Digital infrastructure and communication - spring 2024

Call for proposals within the Advanced digitalisation programme

Visit the program website for more information

This the call for proposals offers funding for research and innovation projects that, through collaboration, will develop new solutions within digital infrastructure and communication. The projects must address challenges in digitalisation of industry and business. They must also contribute to increasing Sweden's ability to create and use digital infrastructure and communication.

The call for proposals is part of the program Advanced digitalisation, an industry-driven programme to promote Sweden's and Swedish industry's ability to create the digital solutions of the future.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia consisting of at least two project parties, of which at least one is a Swedish company. The applicant can be from industry, business, academia, institute, public activities or public authority. The projects must be driven by the needs of industry and business, and the owners of the needs must be involved in the projects.

The duration of the projects can be 12 to 36 months. Each individual project can apply for funding in the range between 2 and 10 million kroner. Vinnova's funding can amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the project's eligible costs. The call's preliminary budget is SEK 40 million.

The call for proposals is part of the program Advanced digitalisation, an industry-driven programme to promote Sweden's and Swedish industry's ability to create the digital solutions of the future.

The project that are financed must address the needs of industry and business for advanced digital infrastructure in the near term and in the future. Overall lessons learned and results from funded project must be able to be shared openly after the end of the project. In this way, the projects can contribute to Sweden's ability to create and use digital infrastructure and communication.

The call for proposals must particularly contribute to the following results- and impact goals within the program:

• Sweden has the ability to develop next-generation digital solutions.
• Swedish industry has an ability to quickly use new digital solutions.
• Develop solutions for increased interoperability between digital products, services and systems.
• Lower climate footprint and energy use through digital solutions - despite increased use.
• Digital solutions that contribute to desired effects in terms of sustainability.
• Dissemination of solutions and knowledge in advanced industrial digitalisation to other parts of society.

Read about the program Advanced digitalisation

Communication systems and digital infrastructure form the basis of digitalisation. The possibilities of being able to connect and connect secure systems and devices are continuously developing, and therefore the communication networks need to be updated and modernized. In order to meet eligibility requirements for future services and applications, capacity, stability, security and quality need to be improved. Use of modern communication technology within Swedish business needs to be increased and facilitated. Use of standardized protocols and interfaces is also important to ensure interoperability between devices and systems in digital solutions.

The use of digital technology is continuously expanding in various sectors of business and society. This means that traffic volumes and stresses on the underlying infrastructure increase. An expected consequence is increased data streams and continued exponential development of traffic in networks. To reduce the risk of delays, and to keep data as close to the user as possible, there is therefore a need to greatly increase execution capacity through, for example, distributed networks. In distributed networks, computing and storage capacity can interoperate with cloud environments. Computing capacity and storage technology are two other important areas of development.

Other relevant aspects are stability and the use of open standards. Industrial environments are becoming increasingly automated and dependent on digital tools, and this requires robust communication networks. They need to withstand stresses and disturbances without affecting its functionality. Open standards ensure interoperability and applicability. Regulatory and intellectual property related issues are also important aspects.

This call for proposals focuses on collaborative projects within digital infrastructure and communication. The proposed projects must be relevant to one or more of these technical focus areas:

Use of 5G in public and private 5G networks

Access to 5G networks and services for business digitalisation, both through dedicated resources in public networks and own private 5G networks.

This is to ensure:

• robustness
• security
• low latency
• time reference
• energy efficiency
• flexibility
• handling large amounts of data (big data)
• data flows

Exploratory research and innovation around 6G
With sub-questions such as cognitive networks that automatically adapt to changing conditions and use, for example:

• networks with integrated, distributed or centralized computing resources
• resilient networks with disruption management and protection against intrusion or manipulation
• seamless connection between different technologies and devices
• ultra-dense networks or resource-efficient networks.

Durability
Innovative solutions that address sustainability aspects within:

• the grid's energy use
• data center energy use
• sustainable 5G or 6G networks
• development of algorithms and software for energy-efficient and energy-saving functions
• applications and services.

