As the SPIRIT project draws to a close this December, Digital for Planet celebrates its role in shaping one of Europe’s most ambitious initiatives in immersive telepresence. SPIRIT – Scalable Platform for Innovations on Real-time Immersive Telepresence – has spent the last three years pioneering the next generation of communication technologies, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds.
A European Milestone in Telepresence Innovation
SPIRIT’s mission has been to create Europe’s first multisite, interconnected framework for collaborative telepresence, enabling a wide range of real-time immersive experiences. By tackling the technological challenges of low-latency streaming, scalable infrastructure, and high-quality data compression, the project has paved the way for applications that will transform how people interact in both professional and personal contexts. From enhancing industry productivity to supporting remote collaboration in education and healthcare, SPIRIT has demonstrated the potential of immersive telepresence to drive innovation, resilience, and sustainability across Europe.
Digital for Planet’s Strategic Contribution
As a consortium partner, Digital for Planet has been instrumental in ensuring that sustainability, engagement, and visibility were central to SPIRIT’s success:
- Driving Open Innovation: Digital for Planet led Work Package 5, defining and managing SPIRIT’s Open Calls. By overseeing the selection and mentorship of 27 innovative projects from Open Call 1 and Open Call 2, Digital for Planet fostered a vibrant ecosystem of SMEs, research institutions, and creative innovators. This has strengthened collaboration across sectors and accelerated the development of practical, impactful telepresence solutions.
- Maximising Impact and Outreach: Through Work Package 6, Digital for Planet amplified the visibility of SPIRIT’s achievements. By managing social media, newsletters, website content, press releases and targeted engagement campaigns, the team ensured that the project’s innovations reached a broad audience and encouraged active participation from diverse stakeholders.
- Supporting Consortium Excellence: Digital for Planet also supported IMEC in Work Package 1, coordinating project meetings, progress reporting, and quality control of deliverables. This role reinforced smooth project management and fostered alignment across the consortium, ensuring SPIRIT stayed on track to meet its ambitious objectives.
Looking Ahead
The conclusion of SPIRIT marks not just the end of a project, but a milestone for Digital for Planet in demonstrating the value of strategic communication, ecosystem-building, and sustainable innovation. By bridging digital innovation and sustainability, Digital for Planet continues to shape Europe’s green and digital transitions, ensuring that emerging technologies benefit both society and the environment.
