Selected SMEs and DIHs will receive up to €120,000 to implement their innovative experiment concept, along with training, and mentoring.
Berlin, Rotterdam, Warsaw – May 4, 2022 – i4trust launches its Second Open Call on May 4, 2022 at 10:00 (CEST). The Open Call is targeted to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) / slightly bigger companies and Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) willing to improve their business by becoming data-driven and unleashing the potential of sharing data through the creation of Data Spaces. Data Spaces are a centerpiece of the EU’s strategy for data.
“i4Trust is a flagship project where FIWARE and iSHARE technologies are being integrated to make data spaces happen. It materializes major contributions of the FIWARE Foundation to Technology Convergence activities carried out under the Data Spaces Business Alliance, launched by BDVA, FIWARE Foundation, Gaia-X and IDSA”, says Juanjo Hierro, Chief Technology Officer at FIWARE Foundation and i4Trust coordinator.
Up to 19 Bottom-Up Experiments, carried out by consortiums involving SMEs and DIHs, will be selected. Beneficiaries selected will receive:
- Financial Support: Selected SMEs and DIHs will receive funding as a lump sum, ranging from €72,000 to €120,000 per consortium, depending on the number of members within each consortium.
- Mentoring Programme: The beneficiaries will become part of a customized 9-month i4Trust Data Sharing Mentoring Program, which includes: Refinement of the proposed Use-Case definition; training support for workforce re/up-skilling; Mentoring support on business, legal, operational, and technical matters, specifically technical support on i4Trust technologies.
- Sharing knowledge and know-how: By participating in the i4Trust Community, beneficiaries will have the opportunity to share knowledge and best-practices with industry stakeholders, as well as, get visible in market events at European and International level. This will support the creation of links and synergies between them and the development of new business opportunities at a global level.
i4Trust is looking for consortia composed by SMEs/slightly bigger companies and DIHs registered in Member States of the European Union and its Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) or Associated Countries to H2020 as well as the United Kingdom. Proposals should be submitted by any of the two aforementioned types of entities (SMEs or DIHs), however, it is compulsory to have at least 4 entities per Experiment, At least 1 DIH and a minimum of 3 SMEs/slightly bigger companies. One of the SMEs should be appointed as the coordinator of the experiment.
The eligible consortiums can submit their proposals through the FundingBox platform microsite created for this purpose by filling up an easy online application form by September 12, 20221 at 16:00 (CEST).
The applicants can access a dedicated Open Call Helpdesk and are invited to join the i4Trust Community. Find all the information on the Guideline for Applicants and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) which will be regularly updated while this Open Call is running.
ABOUT i4Trust:
A joint project between FIWARE Foundation, iSHARE Foundation and FundingBox, i4Trust was launched in October 2020.
i4Trust provides a complete framework that results from the combination of mature open standard-based building blocks based on the integration of FIWARE and iSHARE technologies. i4Trust building blocks, combined with education, coaching and initial funding, will boost the creation of Data Spaces for trustworthy and effective data sharing. Ecosystems of collaborating SMEs and supporting DIHs will emerge in a sustainable way around such Data Spaces, where innovative services will flourish around the implementation of new data value chains.
i4Trust’s value proposition will be demonstrated via 32 incubator experiments involving hundreds of SMEs and 32 Digital Innovation Hubs, spanning across a variety of regions and sectors in Europe. In total, the project will mobilize 5.8 million euros to boost data sharing and facilitate SME innovation capability through the creation of data spaces. For further information, visit our website.
Press Contacts
Inés Arias: ines.arias@fundingbox.com
Kseniia Chernikova: kseniia.chernikova@fiware.org
OTHER RELEVANT LINKS:
InterConnect Community: https://spaces.fundingbox.com/c/i4trust
Website: https://i4trust.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/I4Trust
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/i4trust/
Open Calls Website: https://i4trust-open-call.fundingbox.com/
For more information, please contact the i4Trust team here.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant agreement No 951975.
