Deadline: 19-Dec-21
The German Government and Federal State Programme is organizing an international digital ideas competition “E-Mobility Solutions Challenge”, with the aim of finding highly qualified solution providers with innovative approaches to specific development challenges.
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) implements the German Government and Federal States Programme (Bund-Länder-Programm, BLP). The BLP, based in Hamburg, is the organizer of the Decentralised Development Lab.
The winners of the Call for Ideas take part in an Incubator Program. At the end of the Incubator Program, one of them has a chance to win a follow-up support package that supports the implementation of the winning solution beyond the incubator program.
Challenge Description
The challenges posed to multiple cities in the global south, which aim to procure electric buses for their (municipal) fleets can be characterized as following:
- Limited financial capacities at bus operators and municipal transport authorities
- High procurement costs
- Missing (government) incentives to invest in zero-emission buses
- High import taxes
- Lack of knowledge in the area of business models, finance, tendering, operation & maintenance
- Limited access to finance
Applicant teams can use the Call for Ideas to develop ideas and approaches to create innovative solutions for e-bus project financing in Jakarta (Indonesia) who consistently pursue the goal of sustainable development. The aim of the challenge is to attract additional investments into e-bus projects. The potential solutions can consist of new investment models (independent, bankruptcy-remote trust funds), business models (e.g. separation of ownership and operation), as well as innovative finance structures (e.g. leasing, green bonds).
All solutions can involve private and public investors willing to invest into e-buses and its infrastructure. By mixing public and private actors, risk and responsibilities can be shifted away from municipal authorities, which often don’t have the capacities to bear those alone. With the solutions developed in the DDLab e-bus investments in Jakarta should be made easy, accessible and in the end provide tangible environmental, health and economic benefits for the region.
Online Workshop Series
- Another great opportunity for networking and co-creative exchange is the three online workshop series.
- The aim of the Navigation Session on December 2, 2021 between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. (UTC) is to explain the overall programme and Challenge to you and give you the opportunity to ask questions to the Challenge Owners.
- In the Co-creation Session on December 8, 2021 between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. (UTC), you will be given the opportunity to develop co-creatively innovative ideas with the help of creative methods and the diverse community.
- The aim of the Collaboration Session on December 13, 2021 between 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. (UTC) is to identify with you which new team members can help you in your team and idea development and to give you the opportunity to recruit them. Furthermore, there is the possibility of getting support from the diverse community in the development of your own idea.
- You do not need to register for the sessions, but can simply click on “click to join” for each session and go directly to the video conference.
Funding Information
- The winning team will receive a support package tailored to the implementation of the winning solution during a seven-month acceleration. The total value of the support package to be awarded is up to EUR 200,000, paid in instalments only upon successful completion of certain milestone and trainings,, consisting of:
- 40.000€ financial support to be divided amongst the team members; This support is intended to compensate participants for their expenses and to cover costs that are not eligible for funding.
- 160.000€ funding for external experts based on the needs identified at the end of the incubation phase. These experts are commissioned and invoiced by an external party in order to minimise the administrative costs for the project teams.
- Prize (incubation phase): The four selected teams are each entitled to a 5-month incubator program as well as technical and financial support equivalent up to EUR 50,000 to support them in developing a solution for the challenge. The financial support is broken down as follows:
- 8.000€ direct financial support to be divided between the team members (only applicants from low- and medium-income countries are eligible) and transferred in tranches upon successful participation in the incubator program; This support is intended to support the livelihood of team members from low- and medium-income countries.
- 12.000€ funding for external experts based on the needs identified by the teams. These experts are commissioned and invoiced by an external party in order to minimise the administrative costs for the project teams.
- Coaching, workshops, training and support services already built into the incubator equivalent to 30.000€.
Eligibility Criteria
The idea competition is open to teams of at least three, at most six people and from two different organisations consisting of:
- Innovative start-ups
- socially oriented micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
- Research institutions and associations
- Universities and colleges
- State and quasi-state institutions
- Individuals
All participants must already have a passport valid until at least 01.02.2023 at the time of registration for potential travelling to Germany for workshops and events. This will depend on any travel restrictions that could be in place.
Selection Criteria
Before the ideas will be evaluated, participants have to pass the following eligibility criteria:
- The participant must be part of a team consisting of min. 3 team members; the max. is 6 team members;
- A team needs to consist of team members coming from a minimum 2 different organizations;
- The team needs to consists of at least 30 percent of female or gender diverse people;
- The solution will be developed for the challenge-related region(s);
- Each applicant can only apply for one challenge;
- Each applicant needs to be at the age of min. 18 years;
- Each applicant needs to have a personal bank account in their name in order to qualify for support;
- All team members must be fluent in English;
- Only complete applications will be considered.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3DKckMB