EUROPA
CALL
INDIVIDUAL FELLOWSHIPS (IF) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014. The goal of Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition at multi- or interdisciplinary level through advanced training, international and intersectoral mobility.Deadline Date 2014-09-11 Budget €240,500,000 http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/opportunities/h2020/calls/h2020-msca-if-2014.html

The Calls for PhD candidates travel grants to ESOF2014 are now open ESOF (Euroscience Open Forum) provides young researchers with a unique opportunity to interact with leading scientists from various scientific fields. ESOF2014 will give them the unique opportunity to expand their networks of international contacts and to establish important links with potential collaborators. The CALLS for PhD candidates travel grants to ESOF2014 are now open. The 1st call concerns Europe-Based PhD Candidates and the 2nd Call concerns PhD Candidates based outside Europe (South Korea, China, India, Brazil and USA) who at the present time work and live there. http://www.euroscience.org/grants-for-esof-call-for-support.html

Framework Contract for the Monitoring of Public Sector Innovation and supporting services – SMART 2013/0072 (Republication of Lot 1) Call for tenders: 19/03/2014 to 05/05/2014The European Commission re-launches a call for tenders for Lot 1 of the “Framework contract for the Monitoring of Public Sector Innovation and supporting services” – SMART 2013/0072, with a value of EUR 400 000. The purpose of this call for tenders is the setup and maintenance of the European Observatory on Public Sector Innovation. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/framework-contract-monitoring-public-sector-innovation-and-supporting-services-smart-20130072

Calls for EU funding opportunities for Pre-Commercial Procurement and Public Procurement of Innovative solutions. A total budget of €130-140 million is published across the different Horizon 2020 work programmes of calls for proposals for PCP (pre-commercial procurement) and PPI (public procurement of innovative solutions) projects. Horizon 2020 offers the following funding opportunities for consortia of procurers:

  • To prepare and undertake together a PCP or PPI procurement (calls for PCP Cofund actions or PPI Cofund actions)
  •  To cooperate on identifying opportunities and preparing for future PCPs / PPIs (calls for coordination and support actions)

Support for procurers interested in PCP or PPI can be found in the Horizon 2020 work programmes for European Research Infrastructures, Information and Communication Technologies, Health, Food / Bioeconomy, Energy, Transport and Climate Change / Environment https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/calls-eu-funding-opportunities-pre-commercial-procurement-and-public-procurement-innovative

Pre-announcement of the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme 2014 Call for Proposals. Call for Proposals: 28/03/2014 to 26/06/2014. The AAL Programme will soon launch its first call for proposals to respond to the challenge: “Care for the future: An Ageing society faces an increasing need for care, how will ICT contribute to sustainable solutions?” The 2014 Call Challenge of the AAL Programme aims at funding the development and testing of ICT-based solutions in real life situations which enable and support sustainable care models for older adults. It is anticipated that the call will be launched on 28 March 2014, with a proposal submission deadline end June 2014. http://www.aal-europe.eu/call-2014-pre-announcement-of-the-call-text/

Commission launches challenge to crowd source smart ideas for future ICT enabled growth and jobs $10,000 is up for grabs for the best ideas on overcoming the current barriers and innovative new business models and policies related to information and communications technology (ICT) enabled growth and jobs in the EU. The Commission is crowdsoucing information and novel ideas in this field to update and follow up on the Digital Agenda Europe. Two challenges have been launched through Innocentive, a leader in crowdsourcing innovation problems. Challenge 1 focuses on overcoming the current barriers for ICT enabled growth and jobs within the EU. Challenge 2  asks for innovative new business models and policies that can lead to high ICT-enabled economic growth rates and the creation of new jobs. Both Challenges opened on 3 March and are running for 30 days. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/commission-launches-challenge-crowd-source-smart-ideas-future-ict-enabled-growth-and-jobs

First competitive call for experiment proposals under the European Clearing House for Open Robotics Development (ECHORD++) project. Call for Proposals: 03/03/2014 to 14/04/2014 The ultimate goal of the ECHORD++ project is to stimulate the interaction between robot manufacturers, researchers and the users to produce tangible results that go beyond “proof of concept”. All European universities, research institutions, and companies have the opportunity to apply for funding in a competitive process in two calls, the first of which opened on 3rd March 2014. One of the scenarios elected to guide the ECHORD++ experiments is that of medical robotics. Rules and processes are very similar to those governing FP7 Funding. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/first-competitive-call-experiment-proposals-under-european-clearing-house-open-robotics

WP2014-15 Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (ICT 37) – Phase 1 2014. Support is available for a large number of early stage high risk SMEs in the ICT sector that has the ability to produce innovative products or services that will disrupt, change, or even replace existing markets. Implemented through the SME instrument, the Open Disruptive Innovation (ODI) Scheme provides support for small businesses that are proposing innovative ICT products or services that apply a new set of rules and have the potential to disrupt existing markets. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/wp2014-15-open-disruptive-innovation-scheme-ict-37-phase-1-2014