Applications
Applications and digital systems that, for example, address:

• digital ecosystems with end-to-end functionality
• low latency applications
• open standards for protocols and data representation in communication but also from trade associations
  real-time cloud services
• legal and privacy aspects linked to handling large amounts of data
• connected simple to adaptive learning sensors
• human-machine interface including the next generation Internet. For example, tactile internet or internet and senses.

Resilient digital infrastructure
That is, systems that can withstand disturbances and impacts:

• both locally, privately and via cloud services as well
• security in interaction between private and public communication systems.

Results from research and innovation that are made freely available increase the opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. The call for proposals should contribute to making more results freely available to everyone, and that scientific publication should take place with open access. The fact that project adheres to open standards is seen as positive.

Two central sustainability perspectives

In addition to the above, Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and community development. Genom Agenda 2030, the countries of the world have agreed on a global agreement and understanding of what characterizes sustainable development. Genom Vinnovas's efforts, we contribute to the global commitment to reach the goals.

In Inom Agenda 2030, Vinnova has specifically identified climate and gender equality as two central sustainability perspectives to which our funded investments should contribute positively. Project financed by Vinnova are thus expected to take special account of climate and gender equality aspects.

Two equality perspectives that we look at and analyze in applications are:

• if women and men equally share in the contribution, participate in and have influence over the project (see section 7 under the actor criterion for more information).
• if there are gender or gender aspects that are relevant linked to the project's problem area, solutions and exploitation.

Free accessibility to results from research and innovation gives increased opportunity for more people to contribute to solutions to societal challenges. This call for proposals should contribute to making more results freely available to everyone, and that scientific publication should take place with open access.

Information about the work to contribute to the goals in Agenda 2030 is available on Vinnova's website

Information about what the work for equal innovation means for those looking for funding can be found on Vinnova's website

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia with at least two project partners, which may include companies, universities, university college, research institutes, public activities or authorities.

The projects must be driven by the needs of the industry and at least one company must be part of the consortium. All participating parties can be companies.

Participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a foreign organization that has a branch or place of business in Sweden is equated with a Swedish legal person. The costs in the project must be attributable to the branch's or operating location's activities.

Activities for which funding can be applied for

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

Examples of eligible activities:

• Investigation of technical and design conditions.
• Development of prototypes or demonstrators. This may also include pilot work, testing and validation.
• Research and development of production methods.
• Planning and conducting studies or tests to verify an innovation.
• Investigation of market conditions, for example identifying customers, customer needs, possible collaboration partners and competitors.

We do not finance routine or recurring changes to existing products, services, manufacturing methods or manufacturing processes. Neither are educational efforts, courses, marketing, sales, ongoing operations, quality assurance, certification, investment in equipment and tools, and intellectual property strategies and protection.

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

Eligible costs

Our funding takes place through funding. Funding for organizations that carry out economic activities is covered by rules on state support. The rules govern, among other things, which types of costs and what proportion of them may be covered by funding.

The general conditions for a cost to be eligible for support are described in section two of the document "Instructions for Vinnova's term on eligible costs". A detailed description of each cost type is given in section four of the instructions. You can find the document under the heading " Eligible costs" on Vinnova's website

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

For organizations that conduct economic activities, funding is granted with support of § 9 of Regulation 2015:208 on state support for research, development and innovation (the support scheme), i.e. support for research and development projects according to article 25 of the GBER. The project's activities shall constitute industrial research. You can find current regulations on Vinnoa's website: State support for economic activities

For Industrial research, the following maximum support levels apply to an individual beneficiary based on organization type:

• Small companies are companies with 1-49 employees, with a turnover of a maximum of EUR 10 million. They can have a maximum of 70 percent of their costs covered by funding.
• Medium-sized companies are companies with 50-249 employees, with a maximum turnover of EUR 50 million. Their funding can amount to a maximum of 60 percent of the costs.
• Large companies have more than 250 employees, with a turnover of more than EUR 50 million. For them, a maximum of 50 percent in fundingapplies.

Companies can receive an additional 15 percent support, up to a maximum of 80 percent, if they meet certain term. More information can be found in the document "Support levels, definitions and more for funding according to Vinnova" on Vinnova's website:
State support for economic activities

For organizations that carry out non-economic activities, state aid is not granted in accordance with § 5 of the aid scheme. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organizations that do not offer any goods or services on a market. Funding will be granted with a maximum of 100 percent aid intensity.

