A consortium of more than 42 organizations led by Nokia has begun work on a project to provide unmanned surveillance of Europe's critical infrastructure. NVIDIA, Safran, Leonardo, Saab and a number of universities and startups have also joined the initiative, Reuters reports.
The project aims to strengthen energy grids, data centers, and telecommunications lines with autonomous robots — on land, in the air, and underwater. Drones will gain new capabilities, including laser and radar sensors.
The initiative is partly funded by the EU, participating companies and national governments under the Chips Joint Undertaking. Non-EU countries, including Israel, are also welcome to participate.
Nokia said defense has become one of the company's priorities, along with data centers and AI. Despite its civilian focus, the project could also have military applications in the future.
The project is expected to generate €90 million in revenue by 2035 through the development of commercial solutions for public and private customers - for example, for servicing power grids, railways, ports and other infrastructure facilities.