Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor EASME/COSME/2014/004

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) Department A - Operations Unit A.1. COSME CALL FOR TENDERS Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor EASME/COSME/2014/004 TENDER SPECIFICATIONS Open Procedure Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË -

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND CONTEXT GENERAL AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION OF TASKS Geographical scope Indicative methodology...8 Work package 1 Updating the monitoring methodology of Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor (DEM) and the DEM web site...8 Work package 2 - The policy framework: analysing the framework conditions for success...11 Work package 3 Measuring progress: Preparation of a Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard...12 Work package 4 Technical support to dialogues and networking between politics, business and science...12 Work package 5 Monitoring and reviewing the strategy and Action Plan to support digital entrepreneurship Project management issues PERFORMANCE INDICATORS STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION PLACE OF PERFORMANCE PLANNING AND DELIVERABLES Interim reports Final report PAYMENT TERMS CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION MATTERS INFORMATION ON TENDERING ELIGIBILITY VOLUME OF THE MARKET LOTS VARIANTS TENDERS FROM CONSORTIA SUB-CONTRACTING COSTS CONTRACTUAL CONDITIONS

3 2.9. FORM AND CONTENTS OF THE TENDERS SUBMISSION OF TENDERS STRUCTURE OF TENDERS Section 1 Administrative proposal Section 2 Technical proposal Section 3 - Financial offer EVALUATION AND AWARD OF THE CONTRACT EVALUATION STEPS EXCLUSION CRITERIA (ARTICLES 106, 107 OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) SELECTION CRITERIA Economic and financial capacity criteria and evidence Technical and professional capacity criteria and evidence AWARD CRITERIA INFORMATION TO TENDERERS ON THE FINAL EVALUATION ANNEXES

4 CALL FOR TENDERS EASME/COSME/2014/004 DIGITAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR 1. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 1.1. INTRODUCTION Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) play a crucial role in reaching the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy 1. Whereas they are considered as decisive engines for growth and job creation, their competitiveness is affected by a limited exploitation of international opportunities and innovation prospects in the Single Market and beyond. In this context, the Programme for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises ( ), hereinafter referred to as COSME 2, aims to promote growth and intends to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of enterprises in the European Union. The contracting authority, the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as "EASME") 3, acting under powers delegated by the European Commission, is launching this invitation to tender for the signature of a service contract, aimed at stimulating Digital Entrepreneurship and the competitiveness, and efficiency of European businesses through the smart use of advanced digital technologies. Digital Entrepreneurship embraces all new ventures from all sectors of the economy that are using novel digital technologies and the digital transformation of existing businesses.. Digital enterprises are characterised by a high intensity of utilisation of novel digital technologies (namely big data analytics, cloud solutions social media, mobility and the digitisation of manufacturing and) to invent new business models, improve business operations, open up new markets and engage with customers and stakeholders. They create jobs and growth opportunities. The aim of the action is to foster knowledge on the state of play and on the evolution of Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe. It is based on the on-going pilot action on Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor ( which has explored the availability and suitability of data in this field, has proposed a methodology for a monitoring mechanism and has run it at the pilot stage. The new action will review and streamline the methodology and will set-up the operational phase of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor, to follow-up, measure and appraise the key trends in Digital Entrepreneurship, including new digital technologies, emerging market needs and new business opportunities in the European economy. 1 COM (2010) 2020 final, 3 March Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of 11 December 2013, Official Journal of the European Union of , L 347, p EASME was set up by Commission implementing decision of 17 December 2013 establishing the "Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized enterprises" and repealing decisions 2004/20/EC and 2007/372/EC, Official Journal of the European Union of , L 341, p.73. EASME replaces and supersedes former Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI). 4

