We are pleased to announce that the EMPYREAN project will participate in the upcoming IEEE International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE/2025) conference, taking place in Valencia, Spain, from 16th June 2025. EMPYREAN will be featured in Special Session SS14 – Cognitive Computing Continuum, a joint session bringing together several pioneering research projects working at the intersection of edge, cloud, and AI technologies. This session aims to explore novel paradigms and architectures for cognitive computing systems that dynamically span across the continuum — from sensors to data centers. Our participation will showcase how EMPYREAN is advancing the vision of a distributed, intelligent, and adaptive computing environment, enabling more resilient and context-aware applications across domains. We look forward to engaging with fellow researchers, industry stakeholders, and innovators in Valencia. Stay tuned for more details on our session contributions and agenda!

The EMPYREAN project was proudly represented at CCGRID 2025, held this year in Tromsø, Norway, through its co-organization of the RISE Workshop (Robotic Systems in the Edge-Cloud Continuum). The workshop brought together experts from academia and industry to explore how robotic systems can be optimized through edge and cloud computing technologies. The event was a great success, featuring a strong lineup of technical papers, thought-provoking discussions, and high-quality keynote talks. Among the highlights was a keynote delivered by our colleague Aitor Fernandez Gomez from IDEKO, who shared valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of integrating robotics with distributed intelligence in industrial settings. The workshop also included technical contributions from several EMPYREAN partners: ICCS (Institute of Communication and Computer Systems) presented its work on “Performance Evaluation of Robots Utilizing Approximation Computing Capabilities”. UMU (University of Murcia) presented its work on “Secure Federated Learning in Distributed Environments: A Blockchain-Based Approach” NUBIS showcased its work on “MLIoT: Transparent and Secure ML Offloading in the Cloud-Edge-IoT Continuum” The RISE Workshop exemplified EMPYREAN’s vision of enabling hyper-distributed, intelligent, and adaptable robotic platforms that can operate seamlessly across edge and cloud infrastructures. We thank all participants, speakers, and collaborators who made this event a success—and we look forward to building on the momentum as we advance WP5 and other EMPYREAN activities toward real-world deployments.

We’re thrilled to share that the EMPYREAN project was proudly represented at the 15th International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science (CLOSER 2025), held in Porto, Portugal, from April 1–3, 2025. ICCS presented the paper “Optimization of Cloud-Native Application Execution over the Edge-Cloud Continuum Enabled by DVFS”, which explores our latest research on optimizing microservice orchestration in edge-cloud environments by minimizing execution time and energy consumption, leveraging Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS). The presentation sparked engaging discussions around the orchestration of cloud-native applications, and we were excited to connect with fellow researchers and industry professionals pushing the boundaries of cloud-native technologies.

The EMPYREAN consortium gathered for its 4th Plenary Meeting on March 27–28, hosted by Universidad de Murcia (UMU) in the beautiful city of Murcia, Spain. The two-day meeting brought together partners from across Europe to assess progress and coordinate upcoming milestones. The focus was placed on key technical work packages (WP3 and WP4), in preparation for major deliverables due in Month 15. Partners shared updates on component integration efforts and use case development (WP5), with dedicated sessions to align on software interoperability and deployment strategies. Further discussions covered the coordination of ongoing technical activities, refinement of draft deliverables, and planning for dissemination and exploitation actions (WP7).  A hands-on session allowed partners to interact with available software components, test integrations, and provide feedback on technical maturity and alignment with project goals. A big thank you to UMU for the warm hospitality and excellent organization of this productive meeting! Stay tuned for more updates as EMPYREAN continues to build the next-generation, secure, and scalable IoT-edge-cloud continuum.

We are excited to announce that EMPYREAN participated in the latest “Future-Ready: On-Demand Solutions with AI, Data, and Robotics” event that gathered EU-funded projects in the AI, Data, and Robotics (ADR) partnership. The event was organized by AI on Demand & ADRA, supported by AI4Europe and ADRA-e, on February 18-19, 2025, in Brussels. Our colleagues from EV ILVO represented the EMPYREAN project in the event activities. This event provided an excellent opportunity to:    ✅ Showcase our latest results and how EMPYREAN contributes to AI-driven service reliability.    ✅ Engage with other AI, Data, and Robotics projects to foster synergies and collaborations.    ✅ Connect with ADRA Topic Groups and contribute to shaping future AI developments in Europe.    ✅ Participate in “Birds of a Feather” workshops, where emerging challenges were discussed to inform future research directions. This event brought together ADR partnership projects launched in 2022 and 2023 to showcase results, foster collaboration, and discuss emerging challenges and opportunities with key stakeholders, including representatives from the European Commission. 

