SLICES is a flexible platform designed to support large-scale, experimental research focused on networking protocols, radio technologies, services, data collection, parallel and distributed computing and in particular cloud and edge-based computing architectures and services.

Digital Infrastructures and the future Internet including 5G and beyond technologies are the main enabling factors contributing to the digital transformation of our society. The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the vital role of digital infrastructures and showed they should be reinforced. Their design, deployment and operation are critical, calling for a scientific instrument to support the research in this domain for computer science and infrastructure researchers, as well as for data driven scientific applications involving interdisciplinary aspects.

SLICES ambitions to become an impactful RI in Digital Sciences including concerns regarding energy consumption and the implementation of the green deal. It fully aligns with the ESFRI White Paper, as a response to the new challenges lying ahead for Europe. Research and innovation in this domain represent an industrial need, a sovereignty concern, a security threat and an economic and societal development opportunity.