5 It will also review the methodology used for the Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard 4 to measure progress at national and EU level. In addition it will offer technical support to the Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship ( as well as to the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship ( which were set up by the European Commission with the view to exchange experience and best practices and coordinate smart policy action to boost entrepreneurial action in the Digital Era BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND CONTEXT There is a clear and urgent need to develop appropriate tools to monitor in a systematic way emerging technological trends and their potential impact on business and new business opportunities, identify best practices and new business paradigms. These tools will help enterprises acquire a better understanding of the forthcoming technological evolutions, anticipate changes and adapt their strategies to reap the full benefits of these market developments. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the most important drivers of innovation, competitiveness and growth. It enables not only technological innovation but also innovation in business models, business networking, transfer of knowledge and access to international markets instantly 5 despite being separated by time zones and geography 6. Novel technological trends, such as mobile and social solutions, cloud computing, data analytics, digitisation of manufacturing and collaborative technologies, offer a new range of opportunities for business services in the knowledge economy. It also reshapes traditional industries and transforms the business environment. New technological developments speed up and improve the way new innovative products and services are conceived, developed, produced and accessed. They are enabling smaller, innovative and dynamic businesses to develop and bring faster to market innovative products and services that before were impossible to think about. How well and how quickly European businesses adopt digital technologies will be a key determinant of growth in future years. The relevant figures are very illustrative: Two billion people are connected to the Internet now and, by 2016, this number will exceed three billion users, almost half of the world s population. The Digital economy contributes already up to 8% of GDP in some economies, powering growth and creating jobs. The advent of Internet has changed the global business landscape. European SMEs grow two to three times faster when they embrace the Digital economy. Legal basis In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy 7 EASME is entrusted by the European Commission with the implementation of parts of the COSME programme Wired for growth and innovation: how digital technologies are re-shaping small- and medium-sized businesses, The Lisbon Council, April The Decisive Decade. How the Acceleration of Ideas Will Transform the Workplace by 2020, Google, COM (2010) 2020 final, 3 March COSME is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) running from 2014 to 2020 with a planned budget of 2.3bn. Regulation (EU) No 1287/2013 of 11 December 2013, Official Journal of the European Union 2013/L 347/33. 5

6 This particular action supports the implementation of the European Roadmap for Digital Entrepreneurship. 9 This action will continue and extend the pilot phase of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor, which started in January 2013 and will run until the end of The working methodology and the selection of indicators and sources have been validated by the Steering Committee 10, and are fully described in the methodology report that is annexed to the specifications (annex 9). On this basis more specific policy initiatives were deployed with the view to make the Digital Single Market a reality and support the growth potential of information technology for the benefits of industry, enterprises and consumers. 11 Despite these strong political initiatives, the development of a Digital Single Market is still hindered by a number of legal, technical and trust barriers across EU Member States. May they be perceived or real, these barriers prevent entrepreneurs to develop new businesses or grow their businesses in Europe GENERAL AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES A key policy objective of the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission is to foster the smart use of ICT among European enterprises, notably SMEs, with a view to stimulate innovation and to drastically boost Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe, in order to offer EU SME s a leading position in the modern digital economy and enable them become respected international business partners thus creating growth and new jobs. The objective of this measure is to support the implementation of the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan as outlined in the European Commission Communication of 9 January It will provide to European businesses and policy makers convincing evidence and up-to-date information on trends, market dynamics and up-coming business opportunities on Digital entrepreneurship that would help inspire new entrepreneurial action, and build on digital technologies. The information provided will further support and enhance the Start Up Europe initiative. The Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor will provide to entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs and policy makers convincing evidence and up-to-date information on trends, market dynamics and upcoming business opportunities. Consequently, this action is expected to result in new and more successful entrepreneurial action based on novel digital technologies. More specifically, concrete expected results that would contribute to this outcome are: An Annual Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard, that will be based on the identification of key performance indicators on the uptake and smart use of big data, cloud services, mobility, social media and the digitisation of manufacturing, with a view to measure and monitor progress at national level; 9 C(2014) 247 final COS-WP The pilot phase of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor was steered by a Steering Committee, composed of Commission officials from other services, namely Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, (DG ENTR), Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), EUROSTAT, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), Directorate General for Internal Market and Services (DG MARKT), as well as a representative from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and INSEAD. 11 Initiatives as: Digital Agenda for Europe, Single Market Act and the Communication on e- commerce and "Industrial policy for the globalisation era and the Small Business Act for Europe) 12 COM (2012) 795 available at 6

