Deadline: 02-Oct-2024
The European Commission (EC) is seeking applications for the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) under the component Competence Centers.
Scope
- Chips CCs should have a specialised area of expertise. Each competence centre decides on its specialisation in a certain technology, domain, or set of activities. It should be reflecting the specialisation of the stakeholders of that area/Participating State and should push innovation in that area within the Union. Examples of areas of expertise are Chips for medical devices, power electronics, cutting-edge semiconductors, heterogeneous integration, packaging, metrology, EDA simulation tools, Chips for automotive, silicon photonics and photonic integrated circuits, quantum Chips, system design, etc.
- Chips CCs shall offer several support activities. Offering such support activities is common to all Chips CCs and is a necessary characteristic to belong to the network of competence centres. Support activities can be:
- Awareness raising, promoting services, promoting success stories: the services offered by Chips CCs may be new and may not be well recognised in the beginning. Therefore, Chips CCs need to raise awareness about their services, need to promote their services, and may need to develop an outreach program to promote the Chips CC services to potential user companies, esp. smaller enterprises. Chips CCs may need to go to many events in their countries to increase familiarity of their services with their target customers. They may need to target specific vertical sectors. They may need to promote success stories that show how their services benefit their customers. They may need to hire staff with the right soft skills to interact with customers and provide the interface between technical Chips CC staff and customers.
- Facilitate access to the design platform and to pilot lines by providing information and support on how to access the platform or the pilot lines when users do not have the knowledge or expertise to do so directly.
- Support interested users in developing semiconductor solutions (technology transfer) by supporting technology transfer activities at local/regional/national level and – where needed – at EU level. Research activities as well as operation, administration or procurement of infrastructures are not within the scope of Chips CCs, but competence centres are expected to advise on such activities and support knowledge transfer e.g. from relevant R&I initiatives to the local semiconductor ecosystem. Support could also be in the form of matchmaking between a research organization and a user.
- In addition, Chips CCs could grant facilitated access to experts in such areas as legal compliance and business development. They may offer assistance to SMEs in creating business plans and conducting market studies.
- Providing (access to) training on skills: Advanced training on specific design and manufacturing skills and practices is often difficult to access for SMEs and other stakeholders. They need access to education services for development of skills in different disciplines but also for different audiences or levels (e.g. bachelor, masters level), access to top-level teachers, or support for the set-up of a credentials/micro-credentials framework. Chips CCs should support local and national training and skills development in the area of semiconductor technologies through face-to-face as well as online training (e.g. via MOOC platforms). Chips CCs should determine what is needed in their countries, should know the competences of other Chips CCs, and – where needed – provide trainings to other CCs (‘train-the-trainer’). Trainings can be provided by CCs themselves, or by third parties hired by the centres. A variety of training models can be used, ranging from alternation model or cluster model, via on-the-job trainings and apprenticeships, to crash courses and mentoring programmes.
- Participate in the organization of a European Network of Chips Competence Centres (ENCCC) and facilitate the access to this network. Part of the resources of a Chips CC should be dedicated to building and extending this network, in collaboration with a Coordination and Support Action. Chips CCs should help stakeholders, especially smaller companies such as SMEs and start-ups, to connect to other competence centres within the overall network of competence centres. They should provide stakeholders with information on relevant competences in the network as well as on national and international programs, companies, and research centres in semiconductors. A Chips CC should help a stakeholder to connect to the right competence centres within the overall network of competence centres, if the local/national Chips CC does not have the right competences to support the stakeholder. In return, a Chips CC will support stakeholders from other regions and countries that need its (specialised) expertise through the network of competence centres.
- Chips CC should act as entry points to other European initiatives, such as the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, HPC competence centres, cybersecurity centres, etc. The goal is to ensure that national stakeholders have access to the best available expertise and support in Europe, by matching stakeholders’ needs with the available expertise in the network of competence centres. Such expertise may be the specialisation of another competence centre and be accessible through the ENCCC.
- Promoting the Chips Fund and facilitating access to venture capital: SMEs and startups are often faced with insufficient financial support and have difficulties to get loans, equity, and/or grants. In particular, startups experience difficulties in managing resources and investment at the initial stage. Competence centres in semiconductors may support SMEs, startups, and other companies to access the Chips Fund. They may also support companies in finding investors, including venture capital.
- Awareness raising, promoting services, promoting success stories: the services offered by Chips CCs may be new and may not be well recognised in the beginning. Therefore, Chips CCs need to raise awareness about their services, need to promote their services, and may need to develop an outreach program to promote the Chips CC services to potential user companies, esp. smaller enterprises. Chips CCs may need to go to many events in their countries to increase familiarity of their services with their target customers. They may need to target specific vertical sectors. They may need to promote success stories that show how their services benefit their customers. They may need to hire staff with the right soft skills to interact with customers and provide the interface between technical Chips CC staff and customers.
- Chips CCs should primarily offer services that address the needs from their prime user communities. Nevertheless, Chips CCs should also answer the needs from other organisations, e.g. from other countries, and work in close coordination and collaboration with the rest of the Network to achieve the highest possible impact, ensure the most efficient use of the CCs’ resources, and to avoid duplication of efforts among the Chips CCs and with other initiatives, such as the European Digital Innovation Hubs.
Funding Information
- The Union will make available up to EUR 1 million per year, per country, for a 4-year period.
Expected Outcomes
- The competence centres shall
- promote the actions developed by the Chips JU in the frame of the Chips for Europe Initiative as well as the success stories.
- be a first entry point for users (mainly SMEs and startups) and guide users in accessing the other infrastructures set up by the Chips JU under the Initiative: the design platform and the pilot lines.
- be essential in facilitating skill development activities.
- support companies in accessing the Chips Fund.
- Perform other activities that can help European organizations (mainly SMEs and startups) to develop their activities in the frame of the Chips for Europe initiative and vice versa support the consortia that implement the pilot lines and the design platform to reach out to the larger community of organizations that could profit from those efforts.
Eligibility Criteria
- In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
- non-EU countries:
- listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme
- Specific cases
- Natural persons — Natural persons are not eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
- International organisations — International organisations are not eligible, unless they are International organisations of European Interest within the meaning of Article 2 of the Digital Europe Regulation (i.e. international organisations the majority of whose members are Member States or whose headquarters are in a Member State).
- Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.
- EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) cannot be part of the consortium.
- Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will not be eligible).
- Countries currently negotiating association agreements — Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations for participating in the programme (see list of participating countries above) may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature and if the association covers the call (i.e. is retroactive and covers both the part of the programme and the year when the call was launched).
For more information, visit EC.