Advanced digitalization: System-changing initiatives, pre-study project 2025

To strengthen Swedish industry's competitiveness and technological leadership, a concerted effort is needed across different industries and sectors of society. This offer is aimed at actors who want to plan for system-changing initiatives in electrification, data flows, AI and digital infrastructure to accelerate the industry's digital transformation.

The offer is being implemented in three stages, with three separate calls for proposals:

1. Pre-study project
2. Collaborative project, stage 1
3. Collaborative project, stage 2

This text describes aim and the conditions for funding feasibility studies.

A feasibility study project should address one of the following areas of intervention:

• System changes for industrial electrification.
• Scalability and standardization for industrial data flows.
• Acceleration of applied industrial AI.
• World-leading applications of digital infrastructure within Swedish areas of strength.
• Test center for advanced applications on digital infrastructure.

In section 12 of the text you will find in-depth information about each focus area.

When the project period is over, the feasibility study projects should have explored and formulated a project idea, mobilized relevant actors, and developed a plan for how an intended collaborative project should be staffed and implemented.

This the call for proposals is aimed at consortia with at least two project partners, where at least one partner is a Swedish company. The project must be driven by the needs of industry and business and the need owner must be engaged in the projects. Applicants can be from industry, business, academia, research institutes, public activities and civil society.

A feasibility study project can last for a maximum of 6 months. Each project can apply for up to 1 million SEK. Vinnova's funding can amount to a maximum of75 percent of the project's eligible costs. The total preliminary budget of the call is 20 million SEK.

The offer is part of the Advanced digitalisationprogram, an industry-driven programme to promote Sweden's and Swedish industry's ability to create future digital solutions. The projects funded will contribute to Sweden's shared ability to create and utilize digitalisation opportunities.

Read more about the program on the Advanced Digitization website

Accelerate the industry's digital transformation

We are addressing actors who want to collaborate and plan for system-changing initiatives in electrification, data flows, AI and digital infrastructure in aim to sustainably accelerate the industry's digital transformation.

The offer 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 project financed through the programme will contribute to Sweden's shared ability to create and utilise the opportunities of digitalisation. In the long term, this will also strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish industry, and contribute to the image of Sweden as an attractive country for research- and innovation in advanced digitalisation.

More detailed information about the program and its objective can be found on the Advanced Digitization website

The offer's focus areas

The call for proposals offers funding for industry-driven feasibility studies within one of the following areas of focus:

• A. System changes for industrial electrification.
• B. Scalability and standardization for industrial data flows.
• C. Acceleration of applied industrial AI.
• D. World-leading applications of digital infrastructure in Swedish areas of strength.
• E. Test center for advanced applications on digital infrastructure.

Section 12 provides in-depth information about each focus area.

Offer in three steps

The offer is implemented in three stages, with three separate calls for proposals. With a step-by-step process, we want to create the conditions for project to develop their consortium, project content and approach to be relevant over time.

The three stages of the offer consist of:

1. Pre-study project (up to 6 months)
2. Collaborative project, stage 1 (up to 3 years)
3. Collaborative project, stage 2 (up to 3 years)

This text describes funding of the first stage, i.e. the call for proposals for feasibility studies.

A feasibility study project should prepare for a collaborative project within one of the offer's prioritized areas of action. See section 12 for more information.

Once the feasibility study is completed, there should be sufficient conditions to initiate and implement a collaborative project that contributes knowledge and solutions within the chosen area of focus.

There is also a clear expectation that a wider circle, in addition to the formally participating projectparties, will be involved in the feasibility study work.

The feasibility study projects should demonstrate clear benefits and potential for Swedish industry through analysis, originality and competitiveness. There is also a clear expectation that a wider circle, in addition to the formally participating project parties, will be involved in the feasibility study work.

Once the feasibility study has been completed, there should be sufficient conditions to initiate and implement a collaborative project that contributes knowledge and solutions within the chosen area of focus.