7 A portal with regularly updated information and analysis of statistical data, indicators, business trends, emerging business opportunities, public policies, innovative, inspiring case studies, and concrete policy recommendations; Annual reports analysing the framework conditions for success, addressed to policy makers and entrepreneurs, analysing successful smart ecosystems and policy recommendations that incite more entrepreneurial action in the digital space. Therefore the objectives of this service contract are the following: Foster knowledge about Digital Entrepreneurship by developing the operational phase of a monitoring tool to gain a better understanding of the digital economy, the emerging technology developments and market needs, as well as the digital opportunities for European businesses; Identify new business opportunities for European established companies and entrepreneurs, stemming from cloud, mobile solutions, social media and the digitisation of manufacturing in the Digital world and improve awareness raising; Analyse potential business opportunities but also industry disruptions created by Big Data Analytics, to anticipate industry systemic changes, prepare the digital transition and empower European businesses become active player in the global market. Reinforce the dialogue among industry, science, and politics with the view to develop a common and coherent vision on the position of European enterprises in the Digital world; Shape policy recommendations to support digital entrepreneurship in Europe with a view to prepare the business transformation and offer European SME new business opportunities and a leading place in the modern digital economy. The focus is on smaller, dynamic, innovative enterprises, start-ups and potential entrepreneurs, in various sectors of the European economy; all those who wish to compete and thrive in the Global Digital Market. The ultimate goal is to prepare better European businesses and entrepreneurs for the changing global digital market and equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to compete and thrive SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION OF TASKS Geographical scope The services to be delivered will cover all the countries participating in the COSME programme 13, as well as the main international competitors, in particular those driving the 13 The following groups of countries are eligible for participation in COSME: a. European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement, and other European countries when agreements and procedures so allow; b. acceding countries, candidate countries and potential candidates in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in the Union's programmes established in the respective Framework Agreements and Association Council Decisions, or similar arrangements; c. countries falling within the scope of the European neighbourhood policies, when agreements and procedures so allow and in accordance with the general principles and general terms and conditions for the participation of those countries in the Union's programmes established in the respective Framework Agreements, Protocols to Association Agreements and Association Council Decisions. 7

8 digital empowerment, namely USA, Japan, China, South Africa, Canada, Singapore, India, Brazil, South Korea Indicative methodology In order to achieve its objectives, the service contract will have five main work packages: Work package 1 Updating the monitoring methodology of Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor (DEM) and the DEM web site The main purpose of this work package is to review and streamline the methodology which was set up and followed by the pilot phase of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor (DEM) ( and which is represented by the structure of the portal. The updated methodology will take into account new elements and evolutions, and will propose fresh solutions, e.g. ways to capture new trends, for which statistical evidence is not yet available, or not reliable, and overcome any data insufficiencies that were spotted in the methodology for the Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard (annex 9). Its ultimate goal is to help to understand better the evolution of novel digital technologies like: mobile technologies, cloud, social networks, data analytics, digitisation of manufacturing, design, prototyping, testing, collaborative technologies, etc. and their potential impact in transforming the business landscape in Europe. This methodology shall be applied to all sectors of the economy, but the Contractor may wish to refine the scope for example on those sectors which are expected to be mostly impacted and reformed by the advent of emerging information technologies and in which there will be a highgrowth potential and significant new business opportunities. In this case a proposal will have to be initiated by the Contractor, and will be subject to approval by the Steering Committee. The Work Package 1 involves the following tasks: 1) Reviewing and updating the methodological framework, including indicators, monitor the evolution of Digital Entrepreneurship in the EU and the aforementioned international competitors. The framework will be used to capture and measure the deployment and economic magnitude of Digital Entrepreneurship in the EU (each of the Member States) and international competitors 15 at the areas as: - Emerging trends in information technologies in Europe; - Emerging market requirements and societal needs; - New business opportunities for SMEs and entrepreneurs; - New business paradigms; - Investment in new information technologies and their application to reform traditional industries, communities and systems; - The regional origin of relevant technologies, services, business models and new innovative business paradigms in the EU; - The geographical mapping of relevant entrepreneurial activity in the EU; 14 See also the following study launched by the European Commission: "Doing business in the Digital Age: the impact of new ICT developments in the global business landscape" Countries which have placed digital development at the centre of their economic development strategy (USA, Japan, China, South Africa, Canada, Singapore, India, Brazil, South Korea). 8

