MISSION 7 – Communication, Standardization and Open-Source Solutions

RESTART Program has a Mission completely dedicated to ensuring that the scientific and technical results of the project along with the experimental evidence are both disseminated and exploited by the international scientific community and communicated to the general public and society in terms of concrete impact: Mission 7.  

The Foundation intends to promote its activities and communicate transparently and effectively to its stakeholders, collaborators and Partners in order to raise awareness and engage the community on issues of concern of the Partnership. 

RESTART has produced so far [M1-M27]:
    • Scientific papers (conference and journal): 1033
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 248
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 644
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 141
    • Joint publication of RESTART partners [Target 30% average (KPI 2.2)]: 333
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 51
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 215
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 67
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Journal paper (of which 326 in Q1) [Target 60 in Q1 per year (KPI 2.1)]: 415
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 111
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 230
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 67
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Conference papers [Target 90 per year (KPI 2.1)]: 618
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 137
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 414
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 67
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Seminars [Target 10 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 41
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 18
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 21
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 2
Readiness level at M27*:
67%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Dissemination workshops [Target 1 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 17
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 7
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 9
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 1
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Organized workshops: 17
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: N.A.
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 16
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 1
    • Keynote speech and Invited Talk: 109
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 55
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 46
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 8
    • Visits to the website [Target 10.000 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 302.886
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 76.943
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 164.069
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 61.864
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Followers on LinkedIn [Target 1000 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 2.345
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1.002
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 1.082
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 261
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Press Release [Target 3 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 11
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 4
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 4
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 3
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Pubblication on media [Target 5 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 171
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 118
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 32
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 21
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Participation to trade fairs [Target 2 per year (KPI 7.2)]: 5
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 4
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • RESTART conferences [Target 1 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 4
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 2
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 1
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Patents [Target 20 at the end of the project (KPI 3.3)]: 3
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 2
Readiness level at M27*: N.A. *The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Videos published on RESTART website  [Target 3 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 76
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 3
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 49
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 24
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Open-source products: 30
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 6
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 19
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 5
    • Poster: 42
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 5
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 27
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 10
    • Exploitation Workshop [Target 1 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 2
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 0
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 1
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 1
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Open Day [Target 1 per year (KPI 7.1)]: 5
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 0
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 4
Readiness level at M27*: N.A. *The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • External partners interested in the RESTART program [Target 20 per year (KPI 7.2)]: 99
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 40
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 30
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 29
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Proposed standard contribution [Target 6 (KPI 6.1)]: 3
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 1
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 1
      • Year 3 [M25-M27]: 1
Readiness level at M27*:
100%
*The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Free and Open Source (FOS) communities involved in RESTART [Target 3 (KPI 6.2)]: 2
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 2
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 0
Readiness level at M27*: N.A. *The Readiness Level (RL) is a percentage calculated from the current value compared to the value at M27 of the target defined in the RESTART proposal. [RL = value at M27 * 100 / target at M27]

    • Contributions in books: 3
      • Year 1 [M1-M12]: 0
      • Year 2 [M13-M24]: 3

RESTART Brand Identity: 

  • RESTART general logo guidelines have been defined;
  • a RESTART general PowerPoint presentation has been created to be used in dissemination and communication events;
  • a RESTART Communications kit is progressively being updated and includes:
    • RESTART main logo;
    • Logos of the 32 scientific projects (structural and focused), in 3 different versions (in color, white and b&w);
    • Template for RESTART Laboratories Logo;
    • Font type provided by MUR;
    • MUR guidelines for communication and dissemination;
    • Templates for the main communication actions;
    • Background for RESTART remote participation in conferences, calls and events;
  • A promotional institutional video was produced and published with the goal of conveying RESTART’s values, vision and mission to a generalized audience, through a product that combines an emotional and aspirational character with an informative and summarizing nature. with the goal of conveying RESTART’s values, vision and mission to a generalized audience, through a product that combines an emotional and aspirational character with an informative and summarizing nature.

Organization and internal communication:

  • Mailing lists are currently being used to progressively update RESTART community members on initiatives and internal organization;
  • A private area on the RESTART website has been created to facilitate the reporting process of researchers, projects, missions and partners, allowing them to upload all the contributions related to their activity through a unique access point;
  • A procedure to facilitate internal communication with new partners coming from RESTART cascade calls was implemented, with specific mailing lists created;
  • To cope with the increasing amount and complexity of activities to be managed, Mission 7 team has grown, thanks to the addition of new resources from partners.

