Meet the finalists: EDIH Network Award for Excellence 2026

From 69 submissions, three projects made the cut.

Across Europe, hundreds of organisations are using digital technology to solve real problems, from the way food reaches a school canteen to the way a city warns its residents of danger. The EDIH Network Award for Excellence exists to bring the best of these stories to light.

This year, 69 success stories were submitted by European Digital Innovation Hubs across 12 countries. Three have been selected by the European Commission as finalists. The winner will be announced at the EDIH Network Summit on 9 June 2026 in Brussels.

"AI instead of Waste": Predictive Analytics to Cut Food Waste in School Catering Germany | EDIHDO

School canteens across Europe regularly over-produce, generating food waste that is both costly and avoidable. EDIHDO helped a catering provider address this with an AI-based predictive analytics solution that forecasts meal consumption more accurately, enabling teams to adapt portion sizes and procurement to actual demand. The outcome: less waste, lower costs, and no reduction in service quality.

👉 Discover the project: https://european-digital-innovation-hubs.ec.europa.eu/knowledge-hub/success-stories/ai-instead-waste-predictive-analytics-cut-food-waste-school-catering 

Advancing Peatland Restoration through Digital Modelling Austria | Crowd in Motion EDIH

Peatlands are among Europe's most significant carbon stores, yet public understanding of their value, and the consequences of their loss, remains limited. Crowd in Motion EDIH co-designed an interactive mechanical-digital model that makes peatland science tangible, translating complex processes of water retention, carbon storage, and renaturation into an accessible educational tool built through digital fabrication and rapid prototyping.

👉 Read the full story: https://european-digital-innovation-hubs.ec.europa.eu/knowledge-hub/success-stories/advancing-peatland-restoration-through-digital-modelling 

Differentiated Alert System for Kharkiv Emergency Department Ukraine | Eastern Ukraine EDIH

In emergency management, precision is as important as speed. Too many alerts erode trust; too few risk lives. Eastern Ukraine EDIH supported the development of a digital alert system for the Kharkiv Emergency Department that distinguishes between local and regional threats, enabling more targeted warnings and more effective public response under crisis conditions.

👉 Find out more: https://european-digital-innovation-hubs.ec.europa.eu/knowledge-hub/success-stories/differentiated-alert-system-kharkiv-emergency-department-digital 

About the EDIH Network Awards

The Award for Excellence is one of three EDIH Network Awards presented at the Summit. The programme also includes the KPI-based Awards for Best Improvement in Digital Maturity and the EDIH Community Award, decided by live vote of Summit participants.

👉 Register for the Summit: EDIH Summit 2026: Strengthening the AI Innovation Ecosystem | European Digital Innovation Hubs Network