9 - Clusters in the EU related to Digital Entrepreneurship; - Development of services in the EU based on digital technologies; - Investment in skills related to Digital Entrepreneurship; - Cross border online trade of EU services and products, within the EU and at global level; - Direct and indirect employment in the EU created by Digital Entrepreneurship; 2) Screening for new business opportunities with high innovation and growth potential. Emerging technological trends are totally re-shaping the global business landscape, creating an enormous potential for new business opportunities, in particular in the intersection of digital with all sectors of the economy. Some sectors are expected to be affected more than others, with the development of unprecedented disruptive business models, such as in manufacturing, healthcare, public sector, education, creative industries, finance and insurance industries, etc. The European industry has a pivotal window of opportunity to develop and commercialise first such new services, and speed-up their uptake. The Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor will be identifying, at an early stage, areas where new business opportunities are opening, for the benefits of European entrepreneurs and businesses, and will be providing case studies to illustrate such new business opportunities. The pilot Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor has already analysed potential new business opportunities for European businesses, based on four novel technologies, namely big data, cloud, mobility and social networks. The four reports and relevant examples of case studies are available at: This task will continue this work by regularly issuing new thematic reports, deepening the content, e.g. by investigating deeper the different barriers for Europe, such as cases of lacking or insufficient legislation, analysing the business threats and potential disruption, and/or cost on non-adopting such technologies and substantiating the content with examples of successful business cases. It will also analyse a new area, namely new business opportunities from the digitisation of manufacturing including the digitisation of related processes (from design, to prototyping, testing, production to after-sales support), products and services. 3) Particular emphasis will be given on the role of Big Data. Information is one of organization s most strategic assets. Big Data is a new generation of technologies and architectures, designed to extract value from very large volumes of a wide variety of unstructured data such as sensors (through the Internet of things), s, text messages, documents, presentations, social media and conversations by enabling high-velocity capture, storage and analysis. Big Data encompasses hardware and software that integrate, organize, manage, analyze, and present data. The pilot Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor has already analysed new business opportunities stemming from Big Data, for European businesses in different sectors of the economy, as well as existing barriers to the uptake and offering of Big Data Services. This report is available at: The Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor will continue, update and expand this work, to take into account new technology and business developments: it will identify new potential business opportunities, for European entrepreneurs and businesses, possible disruptions of traditional business and industries, new sectors and business models enabled by the Big Data 9

10 revolution. It will be providing analysis of case studies to illustrate such new business opportunities and disruptions; it will investigate specific barriers and threats in Europe, and will propose concrete actions to accelerate the uptake and scale-up of such business opportunities in Europe. 4) Monitoring public policies of the EU, individual Member States' and competing economies to foster Digital Entrepreneurship, including: - Industrial policies; - Small enterprises and entrepreneurship development policies; - Research and Development and Innovation policies; - Fiscal policies; - State aid policies; - Public procurement policies; - Regulation and standardisation policies; This task shall identify the most relevant policy initiatives, collect information and data and analyse them, notably their rationale, design, deployment, implementation, as well as their expected impact, to the extent this information can be available. The data collection will be based on desk research, existing studies, articles, policy seminars, interviews, workshops, as well as on the assessment of the most recent and relevant policy debate. The analysis part should take into account the specific market situation in each of these countries. This task will identify also areas where existing regulation is insufficient, or hindering business developments or completely lacking, and will suggest concrete measures to overcome these failures (as part of the WP5). 5) Monitoring private schemes or public-private partnerships, deployed by key market stakeholders to help start-ups and established smaller enterprises to improve their performance, innovate and grow, based on the opportunities offered by digital technologies. Such initiatives may include indicatively Google s Getting SMEs online, Microsoft s BizSpark, the Founder Institute, ebay, Amazon, different applications distribution platforms (App Stores), etc. while others should be identified and analysed, with a view to the role and responsibilities of the private sector, draw lessons and influence more successful initiatives and policy actions. In relation to the points 4 and 5, it is of crucial importance to identify and analyse the creation of powerful networks, based on the right mix of infrastructure, favourable framework conditions, innovative services and pro-active support measures. These systems will trigger and nurture more digital entrepreneurial action. Software distribution platforms, e.g. the App Stores model, pursued in the last years by a handful of large ICT companies, has completely changed the business model for software applications, facilitating the entry into the market of millions of low-cost applications, which, in turn enhance the provision of services to its customers. Other such ecosystems, based on winwin synergies between public authorities, businesses and the scientific communities should be identified and analysed to provide evidence on the changing business models and inspire a virtuous circle of economic development, growth and jobs. 6) Rolling monitor and update of the portal Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor" The contractor will review the design of the website ( which allows any interested party access to updated information gathered through the mechanism. This website should centralise that 10