A feasibility study project should:

• Mobilize relevant actors for a future collaborative project.
• Deepen the needs analysis.
• Conduct a strategic analysis or foresight that highlights opportunities, challenges, issues and choices that may be crucial for the intended collaborative project.
• Develop a project proposal for a collaborative project within the chosen focus area.
• Develop a project logic for a collaborative project, describing the connection between desired effects, project results and implemented activities. A template for describing the project logic will be available for the feasibility studies that are granted.
• Conduct an initial analysis of challenges and risks that can be expected to affect the implementation of a proposed collaborative project.
• Develop an initial, comprehensive strategy and plan for international collaboration.
• Develop an initial idea about how the intended collaborative project will be able to survive even after funding from Vinnova.

Please note that a feasibility study project must have been carried out within the framework of the current the offer in order to apply for funding for a collaborative project. It will be an eligibility requirements that a final report from the feasibility study project be attached to proposal for funding of a collaborative project.

Sustainable system transformation

Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system transformation. To implement sustainable system transformation, we have chosen to base ourselves on the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in the 2030 Agenda. There, Vinnova prioritizes two perspectives: gender equality and climate change. All initiatives and project we finance are assessed based on how they contribute to these perspectives.

We therefore always follow up and assess:

• whether women and men participate in the project on an equal footing, benefit from the contribution and have influence and power over the project,
• how well the project analyses and takes a position on whether there are sex or gender aspects that are relevant to the project's problem formulation, solutions and expected effects,
• How well, with regard to the chosen focus area, the project contributes to the climate transition. For example, how the digital transition can positively contribute to energy efficiency and at the same time entail risks through, for example, increased material consumption.

The projects are expected to reflect on their impact on gender equality and climate change in proposal. In this offer this forms the basis for assessment. Read more about how the assessment is done in section 8.

Gender-equal innovation – what it means for those seeking funding from us

Agenda 2030 as a driver for innovation

Open access to scientific publications and results

When results from research and innovation are made freely available, the opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges increases. Calls for proposals within this the offer should contribute to making more results freely available to everyone. Therefore, all scientific publishing should be open access.

To contribute to aim of the program and the offering, collaboration between actors within and across different industries and sectors of society is required.

This funding offer is aimed at actors and actor constellations who want to collaborate long-term and engage enough relevant project partners to prepare for the implementation of a collaborative project within one of the call's five focus areas.

For funding of a feasibility study project it is required that:

• At least two actors participate as project partners.
• At least one participant is a company to ensure industrial relevance.
• Participant seeking funding must be Swedish legal entities. 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 attributable to activities of the branch or establishment.

The project will be driven by the needs of industry and business, and will therefore also involve stakeholders.

The challenges that the project addresses should be relevant to more actors than those included in the applicant actor constellation. Project proposals that deal with specific interventions without clear spillover effects, and where the benefit only accrues to one or a few individual actors, will not fulfill the purpose of the offer. A feasibility study project is therefore expected to engage a wider circle of actors than the minimum levels specified above. This can be done in several ways, for example via reference groups, open workshops and the like.

Examples of actors in a feasibility study project are:

• Larger industrial companies.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Research organizations such as universities, university college and research institutes.
• Public organizations such as regions, municipalities and authorities.
• Civil society and non-profit organizations.

Foreign actors may be relevant and necessary to include as project partners in the feasibility study project. They may participate as project partners, but cannot receive grant funds in this offer if they do not have a branch or establishment in Sweden.

In this the call for proposals we are funding activities that pave the way for a future collaborative project (stage 1), for example:

• Project lead and coordinate the work during the feasibility study.
• Provide process support and expertise during the feasibility study to promote mobilization.
• Map and analyze needs and describe the future potential and effects of a project within the chosen area of focus.
• Identify and mobilize relevant project- and partners to ensure necessary expertise, openness and inclusion.
• Develop project logic.
• Design strategy and approach, such as method, staffing, work packages and schedule, for project implementation.
• Implement communication efforts to stakeholders outside the project.