EMPYREAN introduces a groundbreaking vision for an intelligent, AI-driven IoT-edge-cloud continuum, seamlessly integrating IoT devices, robots, and computational resources into collaborative collectives called Associations. These Associations dynamically form and operate across diverse infrastructures, spanning multiple providers, geographical regions, and connectivity types, creating a unified and interconnected ecosystem. At the heart of EMPYREAN’s architecture lies an AI-enabled control and management plane, which autonomously balances computing tasks, optimizes resource allocation, and ensures performance and resiliency across the platform. By leveraging advanced cloud-native technologies, deep learning techniques, and real-time telemetry data, EMPYREAN empowers intelligent workload orchestration and self-adaptive system management. Key Features of the EMPYREAN Architecture EMPYREAN adopts a layered architecture, where each layer consists of discrete components that interact using well-defined and open interfaces. These interactions occur both horizontally, within the same layer, and vertically, between layers, forming the EMPYREAN platform.    The Service Layer encompasses components that facilitate the development of Association-native applications, offering robust support for application-level adaptations, interoperability, elasticity, and scalability across the IoT-edge-cloud continuum. This layer focuses on key aspects such as: (a) workflow design and management, simplifying the creation and orchestration of hyper-distributed applications, (b) cloud-native unikernel application development, supporting lightweight, secure, and efficient deployment models, and (c) dataflow description, enabling precise and scalable data management within applications.  The Association Management Layer dynamically manages Associations within the IoT-edge-cloud continuum. By forming resource federations, it enables seamless collaboration, resource sharing, and data distribution across various segments within the continuum. Together with the Multi-Cluster Orchestration Layer, it is central to EMPYREAN’s distributed and autonomous management, establishing a resilient Association-based continuum. The Multi-Cluster Orchestration Layer handles service orchestration and resource management across EMPYREAN’s disaggregated infrastructure. Using autonomous, distributed decision-making mechanisms, it orchestrates dynamic, hyper-distributed applications while enabling self-driven adaptations. Multiple instances of this layer’s components provide decentralized operation, optimize resource utilization, and ensure scalability, resiliency, energy efficiency, and high service quality. The Resource Management Layer unifies the management of IoT, edge, and cloud platforms under the EMPYREAN platform. It integrates software mechanisms for both platform-level scheduling (e.g., EMPYREAN Controller, AI-enabled Workload Autoscaling) and low-level mechanisms (e.g., Unikernel Deployment). This layer operates within Kubernetes or K3s clusters and offers modularity, simplifying the integration of new hardware and software. The Data Management and Interconnection Layer ensures dynamic communication and secure data storage between IoT devices and computing resources. Operating at both cluster and Association levels, it provides flexible and scalable data management and seamless integration of IoT, edge, and cloud resources. It also supports distributed operation, facilitating efficient operation in complex, distributed environments. The Security, Trust, and Privacy Layer ensures secure access, privacy, and trusted execution across the EMPYREAN platform. Operating at both the cluster and Association levels, it delivers distributed trust services, enables secure and trusted execution environments, and provides controlled data access for guaranteeing data confidentiality and continuous validation of trust among entities. What’s Next? Stay tuned for upcoming project deliverables, which will be available on our website! They will provide deeper insights into: EMPYREAN Architecture – Detailed analysis of components and layers EMPYREAN Components – Presentation of technical innovations and developments System operation flows – Detailed breakdowns of platform interactions. Use case applications – How EMPYREAN’s architecture enables real-world innovations.   Follow us for the latest updates and explore EMPYREAN’s journey toward a next-generation IoT-edge-cloud ecosystem! Public Deliverables Publications Newsletters   Stay connected for upcoming newsletters, publications, events, and demos!

The third issue of EMPYREAN’s newsletter is now available! Read here all about EMPYREAN’s progress (October 24 – January  24).

We are excited to announce that Prof. Antonio Skarmeta from the University of Murcia (UMU) represented EMPYREAN at the Secure and Cognitive Continuum (SECON) special session, held during the  8th International Conference on Mobile Internet Security (MobiSec) in Sapporo, Japan, from December 17 to 19, 2024. Prof. Skarmeta presented the paper titled, “Cross-Domain Telemetry Architecture: Real-Time Metrics in the Computing Continuum,” highlighting innovative approaches to advanced monitoring and data collection. The work showcased how these techniques significantly enhance system performance, resilience, and adaptability in complex, distributed environments.

We are delighted to announce the Robotic Systems in the Edge-Cloud Continuum (RISE) 2025 Workshop, taking place as part of the prestigious IEEE International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing (CCGRID) 2025. 📜 Call for Papers We encourage researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to submit their work. We invite submissions of original research, work-in-progress, and proof-of-concept studies introducing novel ideas and innovative directions.  https://rise-workshop.github.io We welcome submissions addressing the design, development, and evaluation of architectures, technologies, and applications for robots utilizing the edge-edge continuum, including but not limited to: Data processing and storage Distributed and collaborative robotics IoT, edge-cloud and robotics AI and machine learning for robotic operations Cybersecurity in edge-cloud and robotics Edge-cloud networking Autonomous system control and automation Digital twins for robotics Resource orchestration Processing of sensor data (e.g., LIDAR) within the continuum Use of hardware accelerators (GPU, DPU, FPGA) Robotic applications utilizing the continuum   Important Dates Paper submission deadline: February 14th, 2025 Acceptance notification: March 7th, 2025 Camera-ready deadline: March 14th, 2025 Submission Guidelines Papers must not exceed 10 pages, IEEE format, double-blind review. Submissions should be original and not under review elsewhere. Accepted papers will be published through IEEE Press.

We are excited to announce the release of the EMPYREAN Introduction Video! Our team is working tirelessly to push the boundaries of technology and collaboration, bringing together experts from diverse fields to tackle real-world challenges. 🎥 Watch the Video Discover what EMPYREAN is all about! Click below to watch our introduction video and join us in shaping the future.