GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS

Transcription

1 DG INFORMATION SOCIETY AND MEDIA ICT Policy Support Programme Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS Instrument: Best Practice Network Call for proposals ICT PSP 3 (Specific information for the preparation of proposals for the ICT PSP call for proposals published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 29 th January 2009). Call identifier CIP-ICT-PSP Version 1.0 ( ) Further copies of this Guide, together with all information related to this Call for Proposals, can be downloaded via

2 2 About this Guide This is version number 1 of the CIP ICT PSP Guide for applicants for 'Best Practice Network' proposals The Guide will be revised during the course of CIP ICT PSP for each call (in particular section 2 and the Annexes) and will then be given a different version number. This version refers to the third CIP PSP call, CIP-ICT-PSP Please note: This Guide is based on the rules and conditions contained in the legal documents relating to CIP and ICT PSP (in particular the CIP Framework Programme, and the CIP ICT PSP Work Programme), all of which can be consulted via the EUROPA web-site The Guide does not in itself have legal value, and thus does not supersede those documents.

3 3 Table of Contents 1. GETTING STARTED ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT 'BEST PRACTICE NETWORK' GENERAL INFORMATION MAIN IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUMENTS INSTRUMENT: BEST PRACTICE NETWORK (BPN) HOW TO APPLY TURNING YOUR IDEA INTO AN EFFECTIVE PROPOSAL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION CHECK LIST PREPARING YOUR PROPOSAL FINAL CHECKS BEFORE SUBMISSION THE DEADLINE: VERY IMPORTANT! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? ANNEX 1 TIMETABLE AND SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR THIS CALL ANNEX 2 INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING PART A OF THE PROPOSAL ANNEX 3 INSTRUCTIONS FOR DRAFTING PART B OF THE PROPOSAL ANNEX 4 FORM: NON EXCLUSION DECLARATION ANNEX 5 EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR BEST PRACTICE NETWORK PROPOSALS IN THIS CALL AND THE EVALUATION PROCESS ANNEX 6 PRE-PROPOSAL CHECK FORM GLOSSARY... 50

4 4 1. Getting Started Funding decisions in the ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) are made on the basis of proposals submitted by applicants. Proposals describe planned activities, information on who will carry them out, and how much they will cost. The Commission evaluates all eligible proposals in order to identify those whose quality is sufficiently high for possible funding. This evaluation is a peer-review carried out by independent experts. The Commission services then negotiate with some or all of those whose proposals have successfully passed the evaluation stage, depending on the budget available. If negotiations are successfully concluded, grant agreements providing for a Community financial contribution are established with the participants. This Guide for Applicants contains the essential information to guide you through the mechanics of preparing and submitting a proposal for a Best Practice Network project. It is important that you have the correct Guide! If you are preparing a Pilot Type A, a Pilot Type B or a Thematic Network project this is NOT the correct guide for you! You must also refer to the ICT PSP Work Programme related to this call. This provides a detailed description of the objectives and topics which are open for proposals, and will describe the wider context of activities in this area. Work Programmes are revised for each year, so make sure you refer to the 2009 version before preparing your proposal. Please check that this is the right guide for you by consulting the Work Programme, including the section called the "call fiche", and the description of the instrument in the next section. This Guide and the Work Programme are essential reading. However, you may also wish to consult other reference and background documents, in particular those relating to negotiation and the grant agreements, which will be made available on the Commission s ICT PSP web site (see Annex 1 of this Guide). This Guide for Applicants is intended to help applicants prepare their submissions. It assumes that the reader has fully acquainted him/herself with the ICT PSP Work Programme and the Call for Proposals. 2. About the instrument 'Best Practice Network' 2.1. General information The 2009 call for proposals foresees a number of instruments to implement projects in ICT PSP. These instruments are "Pilot Type A", "Pilot Type B". "Best Practice Network" and "Thematic Network". This Guide covers Best Practice Networks only. For the other instruments separate Guides are available. However, before proceeding you are advised to consult the summary table below to make sure that the proposal you have in mind fits with the objectives and funding instruments called for in the Work Programme.