11 information in a coherent and attractive way. To this aim, the European Commission will continue to develop, host and maintain it under the Europa domain. The contractor will provide, check and validate the content to be published therein. They will also take responsibility for the design of the layout of the website and the analysis of its functionality. On the other hand, the contractor will have to comply in the elaboration of the design with the Information Providers Guide (see: the technological (website made with Drupal 7) and architectural (Monitor is a part of the Stimulating Digital Entrepreneurship website) constraints and to keep a consistent look & feel for the entire Stimulating Digital Entrepreneurship website. Therefore, the contractor shall liaise and collaborate with the IT service(s) of the European Commission. The new design(s) proposed by the contractor shall be submitted to the IT service(s) of the European Commission for approval. A new design will be implemented only after its approval by the IT service(s) of the European Commission. The way and the format under which the content will be provided by the contractor shall be agreed with the IT service(s) of the European Commission. This will involve a number of on-site technical meetings and reviews. Deadlines for deliverables are foreseen in the timetable (see Section 1.8.2) and are not negotiable after the contract has been signed, except for those cases in which the dates cannot be defined at this stage. Any proposition by the tenderer should take into account the constraints of the Information Providers Guide and should be presented to and agreed by the European Commission. The contractor shall collaborate with the European Commission in the validation of the final website. Where applicable, as an annex to the Final Report, the contractor will provide to the European Commission adequate documentation regarding the structure of the website, the sources and means to update it. The contractor should design the website in a manner that can easily be used by the European Commission or by any other contractor to continue the update of this website after the end of this contract. 7) This work package shall include the organisation of one workshop with at least 15 experts to present and validate the updated monitoring methodology and collect their views and contributions. Work package 2 - The policy framework: analysing the framework conditions for success This task will continue, adapt and update the identification and analysis of favourable framework conditions that are considered to be conducive to the development of more efficient Digital Entrepreneurial activity. It will be based on the continuous screening, identification and assessment of the most relevant policy initiatives and their analysis (during the work package 1), while it will focus more on the analysis of good practices. This will help identify the framework conditions for success to support Digital Entrepreneurship. Based on this methodology, empirical results shall be collected, Europe-wide, and benchmarked against the strongest international frontrunners in this area. This involves the following tasks: 1. Review of the methodology for the identification and assessment of framework conditions for boosting Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe. 2. Launch of empirical surveys on framework conditions to boost Digital Entrepreneurship. This task aims at identifying favourable framework conditions and assessing them against leading international competitors with respect to the attractiveness, effectiveness and efficiency of specific framework conditions in creating more entrepreneurial activity in the Digital world. 11

12 3. The work shall include the organisation of four workshops with at least 10 public policy experts and stakeholders form the business community, to present and validate the updated assessment methodology and collect their views and contributions on relevant policies to set the right framework conditions and to validate the results of the analysis, best practices and policy recommendations. Work package 3 Measuring progress: Preparation of a Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard The purpose of this work package is to fine-tune and complete the methodology for the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard. In the frame of the pilot phase of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor, a methodology was developed for a Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard, which identified a set of indicators, defined their scope and identified information sources for their measurement on a regular basis. This pilot phase methodology for the scoreboard is available in annex 9. This task will review and complete the initial methodology where need be, by proposing additional data that could not have been covered by existing data and statistical sources. This involves the following tasks: 1. Review of the methodology for a European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard : The scoreboard shall cover all COSME participating countries, and will provide a sound comparison of EU 28 performance with main international competitors. It will use, wherever possible, available existing statistics from a variety of sources 16. The Contractor will assess the existing methodology developed in the pilot phase and will propose a complete set of key performance indicators, both quantitative and qualitative, to measure the relative evolution of the size, economic strength, employment, etc. of Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe, in comparison to main international competitors. Different options for the presentation of the results shall also be considered and assessed. The Contractor is expected to propose solid solutions for data collection, where existing data sources are missing or insufficient, including through the design and execution of empirical surveys to cover the needs of the Scoreboard. 2. Development of three annual issues of a European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard : The methodology developed for the scoreboard should be applied during the operational phase of the service contract. Empirical results shall be compiled, summarised and presented in the form of the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard, on an annual basis. 3. The work shall include the organisation of one workshop with at least 15 experts to present and validate the revised methodology for a European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard through peer review and collect their views and contributions. The review will also be presented and discussed at the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship. Work package 4 Technical support to dialogues and networking between politics, business and science. The main purpose of this work package is to provide technical support and facilitation to the works of: 16 Eurostat, the Community Innovation Survey, OECD, United Nations, World Trade Organisation - Global Innovation Index and Global IT report, World Bank, the Innovation Union Scoreboard, the European Cluster Observatory. 12

