Innovation Projects

SICODI

SICODI

The SICODI (Distributed Cognitive System for Autonomous, Secure, and Intelligent Factories) project is an industrial research initiative that seeks to revolutionize the automation of industrial processes.

Funded under the INNTERCONECTA STEP 2025 program by the CDTI and the European Union’s NextGenerationEU funds, the project runs from October 2025 to June 2028. The consortium is led by Robotnik along with Bosonit, OdinS, Bettergy, and Optare Solutions.

Its main objective is to advance from an experimental level (TRL3) to the validation of an integrated prototype in a real industrial environment (TRL6). The ecosystem combines collaborative mobile robotics, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), digital twins, and the integration of renewable energies.

Optare Solutions in SICODI

Within the multi-sector consortium led by Robotnik, Optare Solutions plays a fundamental technological role as the leader and specialist in the advanced connectivity and cybersecurity pillar. The company’s strategic contribution focuses on the design and deployment of the critical communication infrastructures that support the cognitive factory.

The specific objectives and contributions of Optare in the project include:

  • Open RAN Infrastructure and Dynamic Slicing (OE1 / OE2): Research and development of connectivity solutions based on open Open RAN architectures and adaptive network slicing techniques. This allows for the dynamic segmentation of private 5G network traffic to simultaneously support critical services (such as real-time control of robot fleets) and massive services (IoT sensing) with guarantees of ultra-low latency and reliability.
  • AI-Driven Network Supervision (OE2): Development of advanced Artificial Intelligence models (LSTM/Transformers) applied to Open RAN interfaces. These models capture and analyze traffic in real time in a vendor-agnostic manner, achieving early detection of intrusions, anomalies, or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks in critical operational environments (OT).
  • 6G NTN Satellite Resilience (OE1): Evaluation and integration of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. This channel acts as an automated backup system capable of rerouting factory traffic in the event of terrestrial cellular network failures or power outages, guaranteeing absolute operational continuity.
  • Adoption of Post-Quantum Cryptography (OE3 / OE4): Integration of end-to-end encryption (E2EE) methodologies immune to quantum computing within the framework of 5G networks, facilitating a secure environment specially focused on self-provisioned industrial networks.

Scientific Collaboration

For the development of these innovations, Optare Solutions relies on the subcontracting of the GTI department of the University of Vigo (UVigo), a key strategic ally for knowledge transfer in communication network resilience and quantum cybersecurity.

Business Impact: Participation in SICODI will allow Optare Solutions to mature its commercial offering in secure private 5G networks and advanced cybersecurity, projecting that these solutions will represent 10% of the company’s revenue upon project completion, with a business model scalable to the entire European market.

SICODI researches a cognitive system to create autonomous, efficient, and cyber-secure factories through the integration of AI, advanced robotics, and digital twins. Within the consortium, Optare Solutions leads the advanced connectivity pillar through the deployment of private 5G/6G networks with Open RAN architecture. The company investigates critical technologies such as dynamic network slicing, traffic monitoring via AI to detect intrusions, and satellite backup in case of failures. Its contribution also includes the integration of post-quantum end-to-end encryption to shield the security of industrial environments.

Within the SICODI project, a grant of €223,342.00 has been awarded to Optare Solutions for its execution associated with file EXP – 00177340 / ITC-20251227 under the call for proposals for the INNTERCONECTA STEP 2025 call.

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