5 5 Note: Your proposal will be evaluated according to the instrument which you select. It will not be re-examined or re-assigned on your behalf Main implementation instruments The different nature and specificities of the objectives detailed in the Work Programme require distinctive implementation measures. Four types of instruments have been identified: Pilot Type A - building on initiatives in Member States or ICT PSP Associated countries; Pilot Type B - stimulating the uptake of innovative ICT based services and products; Best Practice Networks (BPN) promoting the adoption of standards and specifications for European digital libraries; Thematic Networks (TN) - providing a forum for stakeholders for experience exchange and consensus building. These instruments are defined in detail in the Work Programme. They provide complementary financing tools in order to reach the ICT PSP objective of a wider uptake and best use of ICT by citizens, governments and businesses, in particular SMEs. Summary table: Themes, objectives, funding instruments, intentions of funding Themes and objectives Funding Instrument Budget and Intended number of proposals to be funded Theme 1 : ICT for health, ageing and inclusion 15 M 1.1: ICT for patient-centred health service Pilot A 1 EU funding up to 7 M 1.2: Innovative ehealth tools and services in real life learning together Thematic Network 1 1.3: ICT for ageing well / independent living Pilot B several 1.4: e-accessibility thematic network Thematic network 1 EU funding up to 0.75 M Theme 2 : Digital Libraries 25 M 2.1: European Digital Library - services BPN several 2.2: European Digital Library aggregating digital BPN several content in Europeana 2.3: European Digital Library Digitising content for Pilot B several Europeana 2.4: Open access to scientific information Pilot B several 2.5: Use of cultural heritage material for education Pilot B several Theme 3: ICT for government and governance 25 M 3.1: Enlargement of the e-procurement Pilot PEPPOL Pilot A 1 EU funding up to 5 M 3.2: Enlargement of the e-idm Pilot STORK Pilot A 1 3.3: Inclusive egovernance: flexible, personalised and Pilot B multi-channel based service delivery targeted at the socially disadvantaged. 3.4: User Centricity for e-governance Thematic network Theme 4: ICT for energy efficiency, environment and smart mobility EU funding up to 5 M several 4.1: ICT for energy efficiency in social housing Pilot B several EU funding up to 5 M Pilot B up to 2 4.2: ICT for prevention, alert and rescue to minimise EU funding up to 3 M impacts of climate change 1 8 M

6 Theme 5: Multilingual Web 14 M 5.1: Machine translation for the multilingual web Pilot B 5.2: Multilingual Web content management: standards Thematic 1 and best practices Network 5.3: Multilingual Web content management: methods, Pilot B several tools and processes Theme 6: Public Sector information 9.5 M 6.1: Legal aspects of Public Sector Information Thematic 1 network 6.2: Geographic Information Pilot B several Theme 7: Internet evolution and security (including RFID) 6 M 7.1: A European infrastructure for secure information Pilot B 1 management EU funding up to 3 M 7.2: Strengthening SME competitive advantage through RFID implementation Pilot B 1 EU funding up to 3 M Theme 8: Open innovation, user experience and living labs 8.1: Sharing of best practice across European Living Labs involving SMEs as key user- and providerparticipants 6 4 M Pilot B Instrument: Best Practice Network (BPN) Instrument description Best Practice Networks promote the adoption of standards and specifications for making European digital libraries more accessible and usable by combining the "consensus building and awareness raising" function of a thematic network with the large-scale implementation in real-life context of one or more concrete specifications or standards by its members. Each BPN tries out, on a sufficient mass of content, one or more of the implementation approaches discussed in the network in order to draw conclusions on their validity and if necessary to adapt them. The Commission can organise, as appropriate, "clustering meetings" for different BPNs, inviting all relevant stakeholders (including representatives of other relevant projects under EU programmes, of relevant European and international bodies etc.) in order to achieve broad consensus and create the conditions for the widest possible uptake of the recommendations of the BPNs. The final output of the BPN should therefore reflect both the results of the large scale implementations and the results and recommendations of the clustering activities. Consortium Composition The consortium should comprise all necessary stakeholders according to the indications provided in the objectives to be addressed by Best Practice Networks in the Work programme. Minimum participation requirements The consortium must include a minimum of seven mutually-independent legal entities from seven different EU Member States or ICT PSP-Associated countries. This requirement is considered an eligibility criterion, hence proposals not meeting this criterion will not be accepted for evaluation. There is no upper legal limit for the number of participants as long as the indicative budget provisions are respected. Funding for Best Practice Networks Community funding for Best Practice Networks will be up to 80% of the direct costs of implementing the network. The Community contribution for this type of project will typically range from 3 to 5M per project unless specified otherwise within the objectives of the Workprogramme.

7 7 Eligible direct costs for Best Practice Networks will include personnel, subcontracting and other specific direct costs including travel and subsistence. No Community contribution will be made to indirect costs. Other specific direct costs and subcontracting will be possible when anticipated and clearly justified in the proposal. For public entities national public procurement rules and practices are to be respected. Best Practice Network Overview of key characteristics reimbursement rate of eligible costs 80% Typical EC contribution Up to 3-5 M Usual Duration Minimum number of participants involved Not specified Minimum of seven legal entities from seven different EU Member States or ICT PSP Associated countries 3. How to apply 3.1. Turning your idea into an effective proposal Focusing your planned work The work you set out in your proposal must correspond to one of the themes/objectives, and associated instruments, indicated in this call for proposals. Refer to Annex 5 of this Guide, and the Work Programme, to check the evaluation criteria (eligibility, selection and award criteria) against which your proposal will be assessed. Keep these in mind when you develop your proposal as your proposal will be evaluated against the listed criteria and subcriteria. Which entities can participate? The Call for Proposals is open to legal entities established in the Member States or ICT PSP Associated countries. The EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. The ICT PSP Associated countries are: Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway; Turkey 1 More countries may become associated to the ICT PSP during the course of the programme. The latest news will be posted at Legal entities are: legal persons; natural persons: They may, however, participate only in so far as required by the nature or characteristics of the action. For natural persons, references to establishment are deemed to refer to habitual residence. 1 agreement pending