13 the Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship ( a multi-stakeholders dialogue established by the European Commission in February 2014, in order to advise the European Commission on a coherent EU strategy and Action plan The Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship ( a policy exchange dialogue, established by the European Commission in April 2014, with national policy-makers in Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) participating countries, to exchange experiences and forge the implementation of an EU-strategy to boost digital entrepreneurship. The Member States Board shall allow policy makers from Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme participating countries to share experience on policies, framework conditions and evaluation practices from national and regional initiatives. It shall provide recommendations on how to better streamline the different relevant actions implemented at regional, national and EU level, with the view to consolidating them in full respect of the subsidiarity principle. 17 This Work Package involves the following tasks: 1. Organisation of a high-level political conference on Digital Entrepreneurship for around 120 participants coming from all over Europe, bringing together policy makers at ministerial level, the two fora and the broader stakeholders community to give high visibility to the EU strategy and action plan and promote commitment from the Member States at the highest level, for coherent and coordinated action towards the implementation of the EU strategy; 2. Provision of technical support for the two aforementioned fora, under the guidance and supervision of the relevant unit of DG Enterprise and Industry, E4 Key Enabling Technologies and Digital Economy. This task includes: - the organisation of two meetings of the Strategic Policy Forum 18 (two meetings in the first year for about 35 participants, to be usually organised in Brussels); - the organisation of six meetings of the Member States Board 19 (approximately two meetings per year for about 30 participants, to be usually organised in Brussels); - catering and reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs for the members of both fora; - drafting of background documents, presentations, organisation and facilitation of conference calls, workshops, webinars to collect the views and contributions of their members, in agreement with the European Commission services; - preparation of the agenda for meetings in collaboration with the chair and the European Commission; - preparation of conclusions and reports of meetings; - preparation of press briefings, and promotion of the results on the relevant European Commission website for each meeting and published reports. 17 The two Fora should help set priorities for action, monitor evolution and market trends and measure progress at national level, with regards to the implementation of the EU strategy and Action Plan for Digital Entrepreneurship in Europe (to be established by the end of 2014) and review the Action Plan on an annual basis

14 Work package 5 Monitoring and reviewing the strategy and Action Plan to support digital entrepreneurship The EU strategy and Action Plan on Digital Entrepreneurship (based on the report of the Strategic Policy Forum on Digital Entrepreneurship) should help accelerate the digital transformation of existing businesses in Europe and empower their growth, thanks to innovative ideas and new digital technologies. It will also inspire more new or potential entrepreneurs and encourage the creation of new dynamic high-growth businesses in the digital era. The implementation of the Action Plan should be monitored and the Action Plan should be reviewed on an annual basis to take account of the rapid changes in this domain. It shall include the following tasks: 1. Monitoring the implementation of the Action Plan. Through the work of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship, and in conjunction to updated information provided by the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor (DEM) and the Scoreboard, an annual report should be drafted to monitor the progress in the implementation and of the EU strategy at national level. It should help spot inconsistencies, derivations, and delays and maintain the sense of urgency for EU and national policy action. 2. Review of the vision, strategy and policy measures on Digital entrepreneurship. The EU long-term vision will be reviewed and adapted on an annual basis, whereby the state of implementation of the Strategy, the current market trends, the discussions in the Strategic Policy Forum and the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship will take into consideration. It should take stock of the most important, still persisting EU challenges, which prevent entrepreneurs to develop new businesses or grow their businesses in the Digital Economy in Europe. Driven by the analysis of business opportunities and the identification of barriers, the Contractors shall review the existing Action Plan with a view to update and adapt it to include key areas with the most growth potential and associated new proposals for support measures, to be undertaken by policy makers at EU and national level, as well as by market stakeholders. The aim is to deliver more growth, jobs, social progress and competitiveness. For each proposed measure, the Contractors should clearly define their: Rationale; Scope; Targets; Minimum implementation resources (financial and human) for optimal impact and leverage effect; Guidelines for effective deployment; Time plan; Pre-requisite framework conditions and synergies with other measures for impact maximisation. 3. Policy Seminars on Digital Entrepreneurship Finally the Contractors will prepare and organise a series of 6-8 Policy Seminars on Digital Entrepreneurship for different types of audience (public regional authorities, private entities, associations, business clusters, etc.) with a view to spread the policy messages, strengthen the 14