Press:

Web & Social media:

  • Over 100 news articles have been published since the beginning of the project on RESTART website;
  • Visits to the website have increased steadily, with a total of over 300.000 visits since;
  • The overall architecture of the RESTART website has been designed to give greater visibility to the main initiatives organized under the Program and to highlight the most important results and their impact. Visual materials were produced, including infographics and representations of the results and actions taken by RESTART and were incorporated within a new section of the website, entitled “Impact”;
  • The web page devoted to Mission 7 is constantly updated with records of Communication & Dissemination, Standardization and Open-Source initiatives;
  • RESTART website has periodically been updated with results and activities for each of the 32 projects (between structural and focused) and 7 Missions;
  • Over 70 videos have been published on RESTART website since M1;
  • The launch of cascade calls was promoted on RESTART website;
  • With the aim of making RESTART researchers known to the outside world and to connect them with companies in the Partnership through a supply/demand system, a new section on the RESTART website titled “RESTART researchers” is under preparation.
  • RESTART Foundation is present on 5 different social media platforms: Facebook (over 1.3k followers), Instagram (over 200 followers), X/Twitter, (over 100 followers), LinkedIn (over 2.3k followers already reached) and YouTube. Facebook and Instagram have been opened to reach new audience segments, with the aim of carrying out communication and dissemination actions that enhance the impact of the activities carried out within the Program.
  • A social media campaign dedicated to the 32 RESTART projects has been carried out on LinkedIn and X/Twitter with a post for each structural and focused project. The campaign is continuing also on Instagram, with a more dynamic slant to respect the peculiarities of the platform.
  • With the aim of populating the previously mentioned results section and to disseminate the impact of the Program as much as possible, a web and social media campaign related to the activities of the 7 RESTART Missions was prepared. In particular:
    • Infographic cards are scheduled to be published on RESTART website
    • Social media posts are being published for each of the 7 RESTART Missions;
  • Two social media campaigns aimed at the general public and dedicated to the RESTART Grand Challenges have been carried out/ongoing on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. The first one aimed to promote on LinkedIn RESTART Grand Challenges from the point of view and through the voices of RESTART young researcher with the publication of 19 dedicated videos on the YouTube channel and 19 dedicated posts; the second one relaunched the Grand Challenges on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram with an individual informative post for each of the 13 Clusters of Challenges (ongoing).
  • “RESTART in One Minute” campaign – short video interviews to offer a dynamic point of view on RESTART research – has started on all social media channels, with 3 videos already published (example).
  • With the support of an external agency, a social media campaign has been developed, and is currently underway, aimed at encouraging enrollment in degree programs (bachelor's and master's) in the area of Telecommunications. In addition, two social media advertising campaign have started and are currently ongoing:
    • One brand awareness campaign on Facebook and Instagram (to increase audience on both platforms) 2k “likes” gained on Facebook and a “reach” (number of people who saw the content) of over 450k on Instagram since February 21st, 2025.
    • One “traffic to web page” campaign on Facebook and Instagram (with target page: RESTART landing page with degree courses in TLC offered by partner universities)  Reach: over 400k.
  • To facilitate the Social Media campaign aimed at encouraging enrollment for courses in Telecommunications engineering, a dedicated web page has been created. The page contains the list of all the Telecommunications engineering programs offered by RESTART partner universities. Since its publication on February 18th, 2025, the page has collected over 6.500 visits from more than 5.500 visitors.
  • A new section of the website has been created, dedicated to RESTART Tutorials on Telecommunications, a series of online events to discover the research topics of the Program. The page contains the complete calendar of the initiative and, at the end of each tutorial, the video recording of the meeting.
  • RESTART Tutorials on Telecommunications have been promoted on social media with dedicated posts (example).
  • RESTART Roadshow “Connetti il domani, disegna il futuro” has been highly promoted on social media, with dedicated posts published before (example), during (on Instagram stories, example) and after (example) each event.