8 8 Exceptionally, entities which do not have legal personality under the applicable national law may participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf and assume financial liability. Subject to these conditions, such entities will be considered as legal entities. A proposal may include the participation of entities from countries other than Member states or ICT PSP Associated countries. Their participation in the project is conditional on Commission agreement at the negotiation stage. Such entities will not receive Community funding. Who is who in a project? The participants in a project may take the following roles: Co-ordinating beneficiary (co-ordinator): The co-ordinator represents the consortium and bears overall project management responsibility. The responsibilities of the co-ordinator are described in the ICT PSP model grant agreement. All proposals must include a co-ordinator. Beneficiary: These are the remaining partners in the consortium that carry out the work. A beneficiary is a signatory to the grant agreement with the European Commission. A beneficiary may choose to subcontract part of the work for which it is responsible. Sub-contractor: They provide services to a beneficiary during the course of a project. They are selected by the beneficiaries through a call for tender procedure or any other procedure respecting the relevant procurement rules (provided the beneficiary is subject to public procurement rules), and in any case according to the principle of best value for money. Costs for subcontracting can be eligible for funding, if in accordance with the grant agreement in force. A sub-contractor is not a signatory to the grant agreement, the beneficiary which selects the subcontractor remains responsible for the satisfactory completion of the work. Proposal language Proposals may be prepared in any official language of the European Union. If your proposal is not in English, a translation of the full proposal would be of assistance to the evaluating experts. An English translation of the abstract must be included in Part B of the proposal. Presenting your proposal A proposal has two parts. Part A will contain the administrative and budget information about the proposal and the participants. The information requested includes a brief summary of the work, contact details and characteristics of the participants, and information related to the funding requested (see Annex 2). This information will be encoded in a structured database for further computer processing to produce, for example, statistics and evaluation reports. This information will also support the experts and Commission staff during the evaluation process. The information in Part A is entered through a set of on-line forms using the Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) described in the next section. Part B is a "template", or list of headings (see Annex 3 of this Guide). You should follow this structure when presenting the content of your proposal. The list of headings is designed to highlight those aspects that will be assessed against the evaluation criteria (eligibility, award and selection criteria) as set out in Annex 5 to this Guide. It covers, among other things, the objectives and the nature of the proposed work, the participants and their roles, and the impact that is expected to arise from the proposed work.

9 9 Only black and white copies of Part B are used for evaluation and you are strongly recommended, therefore, not to use colour in your document. Do not insert hypertext links, only the text of your Part B will be read, not any documents linked to it. Part B of the proposal is uploaded by the applicant into the Electronic Proposal Submission Service. A maximum length may be specified for the different sections of Part B, or for Part B as a whole (see Annex 3 of this Guide). You must keep your proposal within these limits. Information given on excess pages may be disregarded. Even where no maximum page limits are given, it is in your interest to keep your text concise since over-long proposals are rarely viewed in a positive light by the evaluating experts Proposal Submission About the EPSS Proposals must be submitted electronically, using the Commission's Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS). Proposals arriving at the Commission by any other means are regarded as not submitted, and will not be evaluated 2. All the data that you upload is securely stored on a server to which only you and the other participants in the proposal have access until the deadline. This data is encrypted until the close of the call. You can access the EPSS from the call page on CORDIS. Full instructions are found in the EPSS preparation and submission guide, available from the EPSS entry page (click on "EPSS user guide"). The most important points are explained below. Use of the system by the proposal coordinator As a coordinator you can: register as interested in submitting a proposal to a particular call set up (and modify) your consortium by adding/removing participants complete all of Part A of the proposal, pertaining to the proposal in general, and to your own administrative details download the document template for writing Part B of the proposal and, when it is completed, upload the finished Part B submit the complete proposal Part A and Part B. Use of the system by the other participants Other participants can: complete their own sections A2 (participant details) 2 In exceptional cases, when a proposal co-ordinator has absolutely no means of accessing the EPSS, and when it is impossible to arrange for another member of the consortium to do so, an applicant may request permission from the Commission to submit on paper. A request should be sent via the FP7 enquiry service (see annex 1), indicating in the subject line "Paper submission request". (You can telephone the enquiry service if web access is not possible: from Europe; or from anywhere in the world. A postal or address will then be given to you). Such a request, which must clearly explain the circumstances of the case, must be received by the Commission no later than one month before the call deadline. The Commission will reply within five working days of receipt. Only if a derogation is granted, a proposal on paper may be submitted by mail, courier or hand delivery. The delivery address will be given in the derogation letter.