15 sense of urgency to act and trigger simultaneous, coordinated pan-european action. The seminars will be organised usually in Brussels for around 50 participants each Project management issues The project team will be required to attend a number of meetings and workshops (as mentioned in the task description): Meetings with the EASME and the European Commission The Contractor will be required to attend a kick-off meeting of half a day in Brussels no later than the second week following the start of the contract, with the participation of maximum six representatives of the winning tenderer. Workshops organisation For all the aforementioned workshops and the policy seminars, the contractor should cover the costs of the venue and catering as well as the travel and accommodation costs for the experts. The programme and invited experts are to be decided in agreement with the European Commission services. Deliverables All deliverables will be submitted in English in format compatible with the EASME standards. Deliverables for publication (online and/or printed) will be of the highest linguistic quality and will have been edited and proofread by a native English speaker or equivalent. Deliverables will be produced in accordance with the graphic guidelines and publication templates of Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission. The contractor shall make all documents and presentations available online PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Performance indicators are: 1. Overall quality of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor, the scoreboard and the relevant reports 2. Number of countries and policy initiatives covered 3. Number of case studies and business paradigms developed 4. Number and geographic coverage of relevant policy initiatives deployed Warning: for the preparation of the tender, the potential tenderers must however comply with the full details given in Section 4 and not restrict themselves to the general descriptions just given STARTING DATE OF THE CONTRACT AND DURATION It is expected that the contract is signed approximately in January The contract shall enter into force on the date on which it is signed by the last party. The duration of the tasks shall not exceed 36 months from that date. The execution of the tasks shall 15

16 not start before the contract has been signed or before the specific date specified in the contract. Work will follow the timetable detailed below. Amendments may be made to the contract only in exceptional cases where the amendment is considered by EASME to be necessary for the completion of the project and following the provisions of the draft contract. EASME reserves the right to make use of a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice for additional contracts involving services similar to those assigned to the party awarded the initial contract by the same contracting authority. That procedure may be used only during 2 (two) years following conclusion of the original contract PLACE OF PERFORMANCE The tasks are to be performed at the premises designated by the service provider, with the exception of the EASME or the European Commission s premises. A maximum of 14 coordination meetings with the EASME and the European Commission will be held in Brussels PLANNING AND DELIVERABLES The service provider has to provide the required reports and documents accompanying the requests for payments in accordance with the conditions of the standard service contract. In addition to the deliverables specified above for each work package, the contractor is to provide two interim activity reports and a final activity report accompanying the requests for payments including a description of the activities performed, problems encountered and addressed, progress made and planning for the coming period and should provide evidence linked to the costs incurred. List of deliverables and reports WP1: Interim report providing a methodology containing all the above-mentioned information for the review of the Digital Entrepreneurship Monitor Organisation of a workshop Proposed update of the structure of the website Rolling screening and monitoring of news, trends, public policies, private schemes, ecosystems, new business opportunities, case studies, etc. WP2: Reviewed methodology for assessing the framework conditions encouraging Digital Entrepreneurship Annual report on analysis of framework conditions in support of Digital Entrepreneurship, appreciation of evolution and policy recommendations Four workshops. 16

