Call for Expression of Interest II

Deadline: May 5, 2019  
CALL EXPIRED

About the IoT4Industry project: Industry 4.0 for SMEs

IoT4Industry is a 30 months project funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission. It connects 3 Information and Communication Technologies clusters having strong competences in Internet of Things (IoT): Secured Communicating Solutions (SCS) cluster (France), MicroTech SüdWest e.V. (Germany), DSP Valley (Belgium); with 4 industrial clusters having access to tool manufacturers and manufacturing SMEs: MESAP (Italy), Mont-Blanc Industries (France), Pôle MecaTech (Belgium), the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) (United Kingdom); and Inno TSD (France).

The IoT4Industry project seeks to support EU growth and competitiveness through the development of a new cross-sectoral industrial value chain based on the integration and use of IoT and related components (sensors, chips, electronics component, communication networks, cloud computing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, digital security, etc.) into manufacturing tools, machines and robots, industrial processes, factories environment, supply chain integration, intra  logistics & logistics 4.0 product life cycle, smart packaging, etc. It will do so through the cross-border collaboration between SMEs and other RDI actors of the ICT and advanced manufacturing sectors.

The IoT4Industry project will provide support services (matchmaking and project design) and funding to develop such collaborative projects. The funding will be allocated through 2 calls for projects, and the support services will be provided by the consortium partners through this call for expression of Interest.

Purpose of this call for Expression of Interest

Before the opening of these project calls, we are launching a call for “Expression of Interest” to identify and transform project ideas into relevant projects for the forthcoming calls.

NB: answering to the call for Expression of Interest is not a prerequisite for answering to the calls for projects. However, it is mandatory for benefitting to the services described below.

Calendar

The call for Expression of Interest is opened until the 5th of May 2019.

Project support services

Entities submitting an expression of interest coherent with the project objectives will get access to the following support services:

• access to collective training sessions,
• information about the call,
• suggestions of matching partners to complete project idea (if needed).

Who can apply to the call for Expression of Interest

Legal entities (SMEs, large companies and research centers) based in European member states or Horizon 2020 associated countries working in the industrial/manufacturing or ICT/IoT domains are invited to apply. Only SMEs will be eligible to receive funding in the framework of the calls for projects.

How to apply to the calls for Expression of Interest

Candidates are invited to submit their expression of interest by on clicking in the “apply button” and follow-up the indication to fill in the questionnaire.

About the forthcoming call for projects

The second and last call for projects will be opened during the project life time.

• The second call will be open between April 1, 2019 and June 11, 2019.

Available funding types for SMEs

Depending on the type of collaborative project proposal of applicants, the IoT4Industry project can provide 3 different type vouchers (see table below).

(TABLE NOT AVAILABLE)

• Feasibility studies will target companies having an idea of the intended project a purpose but with needs for further analyzing the technical aspects, the intellectual property issues, the design study, etc.
• Prototyping instrument will target companies having already carried out a feasibility study, and having the need develop a prototype, spend efforts in miniaturization, testing, etc.
• Demonstration/pilot instrument will target companies having already developed and tested a prototype, with the need to demonstrate its efficiency on a larger scale.

Several eligible SMEs can participate in the same project proposal, asking up to the maximum amount  authorized per project type (50 000, 90 000 or 120 000 euros per feasibility study, prototyping or demonstrator) as detailed in the table.

Who can apply to the calls for projects?1

• Only SMEs will be funded;
• proposals will be eligible to the call if the following conditions are met:
  • the consortium is composed of minimum two legal entities based in two different NUTS 1regions of European member states and Horizon 2020 associated countries;
  • at least one entity is based in a country of one the consortium partners (United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy);
  • at least one of these legal entities is an SME;
• at least one entity must belong to the manufacturing or industrial value chain and another one to the ICT/IoT value chain.

What is expected?

• Project proposals should present an industrial/manufacturing case, where IoT has a clear added value (using sensors, chips, networks, cloud, big data, security solutions, Artificial Intelligence, etc.), be innovative (beyond the state-of-the-art) and have a clear impact on all partners involved.
• Transnational projects (i.e. involving parties from at least two different countries) will receive a better evaluation under the impact criterium than transregional projects (i.e. involving parties from different regions within the same country).
• SMEs applying are expected to have a proven track record and capacity to implement the action, a coherent R&D and commercial strategy, and sound and viable financial situation.

1 The points listed above are for information purposes only. The official application conditions to the call for collaborative project will be detailed in the guidebook of applicants. In case of contradiction between the two documents, the guidebook of applicants of the calls for projects takes precedence.