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 call is to provide a testing and experimentation facility for AI and robotics in cities and communities and make their resources accessible to EU cities, communities and innovative academia and industry stakeholders (including SMEs) that would enable them to validate novel AI-driven services in close-to-real-life environments before their further massive deployment.
Detailed Call Description
The participating communities and cities will create and make physical and digital facilities for testing and experimentation of innovative AI-enabled and robotics-based services and solutions (such as optimisation of traffic flows) widely accessible on a longer-term basis to other stakeholders (and particularly the consortium running the validation pilots below) in close-to-real-life environment. The TEF will offer digital twins of some of the use-case environments, exploiting to the extent possible the LDT (local digital twin) toolbox and, vice-versa, contributing to the LDT toolbox, to the extent possible.
Within the context of smart cities and communities, this facility will be focused on the transport, energy, -construction and environmental protection sectors linked to the action areas of the European Green Deal, and support cross-sector services and applications. The facility will offer both the infrastructure and personnel support to the users of the facility to run the tests and experiments, including access to high-performance computing.
The TEF could also be used for validation and demonstration of AI-based automation and robotisation of physical and administrative processes (such as automated city transport, automated waste collection, inspection and maintenance of infrastructures, etc.), decision-support and decision-making tools; business development; standardisation; certification of products (e.g. for compliance to the MIMPlus specifications), solutions and services; and, compliance to ethical, cybersecurity and data protection norms, as well as to advance through experimentation and sandboxing the EU regulatory framework for AI and robotics.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
After grant signature, you will normally receive a prefinancing to start working on the project (float of normally 50% of the maximum grant amount; exceptionally less or no prefinancing). The prefinancing will be paid 30 days from entry into force/10 days before starting date/financial guarantee (if required) – whichever is the latest.
Thematic Categories
- Information Technology
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
- Urban Development
Eligibility for Participation
- Central Government
- 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:
- listed EEA countries
- countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (Further details in the call document)
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Eleana Gabriel
Directorate of Research and Innovation
Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
Telephone: +357 22 691918
Email: egabriel@dmrid.gov.cy
(Publish Date: 23/02/2022-for internal use only)
EU Contact Point
For questions please contact: