AI for advanced digitalization 2024

A call for proposals within the Advanced digitalisation program

For more information about the program, visit their website

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia that can contribute to the development of advanced and innovative solutions in artificial intelligence (AI) for next-generation digital solutions in industrial applications. The funded projects will address the needs of industry and business today and in the future.

The call for proposals will strengthen Sweden's capacity, innovative capacity and competitiveness in AI, and create next-generation digital solutions in Swedish industry. The projects are expected to have a high level of innovation and result in groundbreaking technology. Funding can be granted to demonstrators, prototypes or pilot installations in the form of, for example, models, tools, applications, frameworks and platforms.

Granted project should move the AI field forward, contribute to groundbreaking results and clearly demonstrate the benefit for Swedish industry. Vinnova welcomes applications that describe project in early phases of technology development as well as project that have progressed further towards implementation and initial commercialization.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia with at least two project partners, which may include companies, universities, university college, research institutes and other relevant actors. At least one company must be part of the consortium to ensure that the project is industrially anchored. All participating partners may be companies.

Funding: 2 to 10 million SEK, maximum 50 percent of the project's total eligible costs.
Project duration: 12 to 36 months.

The preliminary budget of the call is SEK 50 million.

This the call for proposals aims to strengthen Sweden's capacity, innovative capacity and competitiveness in AI, and create next-generation digital solutions within Swedish industry. By advanced and innovative AI we mean project that have a high level of innovation, result in groundbreaking technology or solve a new or existing application problem in an innovative way. The solution can be shown in the form of demonstrators, prototypes or pilot installations in the form of, for example, models, tools, applications, frameworks and platforms. It can also involve highlighting and applying aspects of interoperability through frameworks and standards that represent, distribute and execute AI.

This the call for proposals is part of the Advanced digitalisation programme, an industry-driven programme to promote Sweden's and Swedish industry's ability to create future digital solutions. The programme is an effort from Vinnova in collaboration with industry, and mobilizes actors from different parts of society towards common objective.

The program will be implemented with a long-term perspective and contribute to innovative, enabling technologies and the development of core areas of expertise that meet the needs of the industry. The program's starting point is systems-of-systems, where AI can enable new and combined data flows between different systems for new and expanded areas of use.

This the call for proposals aims in particular to contribute to the following programme performance objectives:

• Sweden has the ability to develop next-generation digital solutions.
• Develop solutions for increased interoperability between digital products, services and systems.
• Contribute to the next generation of advanced, powerful and secure digital solutions – developed in Sweden.
• Strengthen Sweden's attractiveness when it comes to research and innovation investments.
• Contribute to society's digital transformation, sustainable development and the work to achieve Swedish environmental goals.

With this call for proposals Vinnova wants to support the Swedish development of advanced and innovative solutions in artificial intelligence (AI), and we are targeting consortia that can together contribute to the development of advanced and innovative solutions in artificial intelligence.

It is open to a wide variety of problem formulations, innovations and solutions in the field of artificial intelligence.

Read more in the EIT taxonomy for mapping the European AI ecosystem

The project will focus on solving an AI-related problem. This will not be a limited part of the work. The project is expected to move the AI field forward and contribute to groundbreaking results in industrial applications.

The solutions developed should be driven by industrial needs, and need to have a large and clearly demonstrable potential. We expect solid analyses of the solution's benefit, originality and competitiveness. The project results are also expected to have impact and dissemination, and thereby contribute to increasing the competence of Swedish industry, beyond the participating parties.

Genom Agenda By 2030, the world's countries have agreed on a global agreement and understanding of what characterizes sustainable development. Through our efforts, Vinnova contributes to the global commitment to achieving the goals.

Read more about our work to contribute to the goals of Agenda 2030

Inom Agenda 2030, Vinnova has specifically identified climate and gender equality as two central sustainability perspectives that our funded initiatives will contribute positively to. Project funded by Vinnova are therefore expected to take special account of climate and gender equality aspects.

One aspect that Vinnova follows up and assesses is whether both women and men equally benefit from the grant, participate in and have influence over the project. See section 7 under the actor criterion.

Vinnova also analyzes and takes a position on whether there are sex and/or gender aspects that are relevant in relation to the project's scope of application, solutions and utilization.

Read more about what our work for gender-equal innovation means for those seeking funding from us

This question is mandatory for all applicant and is found under the heading Project tasks in Vinnovas Intressentportal. In this call for proposals the question forms the basis for assessment.

Results from research and innovation that are made freely available provide increased opportunities for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. The call for proposals will contribute to making results freely available to everyone, and to scientific publishing being done with open access.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia consisting of at least two project partners.
The projects must be driven by the needs of industry and business and at least one Swedish company must be participant in the consortium. Applicants can come from industry, business, academia, institutes, public activities and public authority.

The participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organization that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs of the project must be able to be linked to the activities at the branch or establishment.

Activities for which funding can be applied for

It is possible to apply for funding for activities that are part of research and development projects with a focus that meets the call's aim according to section 2.

Examples of activities that are eligible for support:

• Investigation of technical and design conditions.
• Development of prototypes or demonstration versions of products, services or processes. Significant improvement of existing products, services or processes. This may also include pilot work, testing and validation.
• Planned research or critical analysis aimed at acquiring new knowledge and skills.
• Research and development of production methods.
• Planning and conducting studies and tests to verify an innovation.
• Investigation of market conditions, for example identifying customers, customer needs, possible partners and competitors.