A feasibility study project can last a maximum of 6 months.

Please note that the call for proposals for feasibility studies does not fund activities for writing proposal for funding for collaborative projects (stage 1).

Step-by-step funding

The offer consists of funding in three stages: a feasibility study project followed by a collaboration project in two stages (read section 2 above).

Table 1 below states how many project within each focus area Vinnova aims to grant funds. It also states the maximum funding per feasibility study project and collaboration project.

How much funding can a feasibility study project receive?

For feasibility studies projects financed within the offer the following applies:

• The grant can amount to a maximum of SEK 1,000,000.
• The grant rate (the project's total aid intensity) can amount to a maximum of 75 percent of the project's total eligible costs. Please note that the highest grant rate per project is not the same as the maximum permitted aid level per participant (see below, Table 2).

How much funding can a participant in a feasibility study project receive?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern both the types of costs and the proportion of costs that we can finance. This is determined for each organisation individually. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive and how much each participant can receive.

Within the current the call for proposals for feasibility studies, we provide support for feasibility studies, which can be simply described as evaluation and analysis of:

• Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks in an upcoming research and development project.
• What resources are required to implement the project.
• How likely it is that the project will succeed.

Read about support criteria and support levels on Vinnova's website

Within the framework of the current the call for proposals we are granting feasibility study funding in accordance with Article 25 of the EU Commission's General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The proportion of the costs we can finance – i.e. the maximum level of support – depends on the size and type of activity of the organisation.

Support to organizations that do not engage in economic activities

Within the call for proposals for feasibility studies, we also provide support to organizations that do not conduct economic activities. This generally includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations that do not offer a service or product on a market.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such organizations' costs.

How do we determine whether an organization is engaged in economic activities?

An organization that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It does not matter how the organization is financed, whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has – that is, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, the organization is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

What costs can we finance?

Vinnova's funding is covered by state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals the following costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salaries, social security contributions and other personnel costs
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. If costs for consulting services exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget, this must be justified in proposal. The proportion of consulting costs and the justification will be taken into account when assessing your proposal.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as an immediate consequence of but can be related to the project, such as regular premises and cleaning

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be necessary for the activities of the project. Project costs must also be properly accounted for and separated from the organization's other costs. An organization may not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

In order for us to consider and assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, we will reject proposal without further processing or assessment.

Eligibility requirements for project parties

• The consortium consists of at least two project partners, of which at least one participant is a Swedish company.
• All project partners must be legal entities. We do not grant funding to individual companies.
• The coordinating project party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• The project manager must be employed by the coordinator.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project described in proposal must not have begun before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal is written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal follows all instructions given in section 10.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.
• If a project party's costs for external consultants exceed 20% of its budget, a justification for this should be provided in proposal. The person who will perform the work as a consultant should preferably be named.

Once the application period has expired, proposal can only be supplemented at the request of Vinnova.

What do we assess?

The project described in proposal must be in line with the offer's aim and address one of the offer's priority areas of intervention. Proposal is assessed against the assessment criteria relevance, potential, implementation and actors.

Please note that a proposal must meet the criteria of relevance in order to be considered. A proposal that is not deemed to be sufficiently relevant will not be approved. This applies regardless of whether the other criteria are deemed to be well met.

Relevance

• How well the project is judged to be in line with the focus area that applicant addresses in their proposal.

Potential (weighted 40 percent)

• The project's potential to formulate and anchor a vision and milestones of importance for a collaborative project within the addressed area of focus.
• The project's potential to mobilize relevant actors for a collaborative project within the addressed area of focus.
• How well the project is assessed to contribute to increased gender equality.
• How well the project is assessed to contribute positively to relevant sustainability perspectives and how well it is assessed to minimize any negative effects. Relevant sustainability perspectives refer to the perspectives identified in program objectives and areas of focus.