Note, however, the requirement of a maximum of 50 percent aid intensity for the project as a whole.

The total grant budget is provisionally SEK 40 million for this call for proposals.

Conditions for us to assess proposal

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

• The project must have at least two project parties, of which at least one party must be a Swedish company.
• All project parties must be legal entities.
• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• The project must not have started before proposal is submitted.
• Proposal must follow all instructions and contain all appendices according to section 10.
• The project manager must be employed by a participant.

What do we assess?

Proposal must be in line with the call's objective and aim stated in section 2 and will be assessed according to the criteria below.

Potential

• Potential to contribute to the program's objective within one or more of the call's designated technical focus areas to:
  - Sweden has the ability to develop next-generation digital solutions.
  - Swedish industry has an ability to quickly use new digital solutions.
  - Develop solutions for increased interoperability between digital products, services and systems.
  - Lower climate footprint and energy use through digital solutions - despite increased use.
  - Digital solutions that contribute to the desired effects in terms of sustainability.
  - Dissemination of solutions and knowledge in advanced industrial digitalisation to other parts of society.
• Strengthen Sweden's attractiveness in terms of research and innovation investments.
• Potential to develop knowledge and skills that promote advanced digitalisation that renews Swedish industry.
• The project's potential impact and impact on Swedish industry.
• The project's potential to contribute positively to the global goals in Agenda 2030, as well as minimize the negative effects.

Actors

• The competence, credibility and ability of the project parties to implement the project.
• The consortium's anchoring in Swedish industry.
• The project partners' ability to spread, utilize, commercialize and further develop the knowledge generated in the project, both within their own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well the project team is composed with regard to gender distribution, as well as the distribution of power and influence between women and men.

Feasibility

• The realism of the project plan in relation to set objective, methods, activities and budget.
• The participation and relevance of the specified project parties in the project's various work packages and activities.
• How well the project structure 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 implementation of the project.
• How well relevant sustainability perspectives have been integrated into the project plan. Relevant sustainability perspectives refer to Agenda 2030 with a particular focus on climate and gender equality.

The applications will be assessed in competition and the assessment is based on the electronic proposal submitted via Vinnova's e-services.

Schematically, the decision process looks like this:

1. Proposal are submitted via Vinnova's e-services.
2. The applications that meet the formal requirements will be assessed based on the criteria stated above by Vinnova's appointed evaluator.
3. The assessment results in a recommendation for funding. Vinnova makes decisions about which project are to be financed and decisions are communicated to applicant.

In addition to an individual assessment of each proposal, Vinnova may apply a portfolio perspective to achieve a certain spread of the granted projects, regarding aspects such as areas of application and size of project.

This is how you apply

To apply for funding, you fill in a web-based form in Vinnova's e-service for applications, which can be accessed via the Apply button further down the page.

In the e-service, you upload the following attachments:

• Project description that may comprise a maximum of ten vertical A4 pages with single-column 12-point text. The project description must follow the mandatory template that can be downloaded from the call's website.
  
• Project summary in a separate appendix that may cover a maximum of one vertical A4 page. 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. Advanced digitalisation has a program council with representatives from Swedish industry. The Program Council participates in the design of calls for proposals based on industrial needs in order to fulfill the program's objectives. The project summary is not part of the assessment process. The project summary must follow the mandatory template that can be downloaded from the call's website.
• CV attachment for key personnel according to mandatory template. Varje CV may be a maximum of one A4 page with 12-point text. The CV attachment must follow the mandatory template that can be downloaded from the call's website.

Only requested pages and attachments will be assessed. References to web pages will not be considered.

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

Mark proposal ready in good time before the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals has closed and proposal has been registered with Vinnova, a confirmation is sent by e-mail to you who are responsible for the user account, project manager and company signatory/prefect. It may take a few hours before you receive the email.

If you have not received a confirmation by e-mail within 24 hours after the call for proposals has closed, please contact us.

When the application period has expired, completion of proposalcan only take place upon request from us.