HiDALGO2 D6.6 Project Exploitation and Sustainability

Deliverable 6.6 (D6.6) establishes the final operational, commercial, and legal roadmap for transitioning the HiDALGO2 Centre of Excellence into a self-sustaining European service provider beyond its Month 46 funding deadline. Moving beyond early exploratory concepts, this report consolidates the technical maturity of the project’s 33 exploitable results under a clean single-ownership framework and a hybrid licensing model that balances Open Science mandates with commercial protection. Rebuilt around direct feedback from two Advisory Board review cycles, D6.6 details a defensible financial model where routine exascale consulting engagements yield a 28% contribution margin to cover the Centre’s annual standing capability cost. By securing an operational break-even target of just 6 to 7 engagements per year across all five environmental pilot domains, bridging initial public procurement lags through mixed research grant portfolios, and enforcing post-grant governance via the signed Exploitation Agreement (D6.7) and the Exploitation Coordination Committee, HiDALGO2 delivers a realistic, low-risk market framework aligned with the European Green Deal, EuroHPC JU objectives, and Destination Earth through 2030.