10 10 download the document template for writing Part B of the proposal, in order to assist the coordinator in preparing it (however, only the coordinator can upload the finished version) view the whole proposal. Use of Participant Identification Codes (PICs) from the European Commission's Research and Development programme (FP7) Participants possessing a Participant Identification Code (PIC) obtained for FP7 can also use this number to identify themselves in the Electronic Proposal Submission system in ICT PSP calls. On entering the PIC, parts of the A forms will be filled in automatically 3. Please note that in the cases where a PIC is not available it will always be possible to submit a proposal by entering the organisation details manually. However, the use of PICs will lead to more efficient handling of the proposal. The process for assigning a PIC is triggered by a self-registration of an organisation at the following website: On this website you will also find a search tool for checking if your organisation is already registered (and therefore already has a PIC). Submitting the proposal Only the coordinator is authorised to submit the proposal. Completing the Part A forms in the EPSS and uploading a Part B does not yet mean that your proposal is submitted. Once there is a consolidated version of the proposal, you must press the button "SUBMIT NOW". (If you don't see the button "SUBMIT NOW", first select the "SUBMIT" tag at the top of the screen ). Please note that "SUBMIT NOW" starts the final steps for submission; it does not in itself cause the proposal to be submitted. After reading the information page that then appears, it is possible to submit the proposal using the button marked Press this button to submit the proposal. The EPSS then performs an automatic validation of the proposal. A list of any problems ("validation error message") such as missing data, viruses, wrong file format or excessive file size will then appear on the screen. Submission is blocked until these problems are corrected. When corrected, the coordinator must then repeat the above steps to achieve submission. If the submission sequence described above is not followed, the Commission considers that no proposal has been submitted. When successfully submitted, the coordinator sees a message that indicates that the proposal has been received. This automatic message is not the official acknowledgement of receipt (see Section 5). The coordinator may continue to modify the proposal and submit revised versions overwriting the previous one right up until the deadline. The sequence above must be repeated each time. For the proposal Part B you must use exclusively PDF ( portable document format, compatible with Adobe version 3 or higher, with embedded fonts). Other file formats will not be accepted by the system. Irrespective of any page limits specified in annex 4 to this Guide, there is an overall limit of 10 Mbyte to the size of proposal file Part B. There are also restrictions to the name you give to the Part B file. You should only use alphanumeric characters, special characters and spaces must be avoided. 3 One of the pieces of information recorded in the PIC is your organisation's method of calculating its indirect costs. This choice only applies in FP7 proposals. In ICT PSP proposals the calculation of indirect costs is fixed by the type of project you propose (see section 2.3 "Funding for Best Practice Networks")

11 11 You are advised to clean your document before converting it to PDF (e.g. accept all tracked changes, delete notes). Check that your conversion software has successfully converted all the pages of your original document (e.g. there is no problem with page limits). Check that your conversion software has not cut down landscape pages to fit them into portrait format. Check that captions and labels have not been lost from your diagrams Please note that the Commission prints out proposals in black and white on plain A4 paper. The printable zone on the print engine is bounded by 1.5 cm right, left, top bottom. No scaling is applied to make the page "fit" the window. Printing is done at 300 dots per inch. Please note that by submitting the proposal the co-ordinator declares that 1) (s)he is acting on behalf of the consortium, all of whom are aware of the proposal; agree with its content and submission; have the necessary internal authorisations to participate; are aware of the Commission Policy on data protection, The personal data collected in the context of the call will be processed in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. 2) (s)he is in the possession of a written declaration (signed by a legal representative) of each participant (including the coordinator itself) on its honour that the organisation is not subject to one of the situations of exclusion as specified in the Financial Regulation (using the form in Annex 4). Attention: The above mentioned signed document does not form part of the actual proposal, but must be in the possession of the coordinator at the time of proposal submission. The Commission can request it at any time during the evaluation / negotiation process. Failure to comply with this request within 10 days can lead to the proposal s removal from the evaluation / negotiation process. About the deadline Proposals must be submitted on or before the deadline specified in the call fiche. It is your responsibility to ensure the timely submission of your proposal. The EPSS will be closed for this call at the call deadline. After this moment, access to the EPSS for this call will be impossible. Do not wait until the last moment before submitting your proposal! Call deadlines are absolutely firm and are strictly enforced.