17 WP3: Review of the methodology outlining and describing a proposal for a Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard Workshop Annual issue of the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard WP4: Work programme of the Strategic Policy Forum for the year 2015 Work programme of the Member States Board for the year Organisation of a high-level political conference on Digital Entrepreneurship Organisation and facilitation of 2 meetings of the Strategic Policy Forum, and Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship WP5: Annual report on the implementation and impact of the Action Plan on Digital Entrepreneurship accompanied with new business and policy recommendations 6 8 Policy Seminars on Digital Entrepreneurship (timing to be decided) Each report or document will be submitted in electronic format compatible with Word in English Interim reports The interim reports shall include at least the following: Annual reports on the implementation and impact of the Action Plan on Digital Entrepreneurship accompanied with new business and policy recommendations. The EASME will comment on the document submitted within the period indicated in the planning table below. If the contracting authority has not reacted within this period, the interim report shall be deemed to have been approved Final report The draft final report shall include a summary of all the work done during the contract and the last annual report on the implementation and impact of the Action Plan on Digital Entrepreneurship accompanied with new business and policy recommendations. The EASME will comment on the document submitted within the period indicated in the planning table below. If EASME has not reacted within this period, the final report shall be deemed to have been approved. Within the period indicated in the planning table below, the service provider will submit the final report in its definitive form, taking full account of the observations made by EASME on the draft final report, either by following them precisely or by explaining clearly why not. EASME will accept final report in its definitive form or comment on it within the period indicated in the planning table below. If EASME has not reacted within this period, final report shall be deemed to have been approved. Should EASME still not consider the final report acceptable, the service provider may be invited to amend it; in this case liquidated damages will be applied in accordance with Article II.12 of the contract. Should the contracting authority reject the final report, EASME may terminate the contract in accordance with Article II.14 of the contract. 17

18 Planning of the timetable: Actions mentioned in the timetable here below shall be completed by the last day of the month scheduled for the execution of the task. Timetable Meetings Actions/Deliverables January 2015 Kick-off Reference date Submission of request for Pre-financing 2 months 3 months 4 months 5 months 6 months 11 months 12 months - Work programme of the Strategic Policy Forum for the year 2015 WP4; - Organisation of a high-level political conference on Digital Entrepreneurship WP4 - Interim report providing a methodology for setting up a monitoring mechanism on Digital Entrepreneurship WP1 - Organisation of a Workshop WP1 - Work programme of the Member States Board for the year WP days EASME acceptance - Proposed update of the structure of the website WP1 - Reviewed methodology for assessing the framework conditions encouraging Digital Entrepreneurship WP2-1 st workshop - WP2 - Organisation and facilitation of 2 meetings of the Strategic Policy Forum 1 st meeting - WP4 - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 1 st meeting WP4 - Review of the methodology outlining and describing a proposal for a Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard WP3 - Workshop - WP3 - Organisation and facilitation of 2 meetings of the Strategic Policy Forum 2 nd meeting WP4 - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 2nd meeting WP4-1st Annual implementation report WP5 - Analysis of framework conditions in support of Digital Entrepreneurship, appreciation of evolution and policy recommendations - 2nd workshop WP2 - Annual issue of the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard WP days EASME acceptance - Submission of invoice for first interim payment 18

19 17 months 23 months 24 months 29 months 35 months 36 months - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 3rd meeting WP4 - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 4th meeting WP4-2nd Annual implementation report WP5 - Annual issue of the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard WP3 - Analysis of framework conditions in support of Digital Entrepreneurship, appreciation of evolution and policy recommendations - 3rd workshop WP days EASME acceptance - Submission of invoice for second interim payment - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 5th meeting WP4 - Organisation of 6 meetings of the Member States Board on Digital Entrepreneurship 6th meeting WP4 - Annual issue of the European Digital Entrepreneurship Scoreboard WP3 - Analysis of framework conditions in support of Digital Entrepreneurship, appreciation of evolution and policy recommendations - 4th workshop WP2 - Final report (including 3rd annual implementation report) - WP days EASME acceptance - Submission of invoice for final payment. To be defined policy seminars on Digital Entrepreneurship WP PAYMENT TERMS In drawing up their tenders, tenderers should take account of the provisions of the enclosed draft contract (annex 1) which includes the "General terms and conditions applicable to service contracts". Payments under the contract will be made as follows: Pre-financing: receipt of an invoice and receipt by the contracting authority of a duly constituted financial guarantee equal to at least 30% of the maximum total amount agreed in the contract; Two interim payments Final payment, 19