Call for Proposal for Digital Innovation Hubs in Nigeria

Deadline: 11-Nov-22

The Digital Transformation Center Nigeria (DTC Nigeria) has launched the Digital Innovation Hubs, a coordinated group of organisations with complementary expertise and a public-benefit objective, offering a set of services and activities to small businesses to support their digital transformation and innovation through a one-stop shop.

DTC Nigeria aims to improve the capacities of the innovation ecosystem – policy implementation, performance of organisations and networks as service providers for the digital economy, offering scalable digital solutions, competences – for the growth of the digital economy. The project is working closely with Nigerian actors in the innovation ecosystem such as: National Information and Technology Development Agency, research institutions, innovation hubs, hub networks, start-ups, MSMEs and women.

The DTC Nigeria is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Its primary focus is on Digitalization and Entrepreneurship. The project aims to contribute to the improvement of the capacity of the Nigerian economy to implement digital innovations for growth, through supporting the digital transformation of the economy and society.

Focus Areas

A Digital Innovation Hub needs to provide Services and Activities along Four Areas:

Test Before Invest
- Should allow companies to try out a digital technology and validate its benefits and feasibility before investing in it.
Skills & Development
- Should provide companies and their employees with the required skills to understand, evaluate, implement and operate the deployed digital technologies.
Ecosystem Building
- Should foster the cooperation between existing and the emergence of new actors within the local innovation ecosystem.
Access to Financial Loans
- A Digital Innovation Hub should advise and broker financing options to companies that want to deploy a digital technologies in their operation.

Objectives

DTC Nigeria will support the formation and operationalisation of two (2) Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in Nigeria that will:

Drive the digital transformation of MSMEs across Nigeria and build regional innovation ecosystems around them.
Link with the African and European networks of Digital Innovation Hubs to foster technology and knowledge transfer.

Benefits

Through this call for proposal, DTC Nigeria will select suitable DIH consortia for the creation of Digital Innovation Hubs in Nigeria; one in the Green Economy Sector (Agtech, circular economy or clean tech) and in other in-demand sectors. Successful applicants with selected proposals will receive the following benefits:

Comprehensive training program on the creation, set-up and management of Digital Innovation Hubs.
Financial support to cover the costs for setting up structures, processes and logistics in the Digital Innovation Hubs, service development/provision, staffing, equipment (i.e., facilities, websites, dissemination materials, legal and IPR consultancy services, administrative support), as well as for travel and accommodation costs.
A Mentor in form of an already fully operational DIH, to support the mentee in networking with other DIHs, investors, innovative entrepreneurs, potential customers, etc.,
Business development support.
Networking with African and European DIHs, investors, innovative entrepreneurs, and ICT start-ups.
Study trips to African & European DIHs to facilitate knowledge exchange.

Who are they looking for?

DTC Nigeria is looking for organizations that will form a consortium (minimum of two partnering organization) to create two (2) DIHs in Nigeria. Such organisations can be, but are not limited to,

Technology and/or Innovation Centers,
Science, Technology and/or Innovation Hubs,
Entrepreneurship Support Organizations (Incubators, Accelerators, Investors, etc.),
Business Support Organizations (Chambers of Commerce, Sectoral Associations, etc.),
Innovative companies / private Technology Providers, cutting edge technology focused Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs),
Development Agencies and Organizations (Economic, Regional, SME, Industrial and/or Technological Development),
Research & Development Organisations (R&D).
Universities/faculties and/or university/faculty-based research centers.
Vocational Training Institutes,
Industrial Clusters, IT-related associations/companies,
Public or private funding/finance organizations.

Outputs

This will be achieved through working in the following outputs:

Output 1: By promoting innovation-friendly framework conditions for the digital economy my by improving cooperation between policy actors and actors in the innovation ecosystem from the private sector, science and research as well as civil society;
Output 2: Through the capacity development of selected actors in the innovation ecosystem and promoting cooperation of Nigerian hubs.
Output 3: By promoting innovative digital solutions by building innovation partnerships with (international) business and
Output 4: Through the development and institutional anchoring of a further training format to promote digital and entrepreneurial skills among women.

Eligibility Criteria

To enter into the application process for the creation of Digital Innovation Hubs in Nigeria, applications subject to this call for proposals need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

Consortia Eligibility Criteria:
- Applications must be presented by consortia consisting of a minimum of two (2) organizations.
- The consortium members must have at minimum an internal agreement to enter into the creation of a Digital Innovation Hub aiming a public benefit, under the following principles:
  - That it is created with the mission to support companies in their digital transformation.
  - That it is created to serve the interest of the general public and not (primarily) to support profit-making interests.
  - That the DIH’s activities will not give rise to more than incidental economic benefit to the Consortium, its partners or affiliated entities.
  - That it does not compete with existing commercial offerings.
  - That it has identified the roles and responsibilities of its consortium members.
- The consortium’s purpose must include the provision of services to small businesses to support their digital transformation and innovation.
- Each consortium members must have minimum five (5) full time staff collaborators and the partnership consortium overall must have at least ten (10) full time staff collaborators.
- The consortium members must have complementary expertise in technology, application area and financial capacity to create the hub.
Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Project proposal Eligibility Criteria: The DIH will have a dedicated specialization area, in either:
- Green Economy (Ag. Tech, circular economy and clean tech) or,
- Any other in-demand sector.

For more information, visit https://www.dtcnigeria.ng/DIH