JIC Innovation Vouchers – call opened
You can now apply for so called innovation vouchers by South Moravian Innovation Centre (JIC) that promote cooperation between companies and Brno (Czech Republic) research institutions. The call will be open until April 29, 2014 and at stake are vouchers in total value of 4 million CZK. Companies from all around the world can apply. http://www.inovacnivouchery.cz/en/

NEWS
LIFE work programme for 2014-2017 is approved. The LIFE multiannual work programme for 2014-2017 has been adopted by a Commission Decision on 19 March 2014, after having received a positive opinion of the Committee for the LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Action on 17 February 2014. The work programme applies from the date of its adoption and enters into force as of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will be published in all EU languages with the exception of Irish. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/index.htm

ITALIA
NEWS
Il Centro Informazioni Geotopografiche Aeronautiche adotta l’open source. La Difesa adotterà una soluzione open source per la nuova piattaforma tecnologica interoperabile per il CIGA (Centro Informazioni Geotopografiche Aeronautiche). Si tratta di una piattaforma orientata al Web e basata su componenti Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). L’obiettivo è quello di superare gli stringenti vincoli dell’informazione geografica gestita dal CIGA, sia in termini di formati nativi gestiti, sia in termini di condivisione con altri Enti ed Istituzioni. La soluzione individuata è quella sviluppata gruppo di ricerca Geo Spatial Data Infrastructure (geoSDI) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Metodologie Avanzate di Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), già adottata da molte Agenzie governative sia nazionali che internazionali.

Il 25 marzo, presso il Millepiani Coworking di Roma, Sapienza Innovazione e Management Innovation hanno presentato lo Sportello Pmi Horizon 2020, iniziativa nata per sostenere le piccole e medie imprese italiane nella partecipazione ai bandi del programma comunitario per la ricerca e l’innovazione Horizon 2020. Lo sportello, nello specifico, aiuta le pmi nell’accesso allo Strumento Pmi nell’ambito di Horizon 2020. Questo strumento, dotato di un budget di oltre 2,8 miliardi di euro per il periodo 20214-2020, rappresenta una novità importante nel contesto dei fondi comunitari destinati a R&S. http://www.sportellopmi.it/

Avvisi Pubblici POR FESR 2007/2013 – Risultati dei Nuclei di valutazione. Si pubblicano gli elenchi relativi agli esiti della ventunesima riunione del Nucleo preposto, che ha portato a 1419 il numero di progetti che hanno concluso l’iter di valutazione su 1940 presentati a valere sui 4 Avvisi Pubblici, che rendono disponibili 85 milioni di euro a favore delle micro, piccole e medie imprese del Lazio. Gli stessi esiti sono pubblicati sul BURL – Bollettino Ufficiale Regione Lazio e formalmente comunicati da Filas spa ai singoli richiedenti. http://www.filas.it/News.aspx?IDNews=705

Bando di concorso di idee in un unico grado “ApPalermo – Palermo Open Data Contest – per incentivare lo sviluppo di applicazioni (o, in breve, apps) basate sull’utilizzo dei dati pubblici in formato aperto (open data) diffusi dal comune attraverso il portale (http://www.comune.palermo.it/opendata.php) e capaci di portare alla luce il valore del patrimonio informativo pubblico. Montepremi di euro 37.000,00. Scadenza 15 Apr 2014 http://www.comune.palermo.it/noticext.php?id=3341

Mise: al via le agevolazioni della “Nuova Sabatini”. Il nuovo strumento agevolativo istituito dal decreto-legge Del Fare (art. 2 decreto-legge n. 69/2013) è finalizzato ad accrescere la competitività del sistema produttivo del Paese e migliorare l’accesso al credito delle micro, piccole e medie imprese (PMI). Lo strumento è rivolto alle PMI, operanti in tutti i settori produttivi, inclusi agricoltura e pesca, che realizzano investimenti (anche mediante operazioni di leasing finanziario) in macchinari, impianti, beni strumentali di impresa e attrezzature nuovi di fabbrica ad uso produttivo, nonché investimenti in hardware, software e tecnologie digitali. http://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&viewType=0&id=2030129&idarea1=1974&idarea2=0&idarea3=0&idarea4=0&andor=AND&sectionid=3,20&andorcat=AND&partebassaType=0&idareaCalendario1=0&MvediT=1&showMenu=1&showCat=1&showArchiveNewsBotton=0&idmenu=3699

La Banca Europea di Investimenti (BEI) e il Gruppo Unicredit hanno sottoscritto tre nuovi accordi per finanziamenti a medio lungo termine di importo complessivamente pari a 700 milioni di euro. I prestiti sono resi disponibili attraverso UniCredit e UniCredit Leasing e riguardano tre aree di intervento:

  • nuovi investimenti ed investimenti ancora in corso da parte di piccole e medie imprese (PMI),
  • creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro per i giovani da parte di PMI, Mid-Cap e Start Up innovative
  • opere di ricostruzione, da parte di PMI e Mid-Cap, di infrastrutture nei settori dell’industria, del turismo e dell’agricoltura situati nelle regioni colpite da disastri naturali.
    http://first.aster.it/_aster_/viewNews?ID=31233