MSO-ED Technologies have the great strength of being transversal to all industrial sectors. However, the PET MSO-ED Platform, due to its structure, for having entities framed in specific areas of society, and due to the limited budget, will mainly address 3 Challenges of Society of the State Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020: challenges 1, 3 and 5. For each of these Challenges, mathematical technology, in general, provides tools with great potential and that can play a relevant role in solving industrial challenges:

• Challenge 1: Health, Demographic Change and Well-being

Modeling the interaction between drugs and cell receptors allows virtual screening of thousands of drug candidates; As a result, pharmaceutical companies can reduce the number of costly enzyme assays and time to market for new drugs.

MSO-ED tools also play an essential role in the efficient and accurate diagnosis of cancer or viral diseases, as well as the development of personalized radiotherapy or medical technologies such as artificial hip or knee therapy, and stents. In addition, the spread of epidemics (such as the current Coronavirus disease) can be studied through mathematical models to help make more efficient health and economic decisions.

•  Challenge 3: Safe, Efficient and Clean Energy

The MSO-ED tools allow studying important aspects such as demand response, energy transmission, or distributed generation. Mathematical technologies allow the management of smart networks that integrate sustainable energy sources such as wind, photovoltaic or hydroelectric power with fossil fuels. They are also essential for improving the efficiency of power plants, wind turbines, batteries and solar collection.

•  Challenge 5: Climate Change and Use of Natural Resources and Raw Materials

Weather forecasting is based on mathematical models capable of predicting devastating natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods or forest fires. The consequences of natural phenomena such as tsunamis, snow and rock avalanches or cold snaps can often be mitigated using MSO-ED tools. In addition, the evolution of climate change and global warming is currently carried out based on mathematical simulations, which helps to assess the magnitude of what is already the first global challenge.

The greatest challenge of the coming decades will be to defend the environment through achieving sustainable economic development. This is a field, halfway between challenges 3 and 5, and where MSO-ED tools can make enormous contributions. For example, energy management can be facilitated by intelligent decision systems based on properly developed mathematical algorithms. The same can be done for urban waste collection operations, or fleet management for delivery in the city. Building management is another field of application of the MSO-ED tools; An appropriate algorithm can calculate the air quality requirements and thermal conditions of each room in a building, ensuring the minimum welfare conditions required by law, while minimizing energy use. We will also mention simulation tools to help prototype new cars (minimizing the burning of polluting fuels) or electric motors.

On the other hand, the challenges faced by companies within Industry 4.0 and 5.0 show an unprecedented level of complexity, requiring holistic approaches and solution processes based on optimized algorithms. Decision makers need advanced tools that enable long-term risk analysis, clean processes, and prototype improvements, along with an appropriate set of optimization and control methods. The key technologies of these processes are usually very complex and require the support of highly qualified experts, which are often not available in Spanish SMEs (particularly innovative technology-based companies and start-ups), which affects to the economic and financial results of the companies. In addition, the providers of the necessary skills are spread over different areas of specialization in universities, research and technological institutions. These characteristics require the collaboration and integration of different advanced providers and other innovation players in different sectors and regions. This integrative role is one of the proposed goals for the PET MSO-ED platform.