The HIGHER project, together with its sister Horizon Europe initiatives CAPE and CHORYS, presented a joint vision for the future of open, sovereign, and interoperable cloud and edge computing infrastructures at the 2026 OCP EMEA Summit.
The three projects shared a common presence and coordinated messaging under the presentation “Towards a European Open Infrastructure: Insights from HIGHER- CAPE- and CHORYS”, highlighting how European research and innovation is contributing to a fully open computing architecture stack based on emerging processor technologies, including RISC-V.
Their joint participation is part of the Horizon Europe topic HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01-21: Open Source for Cloud/Edge to support European Digital Autonomy (RIA).
A Shared European Vision for Open Computing
At the core of the collaboration is a shared objective: to demonstrate and validate prototype cloud and edge systems built on European technologies, while aligning with Open Compute Project (OCP) standards and next-generation hardware architectures.
The three projects contribute complementary building blocks:
- HIGHER focuses on data-centre-ready processor platforms (ARM and RISC-V) and management modules aligned with OCP standards such as HPM, OAM, and DC-SCM, enabling scalable and interoperable rack-scale infrastructures.
- CAPE addresses scalable and sustainable edge computing by introducing edge micro data centres as a new computing unit for data-dense and distributed environments.
- CHORYS develops open and programmable accelerators for data-intensive workloads, transforming devices such as SSDs and NICs into near-data processing (NDP) accelerators based on RISC-V cores.
Together, these efforts form a coherent approach to building a modular, hardware–software co-designed European computing stack spanning cloud, edge, and accelerator domains.
Key Topics Addressed at the Summit
During the joint presentation, the projects highlighted several cross-cutting challenges and priorities for Europe’s digital infrastructure strategy:
- Integration of OCP edge architectures with modular compute form factors such as PICMG COM-HPC
- Management of heterogeneous and reconfigurable systems at both deployment and runtime
- Strengthening European digital sovereignty and industrial competitiveness through open standards
- Establishing practical pathways for standardisation and interoperability across cloud and edge ecosystems
- Encouraging broader community engagement and participation in open hardware and software ecosystems
The discussion emphasised that open standards are not only a technical enabler but also a strategic foundation for Europe’s long-term autonomy in digital infrastructure.
Towards Industrial Uptake and Ecosystem Building
The joint presence at OCP EMEA also marked an important step toward industrial engagement and future exploitation. The projects outlined:
- Availability of initial results through project websites
- Ongoing opportunities for technical collaboration and workshops
- Timelines for prototype validation in relevant environments
- Pathways toward future integration into industrial platforms and facilities
Further short-term collaboration activities are already under consideration, including technical workshops and joint concept development exploring integrated systems combining HIGHER rack-scale platforms, CAPE edge nodes, and CHORYS accelerator architectures.
Conclusion
The joint participation of HIGHER, CAPE, and CHORYS at the OCP EMEA Summit 2026 highlights a strong and coordinated European effort to define the next generation of open, modular, and sovereign cloud and edge computing infrastructures.
By combining expertise in processor technologies, edge computing systems, and programmable accelerators, the three projects are helping to establish a fully European Open Computing Architecture stack—one that supports emerging technologies such as RISC-V while reinforcing Europe’s strategic goals in digital sovereignty, sustainability, and industrial competitiveness.
Event information and slides are available here: https://www.opencompute.org/events/past-events/2026-ocp-emea-summit