12 12 Please note that you may submit successive drafts of your proposal through the EPSS. Each successive submission overwrites the previous version. It is a good idea to submit a complete draft well before the deadline. Leaving your first submission attempt to the last few minutes of the call will give you no time to overcome even the smallest technical difficulties, proposal validation problems or communications delays which may arise. Such events are never accepted as extenuating circumstances; your proposal will be regarded as not having been submitted. Submission is deemed to occur at the moment when the proposal coordinator presses the "submit" button and completes the full submission process.. It is not the point at which you start the upload. If you wait until too near to the close of the call to start uploading your proposal, there is a serious risk that you will not be able to submit in time. If you have registered and submitted your proposal in error to another call which closes after this call, the Commission will not be aware of it until it is discovered among the downloaded proposals for the later call. It will therefore be classified as ineligible because of late arrival. The submission of a proposal requires some knowledge of the EPSS system, a detailed knowledge of the contents of the proposal and the authority to make last-minute decisions on behalf of the consortium if problems arise. You are advised not to delegate the job of submitting your proposal! In the unlikely event of a failure of the EPSS service due to breakdown of the Commission server during the last 24 hours of this call, the deadline will be extended by a further 24 hours. This will be notified by to all proposal coordinators who had registered for this call by the time of the original deadline, and also by a notice on the Call page on the ICT PSP website and on the website of the EPSS. Such a failure is a rare and exceptional event; therefore do not assume that there will be an extension to this call. If you have difficulty in submitting your proposal, you should not assume that it is because of a problem with the Commission server, since this is rarely the case. Contact the EPSS help desk if in doubt (see the address given in Annex 1 of this Guide). Please note that the Commission will not extend deadlines for system failures that are not its own responsibility. In all circumstances, you should aim to submit your proposal well before the deadline to have time to solve any problems. Correcting or revising your proposal Errors discovered in proposals submitted to the EPSS can be rectified by simply submitting a corrected version. As long as the call has not yet closed, the new submission will overwrite the old one. Once the deadline has passed, however, the Commission can accept no further additions, corrections or re-submissions. The last version of your proposal received before the deadline is the one which will be evaluated, and no later material can be submitted. Ancillary material Only a single PDF file comprising the complete Part B can be uploaded. Unless specified in the call, any hyperlinks to other documents, embedded material, and any other documents (company brochures, supporting documentation, reports, audio, video, multimedia etc.) sent electronically or by post, will be disregarded. Withdrawing a proposal You may withdraw a proposal by submitting a revised version with an empty Part B section, with the following words entered in the abstract field of form A1:

13 13 "The applicants wish to withdraw this proposal. It should not be evaluated by the Commission". 4. Check list 4.1. Preparing your proposal Does your planned work fit with the call for proposals? Check that your proposed work does indeed address the topics described in the current ICT PSP Work Programme. Are you applying for the correct objective, theme or implementation instrument? Check that your proposed work falls within the scope of this call, and that you have applied for one of the eligible themes, objectives and implementation instruments (see the Work Programme). Is your proposal eligible? The eligibility criteria are given in the Work Programme. See also section 2 and Annex 5 of this Guide. In particular, make sure that you satisfy the minimum requirements for the composition of your consortium. Have any specific eligibility criteria been set for this instrument in this Call? Check whether you comply with any budgetary limits that may have been set on the requested Community contribution. Any proposal not meeting the eligibility requirements will be considered ineligible and will not be evaluated. Is your proposal complete? Proposals must comprise a Part A, containing the administrative and budget information including participant and project cost details on standard forms; and a Part B containing the description of your proposal as described in this Guide. A proposal that does not contain both parts will be considered ineligible and will not be evaluated. Does your proposal follow the required structure? Proposals should be precise and concise, and must follow exactly the proposal structure described in this document (see Annex 3 of this Guide). This proposal structure is designed to correspond to the evaluation criteria which will be applied. Omitting requested information will almost certainly lead to lower scores and possible rejection. Have you maximised your chances? There will be strong competition. Therefore, edit your proposal tightly, strengthen or eliminate weak points. Put yourself in the place of an expert evaluator; refer to the evaluation criteria given in Annex 5 of this Guide. Arrange for your draft to be evaluated by experienced colleagues; use their advice to improve it before submission. Has the co-ordinator collected written declarations of each participant on its honour (using the "Non Exclusion Form" in Annex 4) that the organisation is not subject to any of the situations of exclusion as specified in the Financial Regulation? This document should be signed by a legal representative of the respective participant. The signed form must be collected by the coordinator and kept in his possession, but is not part of the proposal itself. Do you need further advice and support? You are strongly advised to inform your National Contact Point of your intention to submit a proposal (see Annex 1 of this Guide). Remember also the ICT PSP Help Desk listed in Annex 1 of this Guide Final checks before submission Do you have the authorisation of all the partners in the consortium to submit this proposal on their behalf?

