Call has ended!
The European manufacturing industry is developing smart solutions and digitalization. Novel production technologies are key factors for global competitiveness, sustainable growth and human resource development. SMART is a European cluster program forming and funding transnational innovation projects. The project consortia are from two countries or more, and the projects are near to market and bottom-up, but always based on research or innovation. The aim of the projects are products and processes of the future, services related to industrial manufacture, and novel production technologies.
The call is open to all thematic areas, but the Finnish partners are adviced to follow the approach of Business Finland’s two programs Connected Intelligent Industries Finland and Sampo – Manufactured in Finland .
Timeline and steps of the 2-stage call
- The call process is close to the ITEA calls (ITEA is a EUREKA cluster program, where Finland is a partner since many years).
- This is a 2-stage call, and stage 1 is the Project Outline Stage (PO). The deadline for the PO stage is 11 Nov 2019, and the partners will submit one joint project proposal using the proposal form.
- The Project Outline proposals is evaluated in the panel of SMART and the innovation funders from the countries will participate. Business Finland participates when partners from Finland are involved. Business Finland evaluates individually the shares of the Finnish partners, to the extent it is possible in the PO stage.
- The Project Outline evaluation will be ready by 16 Dec 2019.
- After this the consortium will be advised to prepare the Full Project Proposal (FPP), if the PO evaluation is favourable. Finnish organisations will be advised by Business Finland as to when to submit the national BF application. This will be in early 2020.
- The final approvals in the transnational SMART context (“labelling”) will be made by 18 May 2020. The funding decisions from Business Finland will be granted to each partner during the spring term of 2020.
Funding criteria
The project consortium will get its funding from national innovation agencies, for Finland from Business Finland. The funding decisions and the project contracts are made with national criteria.
Requirements to the national consortium (Finnish organisations)
- Benefits and depth of the international cooperation
- Expected impact to the SME and Midcap companies from Finland
compared to price of the project - Ecosystem building
Requirements to the individual Finnish company
- Economical capacity
- Growth ambition and plans to do international business
- Ability to utilise results and network in export business
- Role in the consortium
In Finland, the funding is a grant or a soft loan. Business Finland will discuss each organisation’s positions individually, once the PO evaluation is ready, timeline spring 2020.
We recommend participating in a Project Outline Proposal, when your own objective in the consortium is clear, and when you see how this objective can be formed to a project for you own resources.
