Work has started in the Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) Competence Centre (IAM-CC), a EUR5 million EU-funded project addressing societal readiness for drone and advanced air mobility industry adoption.
Running from June 2026 to December 2029, IAM-CC brings together a consortium of 20 organisations from across Europe to shape how IAM is introduced in practice. IAM-CC moves beyond passive “public acceptance” toward active co-creation, engaging citizens, city authorities, and industry actors to explore IAM and its potential use, according to a project press release. “Guided by the Responsible Research and Innovation approach, the project embeds co-creation as a core part of how societal readiness is assessed and advanced. At the core of the project is the development of a societal readiness methodology, integrating technological, organisational, and citizen readiness, alongside legal and ethical considerations.
“This will be supported by tools, training, and practical guidance made available through the IAM Competence Centre, alongside a European community of practice. In parallel, multilingual public awareness and educational campaigns will raise understanding of IAM and support broader participation.”
The approach will be tested through Living Labs in Madrid, Milan, and Coimbra, where stakeholders will take part in demonstrations, immersive experiences, and workshops to explore real-world applications and societal impacts.
The IAM-CC consortium officially kicked off the project on 18 June 2026 in Athens, Greece, bringing together representatives from the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), Future Needs Management Consulting Ltd, Associacao Iscte Conhecimento e Inovacao – Centro de Valorizacao e Transferencia de Tecnologias, The University of Salford, Technische Universiteit Delft, AgentFly Technologies s.r.o., MaasLab, RHE DK ApS, Ethnicon Metsovion Polytechnion, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Centro de Innovacion Tecnologica para la Logistica y el Transporte de Mercancias por Carretera (CITET), Openvia Air S.L. (Bluenest), Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Ospedale San Raffaele SRL, ABzero SRL, EuroUSC Italia SRL, Citta Metropolitana di Milano, Comunidade Intermunicipal da Regiao de Coimbra, and CRSA – Connect Robotics Sistemas Autonomos LDA.
For more information
www.iamcc.eu
(Image: IAM-CC partners gathered in Athens to officially launch the project. Creative photo composition by Future Needs).