14 14 Are you using the correct Part A forms and Part B format and templates as given in this document? If you have in error registered for the wrong instrument, discard that registration (usernames and passwords) and re-register and re-submit correctly. If there is no time to do this, or the call deadline has already passed, notify the EPSS Helpdesk. Is your Part B in portable document format (PDF), including no material in other formats? Is your Part B filename made up only of the letters A to Z and numbers 0 to 9 without special characters or spaces? Have you printed out your Part B, to check that it really is the file you intend to submit, and that it is complete, printable and readable? After the call deadline it will not be possible to replace your Part B file. Is your Part B file within the size limit of 10 Mbytes? Have you virus-checked your computer? The attempted submission of files containing a virus is automatically blocked The deadline: very important! Have you, as coordinator, taken the responsibility to submit your proposal? Have you made yourself familiar with the EPSS in good time? Have you allowed time to submit a first version of your proposal well in advance of the deadline (at least several weeks before), and then to continue to improve it with regular resubmissions? Have you pressed the SUBMIT button after your final version and completed the full process? Only after reception of the confirming the completion of the submission you can consider the proposal as being correctly submitted. 5. What happens next? Shortly after the call deadline, the Commission will send an acknowledgement of receipt to the e- mail address of the proposal coordinator given in the submitted proposal. This is assumed to be the individual named as person in charge on the A2 form of participant no. 1. Please note that the brief electronic message given by the EPSS system after each submission is not the official acknowledgement of receipt. The sending of an acknowledgement of receipt does not imply that a proposal has been accepted as eligible for evaluation. If you have not received an acknowledgement of receipt within 12 working days after the call deadline, you should contact the ICT PSP Help Desk without further delay (see Annex 1 of this Guide). The Commission will check that your proposal meets the eligibility criteria that apply to this call and instrument (see the Work Programme, and also section 2 and Annex 5 of this Guide).

15 15 All eligible proposals will be evaluated by independent experts. The evaluation criteria which will be applied to each submitted proposal are described in Annex 5 of this Guide. Soon after the completion of the evaluation, the results will be finalised and all coordinators will receive a letter containing initial information on the results of the evaluation, including the Evaluation Summary Report giving the opinion of the experts on their proposal. However, even if the experts viewed your proposal favourably, the Commission cannot at this stage indicate if there is a possibility of Community funding. The letter will also give the relevant contact details and the steps to follow if you consider that there has been a shortcoming in the conduct of the evaluation process. The Commission also informs the relevant programme committee (ICT PSP Committee, i.e. CIP ICTC), consisting of delegates representing the governments of the Member States. Based on the results of the evaluation by experts, the Commission draws up the final list of proposals for possible funding, taking account of the available budget. Official letters are then sent to the coordinators. For selected proposals this letter will mark the beginning of a negotiation phase. Due to budget constraints, it is also possible that your proposal will be placed on a reserve list. In this case, negotiations will only begin if funds become available. In other cases, the letter will explain the reasons why the proposal cannot be funded. Summary of the evaluation and selection process The sequence of steps in the evaluation and selection procedure is summarised in the following flow chart:

16 16 Negotiations between the applicants and the Commission aim to conclude a grant agreement which provides for EU funding of the proposed work. They cover both a description of the work, and the administrative and financial aspects of the project. The officials conducting these negotiations on behalf of the Commission will be working within a predetermined budget envelope. They will refer to any recommendations which the experts may have made concerning modifications to the work presented in the proposal. At this stage the legal existence and the financial viability of the participants will be verified. For the verification of its legal existence a participant will have to complete and sign a 'Legal Entity Form' and supply supporting documents as described on For financial viability checking organisations may have to provide a recent balance sheet and profit and loss accounts. A description of the negotiation process and the necessary details of the financial viability checking documents are provided in the "ICT PSP Negotiation Guidance Notes". Participants of the proposal consortium may be invited to Luxembourg to facilitate the negotiation. For participants in negotiated proposals not yet having a Participant Identification Code (PIC) - i.e. not yet registered and validated in the Commission's Unique Registration Facility (URF) - their existence as legal entities and their legal status will have to be validated before any grant agreement can be signed. For these participants, the procedure of registration and validation is triggered by a self-registration in the web interface of the URF available at This self-registration will lead to a request by the Commission to the organisation to provide supporting documents and to nominate a Legal Entity Authorised Representative (LEAR).