The duration of the projects can be between 12 and 36 months.

We do not fund routine or recurring changes to existing products, services, manufacturing methods or processes. Nor do we fund training, courses, marketing, sales, ongoing operations, quality assurance, certification, investment in equipment and tools, and intellectual property strategies and protection.

Vinnova's funding can amount to between 2 and 10 million SEK per project. It can amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

Funding to parties carrying out economic activities is granted according to Section 9 of Regulation 2015:208 on state aid for research and development and innovation. This means support for research and development projects. This is described in Article 25 of the EU Commission's Block Exemption Regulation No. 651/2014, known as the GBER.

Both Regulation 2015:208 and GBER are described in more detail on the website about State aid to economic activities. There are also links to the regulations themselves.

Funding to companies will preferably be granted for Industrial research, but in some cases also for Experimental development.

In this call for proposals the following term applies for maximum aid intensity to individual beneficiary:

• Small companies are companies with 1-49 employees and a turnover of a maximum of 10 MEUR. They can have a maximum of 80 percent of their costs covered by funding in this call for proposals.
• Medium-sized companies are companies with 50-249 employees and a maximum turnover of 50 MEUR. Their funding can amount to a maximum of 75 percent of the costs in this call for proposals.
• Large companies have more than 250 employees and a turnover of more than 50 MEUR. For them, a maximum of 65 percent in funding applies in this call for proposals.

Se Kapitel 1, Article 2 of the GBER for definitions:

• Item 85 for Industrial research.
• Item 86 for Experimental Development.

All details about support levels for different purposes and types of organization can be found in a table in the document "Support levels, definitions, etc. for funding according to Vinnova" on the website State aid to economic activities. There you will also find the GBER regulation.

Non state aid is granted to parties that do not carry out economic activities, such as universities and university colleges, research institutes and public activities. Their maximum aid intensity is 100 percent in accordance with Section 5 of the aid scheme.

The total grant budget is provisionally SEK 50 million for this call for proposals.

Prerequisites for us to assess proposal

Vinnova will only assess applications that meet the following formal eligibility requirements:

• The consortium consists of at least two project parties, of which at least one is a Swedish company. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or establishment in Sweden is considered to be a Swedish legal entity and a Swedish company. The costs in the project must be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment.
• All project parties must be legal entities.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• The project described in proposal must not have begun before proposal is submitted.
• Proposal must follow all instructions and contain all attachments according to section 9.

What do we assess?

Proposal must be in line with the call's objective and aim stated in section 2 and are assessed according to the criteria below. In addition to an individual assessment of each project, Vinnova also strives to achieve a certain spread in terms of size of granted project.

Potential (weighted 40 percent):

• The innovative height of the project.
• Potential to contribute to a valuable capacity and expertise in artificial intelligence for Sweden (expertise potential).
• The solution's potential impact and impact on Swedish industry (solution potential).
• The project's impact and impact on Swedish industry.
• The project's potential to promote gender equality in the project's problem area and its utilization.
• The project's potential to contribute positively to the global goals of Agenda 2030, with a particular focus on climate and gender equality.

Actors (weighted 30 percent):

• The project partners' competence, credibility and ability to carry out the project and implement solutions for the identified AI challenge.
• The consortium's roots in Swedish industry and business.
• The ability of the project partners to disseminate, utilize, commercialize and further develop the knowledge generated in the project, both within their own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well the team's key people are composed in terms of gender distribution, as well as the distribution of power and influence between women and men.

Feasibility (weighted 30 percent):

• The realism of the project plan in relation to set objective, methods, activities and budget.
• The participation and relevance of the specified project partners in the project's various work packages and activities.
• How well the project design contributes to the utilization and dissemination of the results, both within the own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well risks are described and managed in the project's implementation.

How do we assess?

Project applications will be assessed in competition and the assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-services.
Schematically, the decision-making process looks as follows:

1. Proposal are submitted via Vinnova's e-services.
2. Applications that meet the formal requirements and the thematic fit of the call will be assessed based on the criteria stated above by Vinnova's appointed evaluator.
3. Selected project may be interviewed.
4. Vinnova makes decisions on which project will be funded and decisions are communicated to applicant.

Vinnova strives to achieve a certain spread of the challenge area and size of the approved projects and reserves the right to apply a portfolio approach to approved project.

How to apply

To apply for funding you fill out a web-based form in Vinnova's e-service for applications, which you can find via the Apply button here.

There you also upload the following attachments:

• Project description, which may not exceed 10 portrait A4 pages with single-column 12-point text. The project description must follow the template that can be downloaded from the call's website.
• Project summary in a separate appendix that may not exceed one A4 page. The project summary must be able to be shared with the program's external program council and must therefore not contain confidential or other sensitive information. The project summary is not part of the assessment process. The project summary must follow the template that can be downloaded from the call's website.
• CV attachment with relevant CVs for the project manager and all key personnel. The attachment is expected to include at least one CV per participant. Varje CV may be a maximum of one A4 page with 12 point text. The CV attachment should follow the template found further down this website.

Only requested pages and attachments will be assessed. References to websites will not be taken into account.

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. You can start filling in the details, save and continue at a later time. When proposal is complete, mark it as done. You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date.

Mark proposal ready well in advance before the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals has closed and proposal has been registered with Vinnova, a confirmation will be sent by email to you who is responsible for the user account, project manager and signatory/department head. It may take a few hours before you receive the email.

If you have not received a confirmation email within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the application period has expired, proposal can only be supplemented upon request from us.