise (Individual Evaluation, Consensus Meetings, Quality Check, Cross-reading, Panel Meeting and Final Ranking for funding). The evaluation processes were carried out in full accordance with the Horizon Europe evaluation rules and the provided Digital Europe Programme evaluation briefings. The Call with 12 topics received 312 proposals, where 5 were inadmissible, 17 ineligible and 0 withdrawn. The number of proposals per topic varied from 1 to 105. Proposals were evaluated by 218 experts, with a satisfactory gender balance (44,5% female; 55,5% male). The majority of experts were from EU Member States and a small number from associated countries. Sixteen invited experts declined due to conflict of interest or other reasons. In conclusion, the overall assessment of all submitted proposals were executed in full transparency and compliance with the Horizon Europe applicable rules in a fair and impartial manner to select the best proposals for funding according to the topics’ specifications and expected results. The observers’ conclusion is that the scientific evaluations have been carried out in a just, transparent, and unbiased manner based on the Horizon Europe evaluation rules.

We recently informed the applicants about the evaluation results for their proposals.

For questions, please contact the Research Enquiry Service.

2026-10-09

PROPOSAL NUMBERS

Call HORIZON-CL4-2026-04 has closed on 15.04.2026

312 proposals have been submitted.

The breakdown per topic is:

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-02

31

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-03

6

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-06

63

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-14

1

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-15

2

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-17

1

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-01

105

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-02

32

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01

4

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08

8

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09

41

HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-19

18

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in July 2026.

2026-10-09

If your lump sum budget contains any cost items in cost category C and/or D, please make sure to justify these items in the ‘Any comments’ sheet of the Excel detailed lump sum budget table.

The reason is that we simplified the proposal template, removing this information from Part B and bringing it closer to the relevant budget items.

Specifically, you must include justification in the ‘Any comments’ sheet if you are in any of the following situations:

  • If the sum of the costs for ’travel and subsistence’, ‘equipment’, and ‘other goods, works and services’ (i.e. the purchase costs) exceeds 15% of the personnel costs for a participant. If this is the case, justify the most expensive cost item(s) up to the level that the remaining costs are below 15% of personnel costs.
  • If other cost categories (e.g. internally invoiced goods and services) are used.
  • If in-kind contributions are used (non-financial resources made available free of charge by third parties, which must be included as direct costs in the corresponding cost category, e.g. personnel costs or purchase costs for equipment).
2026-10-09
The submission session is now available for: HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-18, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-17, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-02, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-03, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-08, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-06, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DATA-02, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-12, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-09, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-11, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-19, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-HUMAN-01, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-14, HORIZON-CL4-2026-04-DIGITAL-EMERGING-15
Found 2 annotations in info base click to see
call topic details
Call status: Closed
Opening date: 2026-01-15 (8 months ago)
Closing date: 2026-04-15 (5 months ago)
Procedure: single-stage

Budget: 4,000,000
Expected grants: 1
Contribution: 4,000,000 - 4,000,000
News flashes

This call topic has been appended 4 times by the EC with news.

  • 2026-10-09
    evaluation results call horizon-cl4-2026...
  • 2026-10-09
    proposal numbers call horizon-cl4-2026-...
  • 2026-10-09
    if your lump sum budget contains any cos...
  • 2026-10-09
    the submission session is now available...
Source information

Showing the latest information. Found 8 versions of this call topic in the F&T portal.

Information from

  • 2026-10-08_06-47-34
  • 2026-08-21_06-45-42
  • 2026-04-16_06-32-55
  • 2026-04-10_06-32-58
  • 2026-03-03_06-32-36
  • 2026-02-18_06-32-03
  • 2026-01-15_06-30-55
  • 2025-12-16_06-30-53

Check the differences between the versions.

Annotations

You must be logged in to add annotations
EC infoday info
Added 7 months ago by Alrun Hauke
Watch the recording from the Cluster 4 Info Day session here: https://youtu.be/jmIUKQvP850
Work Programme info
Added 8 months ago by Alrun Hauke
Eligibility for this topic is restricted under art. 22.6 of the Horizon Europe regulation (see [1]). Under art. 22.6, any entities considered high-risk suppliers of mobile network communication equipment are expressly excluded from participating. This currently concerns companies Huawei and ZTE (see [2]) as well as any entities fully or partially owned / controlled by them. [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/695/oj/eng [2] https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/communication-commission-implementation-5g-cybersecurity-toolbox [3] https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/temp-form/af/ownership-control-declaration_en.docx

Events

Hand-picked events relevant to this call topic.

1 upcoming

Upcoming

Nov 12 2025

Horizon Europe Cluster 4 Digital Matchmaking Platform

Happening now
12 Nov 2025 - 22 Sep 2027 Online

Find your collaboration partners for EU projects in the digital domain of Cluster 4 here!

Past

Feb 4 2026

KETs Brokerage Event 2026

Past
4 Feb - 5 Feb 2026 Karlsruhe, Germany

Do you want to tackle the challenges of Industry, Manufacturing & Production, Materials, Digital/AI/Robotics, Batteries and Hydrogen? - Then use the unique opportunities of the KETs (Key Enabling Technologies) 2026 EU Brokerage Event on February 5, 2026 in Karlsruhe, Germany!

Jan 29 2026

Horizon Europe Cluster 4 Info Days 2026

Past
29 Jan - 30 Jan 2026 Online

During the Info Days, representatives of the European Commission will present the 2026 call topics in Horizon Europe Cluster 4 and answer questions from the audience. You do not need to register to attend this online event, simply follow the live stream on the day.

Events are added by the ideal-ist NCP community and are hand-picked. Would you like to suggest an event? Contact idealist@ffg.at.

Timeline

Track where this call stands in its lifecycle, from work programme to grant signature, and see what's likely to happen next.

Outcome expected · 15 Sep 2026 (3 weeks ago)

Next: Grant agreement signed, 2 months from now (15 Dec 2026, estimated)

Today

Work programme published

15 Nov 2025 · est.

Call published

16 Dec 2025

Call opens

15 Jan 2026

Call closes

15 Apr 2026

Outcome expected

15 Sep 2026 · est.

Grant agreement signed

15 Dec 2026 · est.

Preparation Open for submission Evaluation Grant preparation Not yet reached
  1. Work programme published Estimated

    15 Nov 2025 · 10 months ago

    Topics are listed in the Work Programme before the call opens. Spotting this early gives you a head start on partner search and proposal planning.

  2. Call published

    16 Dec 2025 · 9 months ago

    This topic was first published in TopicTree.

  3. Call opens

    15 Jan 2026 · 8 months ago

    Submissions can be made from this date.

  4. Call closes

    15 Apr 2026 · 5 months ago

    Deadline to submit a proposal.

  5. Outcome expected Estimated

    15 Sep 2026 · 3 weeks ago

    The maximum time to inform applicants of the evaluation outcome is five months after the call closes.

  6. Grant agreement signed Estimated

    15 Dec 2026 · 2 months from now

    The maximum time to sign the grant agreement is three months after applicants are informed of the outcome.

Funded Projects

Loading...

Project information comes from CORDIS (for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe) and will be sourced from F&T Portal (for Digital Europe projects)

Call document info

This section will come soon and contain the scraped information from the call document, such as the expected impact, scope, and other relevant sections. In the meantime, you can find this information in the call text section or directly on the F&T portal. View on F&T portal