Actors (weighted 30 percent)

• The project manager's commitment, competence and ability to implement the project.
• The individual and collective commitment, competence and ability of the project partners to implement the project.
• The project partners' anchoring in Swedish industry within the chosen focus area.
• How well composed the project team is in terms of gender distribution and the distribution of power and influence between women and men.
• That the project is not more dependent than necessary on consulting services from external actors.

Feasibility (weighted 30 percent)

• The credibility of the project plan in relation to project goals, method and budget.
• The relevance and participation of the project partners in the project's various work packages and activities.
• Strategy and plan for how the project plans to collaborate with other, new or existing, initiatives and efforts in the area.
• How well gender equality has been integrated into the project plan. Clearly described and relevant activities to integrate gender equality aspects into the work
• How well risks are described and expected to be addressed during project implementation.

How do we assess?

The assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-service. Proposal is assessed in competition with other applications received.

The following steps provide a schematic picture of Vinnova's decision-making process:

1. Proposal are submitted via Vinnova's e-service.
2. Applications that meet the formal requirements are evaluated against the above assessment criteria by evaluator appointed by Vinnova.
3. evaluation of the appointed assessors results in a combined recommendation for funding.
4. Vinnova makes decisions about which project will be funded. Vinnova then informs the project coordinator about the project proposal whether funding is granted or rejected.

We also assess financial status

Innan Vinnova decides on funding, a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those seeking funding is also carried out. We use information that we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding, the following applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring. They must also not have unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• SMEs must be able to demonstrate, upon request, that they have sufficient financial capacity to implement the project in accordance with their budget in proposal.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send a decision stating whether Vinnova grants or rejects your proposal. In the decision for an approved proposal, we state how much funding each party in the project will be granted. Our decision cannot be appealed.

What if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding.

The terms and conditions include the following:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so it is a good idea to get this in place before the project starts.
• How the results will be used and how scientific publication will take place.

Read our general terms and conditions on Vinnova's website

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project must be represented at at least two seminars convened by the Advanced digitalisation program during the time the feasibility study project is being carried out.
• The project shall, upon invitation from the program manager, participate in relevant events within the Advanced digitalisation program and thus contribute to the dissemination of knowledge within Swedish industry in accordance with the program's aim.
• In information about the project and in each publication of project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out with support from Vinnova (in English the name is given as Sweden's Innovation Agency) within the Advanced digitalisation program). Publication refers to, for example, publication, regardless of medium, and oral presentations.

Vinnova may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay the loan. This also applies if you have been granted funding incorrectly or for an amount that is too high.

To apply for funding you fill out a proposal in our e-service. Proposal contains questions about the project, project partners and budget.

Please also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Project description
  The project description must be a maximum of 7 portrait A4 pages (excluding cover page and table of contents). The text must be written in Swedish or English with single-column 12-point black text. The project description must follow the template found further down this website, include all specified parts and follow the specified format and content in headings and table headers.
• Project summary
  The project summary is attached in a separate appendix and may be a maximum of 1 portrait A4 page. The text must be written in Swedish or English with single-column 12-point black text. 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 appendix is not part of the assessment process. The project summary must follow the specified template.
• CV attachment
  The CV attachment must contain relevant CVs for the project manager and all key people in the project team. At least one CV from each participant must be attached proposal. Varje CV may be a maximum of 1 portrait A4 page with 12 point text. The CV attachment must follow the specified template.
  Please note, no attachments other than those specified above should be attached to proposal.

Start proposal well in advance

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on the analyses you will do.

I Vinnovas e-service you can start filling in the information and then continue at a later time. You can also distribute permissions to others who you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is complete, mark it as complete.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then mark it as ready for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only supplement if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the external evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep confidential information that we believe could cause financial harm to the individual if disclosed. This could include information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality

2025-02-05
Rewordings in section 12 under headings B, C, D and E. No change in meaning, only wording clarifications.