While the list of challenges is non-exhaustive, two key challenges have been identified for this ORRI Incubator Call under the topic of ‘Responsible Digitalisation’:

• Privacy, transparency, and trust in digitalisation tools and services: The deployment of digital technologies demands a continual and built-in adherence to basic human rights and obtaining societal legitimacy in a specific region.
• Misinformation and manipulation: Digital technologies have created new and powerful vehicles for old problems around communication and public debate. It is a key challenge to design/pilot internal organisational or regional processes that aim to institutionalise an ORRI approach that can tackle misinformation.

Crucially, applicants must demonstrate how their project addresses one or more of these challenges through a process of starting to embed and institutionalise ORRI within their organisation or territory, through experimentation with organisational processes and procedures that ensure long-term commitment to Responsible Digitalisation. Alternatively, applicants may apply for addressing other topics related to the start of institutionalisation of Responsible Digitalisation in their organisation, which they have identified, by justifying the selection in the application process.

Projects should consist of several activities, examples of what those specific activities in potential projects could be are listed below:

Potential activities:

• Designing and implementing co-creation processes to develop digital solutions and services in the context of “Responsible Digitalisation”.
• Developing and formalising an internal ORRI strategy for digitalisation.
• Designing and testing a stakeholder or citizen engagement model (e.g., user panels, community advisory boards, citizen juries) that can potentially be used regularly in digital development decisions, AI strategy or policies related to digitalisation.
• Future scenario or visioning workshops within a particular organisational or local/regional context with stakeholders, including citizens, that address potential ethical, legal, and social implications of the deployment of digital technologies into particular contexts.
• Developing internal KPIs or evaluation frameworks for ORRI (e.g., tracking how often stakeholder feedback changes product direction, or inclusion metrics in data governance).

Please note that REINFORCING does not fund:

• Training or consulting activities for institutions, organisations and territories that are not part of the consortium, since institutional changes are requested to be visible and measurable in the funded entities (grantees), at least in the Coordinator (main beneficiary) of the project.
• Activities related to technological developments and/or proof of concepts, while REINFORCING could support co-creation and/or visioning workshops linked to those activities – if coherent with the scope and the requirements of the Call.
• Activities of any kind in which artificial intelligence-based systems or techniques are used or developed. Reflection on AI ethics and responsibility can instead be part of the funded actions – if coherent with the scope and the requirements of the Call.

Different durations of the projects (less or more than 12 months) are not possible and will be considered not eligible. Please also note that all the funded projects will start all together on 1st of November 2025 and end on 31th October 2026. No change in these dates can be negotiated.

Online Session with information is expected to take place on the following date: 4 July 2025, 3h00 – 4h30 (Brussesl time). The subscription link here.