Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Digital Europe Programme is the first EU programme that aims to accelerate the recovery and drive the digital transformation of Europe.
Worth €7.6 billion (in current prices), the Programme is a part of the next long-term EU budget, (the Multiannual Financial Framework), and it covers 2021 to 2027. It will provide funding for projects in five crucial areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society.
The Programme is fine-tuned to fill the gap between the research of digital technologies and their deployment, and to bring the results of research to the market – for the benefit of Europe’s citizens and businesses, and in particular SMEs. Investments under the Digital Europe programme supports the Union’s twin objectives of a green transition and digital transformation and strengthens the Union’s resilience and strategic autonomy.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
This action aims at providing support and coordination at EU level for AI regulatory sandboxes established under the future AI Act. This action will play a critical role in providing technical support, advice, tools and common frameworks for the effective establishment and operation of AI regulatory sandboxes and cross-border cooperation at EU level.
Detailed Call Description
The action is expected to contribute to the following high-level objectives:
- foster AI innovation and competitiveness, improve legal certainty for innovators and facilitate regulatory compliance with the AI Act and other relevant Union legislation supervised in the AI regulatory sandboxes;
- accelerate access to the EU market for innovative AI systems by providing a safe regulatory space for innovation and removing barriers in the sandboxes, with a particular focus on SMEs, including start-ups;
- promote wide accessibility of the AI regulatory sandboxes across the EU Member States, common approaches and coordination in their implementation, economies of scale and scale up of AI innovation projects at EU level;
- foster the competent authorities’ oversight capacity and understanding of the opportunities, emerging risks and the impacts of AI use;
- contribute to evidence-based regulatory learning by analysing the experiences accumulated in the AI regulatory sandboxes and support the collecting and sharing of best practices and lessons learnt and make them widely available.
The action should develop common frameworks, tools and processes to support competent authorities under the AI Act in the practical establishment, implementation, operation and supervision of the AI regulatory sandboxes.
This also should include supplementary supporting infrastructure/services such as training, technical and legal support services for the national competent authorities establishing the sandboxes, and their coordination at EU level.
Together with the competent authorities, the action should organise a pilot testing of the sandbox material, tools and processes produced under this action, as well as the draft compliance material and tools produced by the AI Innovation Accelerator preparatory action to be tested by AI providers in the sandboxes.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Maximum grant amount per project: €2.000.000
Thematic Categories
- New Entrepreneurship
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Local Authorities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- State-owned Enterprises
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- EEA countries (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein)
- other countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (list of participating countries)
Targeted stakeholders:
- Governance structure: The AI regulatory sandboxes action should seek to establish a close collaborative relationship with the AI Innovation Accelerator preparatory action
- Other stakeholders to involve in the action, when deemed necessary:
- Primary: Providers of AI systems (in particular start-ups and SMEs); National competent authorities and the European Data Protection Supervisor; Authorities supervising the protection of human rights to be associated in the sandboxes.
- Secondary: AI Board (as envisaged in the AI Act); Research and experimentation labs (incl. Testing and Experimentation Facilities); AI Scientific Panel (as envisaged in the AI Act); EU initiatives: AIoDP, EDIHs, data spaces, Euro HPC, EDICs, AI Pact, etc.; National and European standardisation organisations; Notified bodies; Civil society organisations; Other sectoral sandboxes.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
Directorate of Research and Innovation
Eleana Gabriel
Telephone: +357 22 691918
Email: egabriel@dmrid.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
For help related to this call, please visit the following link: Write to us | European Union (europa.eu)