Text by: Vitalii Fedorak, Junior Advisor on Capacity Development at the U-LEAD with Europe Programme

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On 19 December 2022, the U-LEAD with Europe Programme together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine organised an info session “How to participate in the EU-funded Digital Europe Programme”. The event was attended by 130 participants from different regions of Ukraine, including officials of local self-government bodies, civil servants and professionals in the information and communication technology sector. 

During the session, the experts explained the importance and presented the structure of the Digital Europe Programme, explained the basics of the open grant competitions, showcased the main topics of the competitions of the new 2023-2024 Work Programme and illustrated how to take the first steps in the preparation of the project

A video of the event (with Ukrainian translation) is available here.

Following the event, the experts of U-LEAD with Europe structured the main content presented to the participants and are glad to share it in this publication.

 

A brief overview of Digital Europe and Ukraine’s access to its financial opportunities

Launched in 2021, Digital Europe is a programme that aims to accelerate Europe’s economic recovery (after a long period of COVID-19) and digital transformation. The Programme’s goals include the development of advanced digital skills, the implementation of digital technologies in entrepreneurship, the development of digital infrastructure, the availability of digital services for citizens and public institutions of the member states of the European Union (EU) and other countries participating in the Programme. Digital Europe will contribute to the achievement of two strategic goals of the EU, “green transition” and digital transformation, and will strengthen its sustainability and strategic autonomy.

The total volume of financing for 2021-2027 is 7.6 billion euros.  Financing will be provided to projects in five main directions:

1. high-performance computing;
2. artificial intelligence, data and cloud services;
3. advanced digital skills;
4. ensuring the widespread use of digital technologies in the economy and society;
5. cyber security (only for EU member states).

Ukraine gained access to financing under Digital Europe in September 2022 after signing the agreement on the sidelines of the meeting of the Ukraine-EU Association Council. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, said the following after the signing of the agreement:

“Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience and technological prowess in dealing with Russia’s invasion, also in the digital space. With this agreement, the EU and Ukraine will benefit from each other’s know-how and expand our digital capacities.”

Learn more about the purpose and structure of the Programme on the official website of the European Commission here. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has also issued a relevant information leaflet in Ukrainian. Among other things, it provides the general procedure for submitting an application for the Program’s competitions.

 

Participation in Digital Europe: project cases, open tenders, important steps on the way to preparing a project application

The Programme involves the use/application of the results of advanced research. However, it will not fund the research itself. Instead, support will be directed, among other things, to:

• Purchase of high-performance computing devices;
• Development and strengthening of testing and experimentation facilities;
• Launch and implementation of Master’s programmes in key digital technologies;
• Creation, interoperability, operation and support of e-government services;
• Creation of “digital doubles” for use by researchers and entrepreneurs to support the European Green Deal.

The following are examples of so-called “high-impact projects”. Once deployed, they will contribute to strengthening the digital transformation of the EU:

• Development of technologies, including quantum technologies, which will provide high-performance computing;
• European initiative to create low-power MCUs;
• Artificial intelligence;
• Cyber security shield: quantum communication infrastructure (EuroQCI);
• 5G, as well as smart, high-speed cross-border networks;
• European blockchain infrastructure;
• Combination of international and national environmental data to combat climate change;
• Creation of digital innovation hubs aimed at supporting small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in getting the most out of digitalisation.

Digital Europe will include the creation of testing and experimentation facilities. These will be the spaces where technology service providers can test their digital solutions based on artificial intelligence. The key sectors for testing include:

1. Production processes, including agricultural production;
2. health care;
3. “smart” cities and communities.

These facilities will be equipped with advanced technologies, and their operation will be closely tied to European hubs of digital innovation. Learn more here.

European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are facilities that will support companies and public institutions and provide technical expertise and opportunities to test digital solutions. In addition, they will provide services such as financing advice, training and skills development. See the catalogue of candidates for EDIHs here.

The competition announcements, as well as the actual design of Digital Europe, are closely related to the European Data Strategy adopted in 2020. It aims to create a common data market that will improve the EU’s global competitiveness and data sovereignty. The Strategy will contribute to the emergence of more and more data for use in the private and public sectors. The Working Paper defining the EU policy in the field of common data spaces was officially published in February 2022.

One of the elements of the implementation of the European Data Strategy was the launch of the Digital Spaces Support Centre in October 2022 to create an interoperable data-sharing environment, which will, among other things, enable the reuse of data in all sectors of public life in line with EU regulations and values. On the Centre’s official website, you can sign up for a consultation or get advice on issues related to the creation and functioning of digital spaces. Learn more here.

The first competitions for receiving funding under Digital Europe in accordance with the 2021-2022 Work Programme were aimed mainly at preparatory actions for the creation of data spaces. Learn more about the active competitions on the Funding and Tenders Portal here.

According to the new 2023-2024 Work Program (to be officially published in the beginning of 2023), scheduled first-wave competitions will include the following:

• Platform for cooperation in the field of aeronautics and security industry;
• Data spaces for the European Green Deal;
• Data spaces for cultural heritage;
• Data spaces for skills;
• Data spaces for tourism;
• Genome of Europe: data generation;
• Development of virtual/augmented reality for cities;
• Specialized educational programmes or modules;
• Strengthening microelectronics skills;
• Strengthening the digital skills of students, with emphasis on girls;
• Network of more secure Internet centres;
• European Digital Media Observatory.

Scheduled second-wave competitions will include:

• Data spaces for energy;
• Data spaces for production (deployment);
• Data spaces for agricultural production;
• Data spaces for public administrations (grants);
• Supporting patient access to their medical data based on MyHealth@EU;
• Sectoral training on artificial intelligence;
• “Digital doubles” in health care: knowledge and simulation platform;
• Teaching digital skills.

For the tentative schedule of the new 2023-2024 Work Programme, see the table below:

Digital Europe requires the project application to be submitted by the head of the consortium (an association of institutions and organisations that have agreed to work together on the project idea and its further implementation). The participants of the project application for the competition under the Programme independently determine which of them will submit a joint application for participation in the competition. Therefore, seeking potential partners plays a key role in the process of preparing for participation in Digital Europe competitions.

Here are some basic guidelines for seeking partners:

• Searching your social media: A social media presence means access to information on a large number of potential partners.
• Attending networking events: Exchange contacts with as many potential partners as possible in order to increase the chances of finding someone who is the best fit for cooperation.
• Using a marketing strategy:  For example, an e-marketing strategy that most organisations ignore. Consider also writing a meaningful e-mail to your previous partners if you have already had the experience of participating in other projects.
• Joining online networks: Some networks gather partners both from EU member states and beyond. Add your organisation to such networks to gain access to information about a large number of potential partner organisations.
• Using collaboration tools: Some collaboration tools allow you to register or search for partners through specially created databases.

Examples of partner search tools:

1. Search on the Funding and Tenders Portal;
2. CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service);
3. Ideal-ist (network of ICT contact centres);
4. European partner networks (e.g. DataVaults and Smart Cities Marketplace);
5. Contact the EEN Ukraine Consortium for support.

 

Conclusion

Digital Europe is one of the powerful sources of funding to which Ukraine has already gained access. This is a programme with an extensive implementation and support infrastructure for its participants. The process of preparing for participation is not easy and usually takes a lot of time.

Organisations and institutions interested in participating in Digital Europe can already start by learning about the active competitions and reviewing the topics of planned competitions for 2023-2024. We recommend starting the preparation of project ideas as soon as possible. One of the first steps in this process should be seeking potential partners.