17 17 Annex 1 Timetable and specific information for this call The ICT PSP Work Programme provides the essential information for submitting a proposal to this call. It describes the content of the topics to be addressed, and details on how it will be implemented. The Work Programme is available on the ICT PSP web page. You must consult this document. Indicative timetable for ICT PSP Call 3 Publication of draft Work Programme 2009 December 2008 Third Call for Proposals launched 29 th January 2009 Deadline for submission of proposals 2 nd June 2009; 17h00 CET Evaluation, selection June - early July 2009 Letters to applicants mid-july 2009 Negotiations with successful proposers commence September 2009 Signature of first grant agreements November 2009 Further information and help The ICT PSP call page contains links to other sources that you may find useful in preparing and submitting your proposal. Direct links are also given where applicable. General sources of help National Contact Points: A network of National Contact Points (NCPs) has been established to provide advice and support to organisations which are preparing proposals. You are highly recommended to get in touch with your NCP at an early stage. Please note that the Commission will give the NCPs statistics and information on the outcome of the call (in particular, details of participants, but not proposal abstracts or funding details) and the outcome of the evaluation for each proposal. This information is supplied to support the NCPs in their service role, and is given under strict conditions of confidentiality You can find contact details here: ICT PSP Help Desk Questions can be sent to a single address and will be directed to the most appropriate department for reply. infso-ict-psp@ec.europa.eu tel: fax: EPSS helpdesk Technical questions related to the Electronic Proposal Submission Service (EPSS) can be sent. support@epss-fp7.org tel.: Legal documents generally applicable Decision establishing Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme ( ) Financial Regulation and its Implementing Rules ICT PSP Work Programme 2009

18 Contractual information Model Grant agreement 18 All the above are available at Pre-proposal check For all the objectives in this call the Commission offers a facility to allow a proposer to check on the appropriateness of their proposed action and the eligibility of the proposal consortium. A form to request this check on your proposal is supplied as annex 6 of this Guide. This may be submitted at any time up to three weeks before the close of call, but it is wisest of course make this check as early as you can in your proposal preparation process. The advice given by the Commission is strictly informal and non-binding. The advice provided through the pre-proposal check does not in any way engage the Commission with respect to acceptance or rejection of the proposal when it is formally submitted at a later stage. The evaluators who later evaluate your proposal will not be informed of the results of the pre-proposal check, nor even that a pre-proposal check was carried out. The pre-proposal service is not intended to assist with the identification of possible partners for your consortium. Although this pre-proposal assessment service is entirely optional it is highly recommended to use this facility. Any proposal can always be submitted directly to the call without a pre-proposal check. Address for pre-proposal check Please your pre-proposal check form for this call to the address corresponding to the call topic which you have selected: Objective Funding Pre-proposal Instrument 2.1: European Digital Library - services BPN econtentplus@ec.europa.eu 2.2: European Digital Library aggregating digital content in Europeana BPN econtentplus@ec.europa.eu

19 19 Annex 2 Instructions for completing Part A of the proposal Proposals in this call must be submitted electronically, using the Commission s Electronic Proposal Submission System. The procedure is given in section 3 of this Guide. In Part A you will be asked for certain administrative details that will be used in the evaluation and further processing of your proposal. Part A forms an integral part of your proposal. Details of the work you intend to carry out will be described in Part B (Annex 3). Section A1 gives a snapshot of your proposal, section A2 concerns you and your organisation, while section A3 deals with funding matters. Section A2 gives legal and administrative information. Please note: The coordinator fills in the section A1 and section A3. The participants already identified at the time of proposal submission (including the coordinator) each fill in section A2. Subcontractors are not required to fill in section A2 and should not be listed separately in section A3. When you complete Part A, please make sure that: Numbers are always rounded to the nearest whole number You have inserted zeros ("0") where there are no costs or funding figures. Leaving cells empty will block the submission of your proposal All costs are given in Euros (not thousands of Euros), and must exclude value added tax. The following notes are for information only. They should assist you in completing the A- part of your proposal. On-line guidance will also be available. The precise questions and options presented on EPSS may differ slightly from these below.

20 EUROPEAN COMMISSION ICT Policy Support Programme Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme 20 Proposal Submission ICT Policy Support Programme Best Practice Network A1: Summary Proposal Number Proposal Acronym GENERAL INFORMATION Proposal Title Duration in months Activity code(s) most relevant to your topic Free keywords Call (part) identifier Abstract (max char.) Similar proposals or signed grant agreements? a) Has this proposal (or a very similar one) been previously submitted to a call for proposals of the CIP ICT-PSP or the econtentplus programme? IF YES - please give the call identifier [free format] if YES above - please give the proposal or grant agreement number (if known) [free format] if YES above YES/NO/Don t KNOW [drop down]

