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
The objective of this action is to support a Multi-Country Project (MCP) in the agri-food sector. The MCP in Agri-Food aims to leverage digital infrastructure, particularly data infrastructure, to enhance the efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness of the agri-food sector across Europe. This action will, foster the access, sharing, and reuse of data to support decision-making, reduce administrative burdens, and enable innovative solutions within the sector.
Detailed Call Description
The awarded proposal should address the following activities:
- Provide operational support to create a sustainable collaboration framework among Member States and other stakeholders aimed at facilitating large-scale investments in digital and data infrastructure for agri-food projects with a multi-country focus.
- Support the exchange of information and take stock of available infrastructures, solutions, tools, agreements, and standards related to the scope of the action among participants, and coordinate across initiatives and projects in different countries and domains.
- Analyse gaps in existing agri-food data infrastructures and services, and propose measures to support the deployment, operation, and maintenance of data and service infrastructures.
- Develop and set-up digital infrastructure enabling agri-food data exchange, access, and analysis at the European level.
- Provide assistance, including financial support to third parties, for the development of cross-border use cases focusing on real-life applications based on agri-food data sharing and promote the sharing and reuse of best practices. These use cases should be implemented across several Member States; they should foster advanced technologies, including AI, and should follow a coherent approach, that ensures interoperability; indicative areas for use cases include the preparation of scaling of the multi-country project and/ or subsequent actions that support the objectives of the MCP.
- Support the implementation and deployment of a large-scale data-infrastructure with a multi-country or EU-level dimension to roll out data services in agri-food relevant for the public and private domains.
The action should contribute to creating a fair, competitive, and innovative data economy.
The action is also expected to support the reduction of administrative burden in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-to government (B2G) data sharing, in particular in cross-border settings; and explore the potential for simplification.
All activities under this project will require close collaboration and alignment with existing and evolving EU initiatives related to agri-food data, in particular:
- Common European Agricultural Data Space (CEADS)
- Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEF) for AI in agri-food
- Horizon Europe Partnership Agriculture of Data
- European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and EDICs
- EU Digital Identity Wallet/eID
Duplication of existing initiatives should be avoided. Compliance with applicable EU legislation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Directive on open data and the re-use of public sector information, is required.
The awarded proposal is expected to achieve financial sustainability beyond the project’s duration. The outcomes and deliverables of the project should be owned or usable by a lasting structure supporting the implementation of the MCP in the agri-food sector.
The active involvement of data providers and users in the public and private domains is highly recommended to ensure that the project’s outcomes are designed to meet their needs and to create a stronger sense of ownership.
To encourage the participation of diverse actors, the proposed project is encouraged to use financial support to third parties as part of the development, customisation, and integration of digital infrastructure for the agri-food ecosystem; and the implementation of cross-border use cases.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
100%
Multi-Country Project in AgriFood: up to €15.000.000 per project
Thematic Categories
- Agriculture - Food
- Environment and Climate Change
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Information Technology
- Public Administration
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Rural development
- Small-Medium Enterprises and Competitiveness
Eligibility for Participation
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Local Authorities
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- 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 (except for topics with restrictions; see below):
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (list of participating countries)
Consortium composition – Proposals must be submitted by: A European Digital Infrastructure Consortium or another MCP implementation mechanism listed in the DDPP Decision (see especially Article 11(5)) including a consortium which includes at least three independent entities from three different Member States. These entities should be appointed by the government as representing entity of the Member State, with the purpose of implementing the given Multi-Country Project.
Besides these, the consortium can include other relevant private and public organisations contributing to the implementation of Multi-Country Projects.
Targeted stakeholders: EDIC, Public and private entities such as (but not limited to) public administrations (national, regional, and local level), economic actors (SMEs, large organisations) in the agri-food sector.
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