Meetings & Events:

  • RESTART has held 1 kick-off meeting (January 2023) and 4 Plenary Dissemination Workshops (July 2023, January 2024, July 2024, January 2025);
  • RESTART Mission 7 team supported the communication of RESTART Plenary Dissemination Workshops held in Bari in July 2023, Bologna in January 2024, Catania in July 2024 and Palermo in January 2025 with the production of a graphic kit and online/offline communication activities;
  • During Plenary Dissemination Workshops, RESTART Mission 7 team has produced video-interviews with RESTART representatives and young researchers.
  • RESTART Structural and Focused Projects have held meetings either online or in-person;
  • Mission 7 coordinator conceived the “Connetti il domani, disegna il futuro” (Connect tomorrow, design the future) initiative, a roadshow aimed at high school and bachelor’s degree students, designed to inspire their choice of university path and promote enrollment in degree programs in the Telecommunications area. The roadshow will be touring RESTART main partner universities and as of M27, four events have already taken place: Turin, Bari, Rome, Genoa. Mission 7 team, with the help of Politecnico di Torino staff, prepared all the graphic and communication kit and shared it with RESTART partners organizing the event.
  • CNIT’s initiative “TLC Games” was promoted through RESTART channels and it was monitored in order to maintain a cohesive brand identity for RESTART.
  • Mission 7 promoted the activities (g. events, initiatives, etc.) organized or conducted by RESTART projects, Missions, partners and Spokes.

Open-Source:

The Mission task and the associated Grand Challenge 19 – Create a community for RESTART open data and open-source software - are proceeding along three lines: inventory of existing open-source products, internal dissemination towards the RESTART community, external dissemination towards the scientific community at large.

In order to improve the reusability of the contributed products, we developed a guideline document outlining a set of best practices in preparing an open-source contribution. The guidelines have been presented at the RESTART Palermo plenary meeting and then distributed to all RESTART researchers.

We also had contacts with the D4Science infrastructure for open data to evaluate the possibility of using their Virtual Research Environments to host the open data developed in RESTART. By discussing with the projects that are actively producing open data, it was concluded that repositories such as Zenodo are adequate for the needs of the RESTART projects and it is not necessary to invest on a big data platform.

Finally, we are also establishing an evaluation committee that will assign quality badges to the projects that are well documented and reusable. We will then advertise internally and then externally the RESTART open products by means of a periodic newsletter, talks, and social media posts.

As of March 26th, 2025, 21 open source and 9 open data products were submitted to the inventory maintained by Fondazione RESTART. Contributions come from 12 projects (7 structural and 5 focused) and show various degrees of maturity. Most projects are distributing their open-source products through Github or Gitlab; a project is using the repository of the ONOS project, which is now operating under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation. The open-data products are distributed through the public repositories Zenodo, IEEE Dataport, and Github.

Standardization:

A survey was conducted to gather information on the standardization activities carried out by the RESTART partners.  

The survey results showed that few partners are members of Standard Development Organizations and have experience in standardization activities.  

Therefore, it was decided to organize a webinar to provide partners with information on the structure and the procedures of the various SDOs relevant to the RESTART program and to offer guidance on writing effective contributions based on research activities’ results.

The webinar was held on November 26th, 2024, for all researchers with the aim of providing them with basic information about standards and standardization bodies. The goal was to achieve a more homogeneous level of preparation among the different partners.

This is an outline of the webinar

  • The role of standards in telecommunications
  • Main benefits of standards
  • RESTART objectives on standardization
  • Standard Developing Organizations
  • The process leading to the production of a standard
  • Relationship between patents and standards
  • Some hints for the preparation of an effective contribution to standards

During the webinar, emphasis was placed on the need to identify the right working group and the correct time frame to bring contributions to the standards in order to have good chances of success.

The webinar was recorded to allow participation of those who could not attend the live event.

The milestone MS12 “Creation of a Standardization Plan & Strategy to better manage RESTART activities” has been completed.

It describes the activities foreseen to achieve the RESTART goals in terms of standardization. It also provides the status of the activities that are already ongoing.

To facilitate the contribution of RESTART to standardisation, a review of the main innovations developed within the project has started. The goal is to let partners with strong experience in the standardisation process to identify innovations that can be of higher interest for, in particular, 3GPP and support partners in preparing a proposal to a technical working group of the SDO.

Furthermore, a white paper has been finalised and submitted to the SDO, receiving very positive feedback. Details on the contribution to standardisation recorded for Mission 7.

To report complete data relating to communication, standardization and open-source solutions, it is necessary to fill in the appropriate form in the private area of the site. For problems relating to access to the private page, please contact: segreteria@fondazione-restart.it

Communication & Dissemination

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Standardization

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Open-Source Solutions