21 EUROPEAN COMMISSION ICT Policy Support Programme Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme Proposal Submission ICT Policy Support Programme Best Practice Network A2.1: Participants Each participant should complete their own section "Participants" Proposal Number Proposal Acronym [filled in from A1] Participant number INFORMATION ON PARTICIPANTS (ONE FORM PER PARTICIPANT) If your organisation has already registered for CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme) or FP7 (7 th Framework Programme for Research), enter your Participant Identity Code Organisation legal name Legal address Street name Town Postal Code / Cedex Country Internet homepage (optional) Basic administrative data of your organisation Status of your organisation Number The Commission collects data for statistical purposes. The guidance notes will help you complete this section. Please tick the relevant box(es) if your organisation falls into one or more of the following categories. Public body Commercial Organisation Standardisation body Other Main area of activity (NACE code): [dropdown list]

22 EUROPEAN COMMISSION ICT Policy Support Programme Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme 22 Proposal Submission ICT Policy Support Programme Best Practice Network A2.2: Participants Proposal Number Proposal Acronym [filled in from A1] Participant number INFORMATION ON PARTICIPANTS (ONE FORM PER PARTICIPANT) 1. Is your number of employees smaller than 250? (full time equivalent) [yes/no] 2. Is your annual turnover smaller than 50 million? [yes/no] 3. Is your annual balance sheet total smaller than 43 million? [yes/no] 4. Are you an autonomous legal entity? [yes/no] You are not an SME if your answer to question 1 is "NO" and/or your answer to both questions 2 and 3 is "NO". In all other cases, you might conform to the Commission's definition of an SME. Please check the additional conditions given in the guidance notes to the forms. Following this check, do you conform to the Commission's definition of an [yes/no]. SME Organisation short name Dependencies with (an)other participant(s) Are there dependencies between your organisation and (an)other participant(s) in this proposal? (Yes or No) If Yes: Participant Number Organisation Short Name Character of dependence Participant Number Organisation Short Name Character of dependence Participant Number Organisation Short Name Character of dependence Contact points Person in charge (For the co-ordinator (participant number 1) this person is the one who the Commission will contact in the first instance) Family name First name(s) Title Sex (Female F / Male M) Position in the organisation Department/Faculty/Institute/Laboratory name/ Address (if different from the legal address) Street name Town Postal Code / Cedex Country Phone 1 Phone 2 Fax Number

23 EUROPEAN COMMISSION ICT Policy Support Programme Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme Proposal Submission Forms ICT Policy Support Programme Best Practice Network A3: Budget Proposal Number Proposal Acronym (From A1) Participant number in this proposal Personnel costs Subcontracting Other specific direct costs TOTAL COSTS Requested reimbursement rate Requested EC contribution (1) Coordinator (2) Participant (3) Participant (4) Participant Total Please use as many copies of form A3 as necessary for the number of participants Form A3 page of

24 24 Best Practice Networks Guidance notes for Part A of the proposal These notes will also be provided on-line via the EPSS service. Section A1: Summary Proposal Acronym The short title or acronym will be used to identify your proposal efficiently in this call. It should be of no more than 20 characters (use standard alphabet and numbers only; no symbols or special characters please). The same acronym should appear on each page of Part B of your proposal. Proposal Title Duration in months Call (part) identifier The title should be no longer than 200 characters that should be understandable to a non-specialist in your field. Insert the estimated duration of the project in full months. The call identifier is the reference number given in the call or part of the call you are addressing, as indicated in the publication of the call in the Official Journal of the European Union, and on the ICT PSP call page. [The call identifier is pre-filled in the forms from the EPSS. For this call it is CIP-ICT-PSP If you do not have this identifier on your forms, you have registered for the wrong call. Discard this registration and register again]. Activity Code Please input as activity code the main theme objective identifier. The theme identifiers are mentioned in the call text and explained in the Work Programme. Free keywords This allows you to freely choose keywords describing the scope of your proposal. There is a limit of 100 characters including spaces, commas, etc. Abstract Similar proposals or signed grant agreement The abstract should, at a glance, provide the reader with a clear understanding of the objectives of the proposal, how they will be achieved, and their relevance to the Work Programme. This summary will be used as the short description of the proposal in the evaluation process and in communications to the programme management committee and other interested parties. It must therefore be short and precise and should not contain confidential information. Please use plain typed text. If the proposal is written in a language other than English, please include an English version of the proposal abstract in Part B. There is a limit of 2000 characters. A similar proposal or grant agreement is one that differs from the current one in minor ways, and in which some of the present consortium members are involved. Section A2.1: Participants Participant number Participant Identification Code Organisation Legal name The number allocated by the consortium to the participant for this proposal. The co-ordinator of a proposal is always number one. The number assigned to you by the Commission's Unique Registration Facility. If you have no PIC, enter 0 For Public Law Body, it is the name under which your organisation is registered in the Resolution text, Law, Decree/Decision establishing the Public Entity, or in any other document established at the constitution of the Public Law Body; For Private Law Body, it is the name under which your organisation is registered in the national Official Journal (or equivalent) or in the national company register.