IST-Africa Horizon 2020 Training Workshops focused on ICT-39-2017

03 October 2016

IST-Africa is organising a series of Horizon 2020 Training Workshops from 26 October to 14 December to provide insights into opportunities open under Horizon 2020 and specifically the ICT-39-2017 Call, which closes on 25 April 2016:

- 26 October 2016, NamPower Convention Centre, Windhoek, Namibia (organised by National Commission on Research Science and Technology, Namibia). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 31 October 2016, National University of Lesotho, Roma, Lesotho (organised by Department of Science and Technology, Lesotho). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 02 November 2016, University of Swaziland (Luyengo Campus), Swaziland (organised by Ministry of ICT, Swaziland). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 10 November 2016, Moi University Nairobi Campus, Bazaar Building, Nairobi (organised by Ministry of Education Science and Technology). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 14 November 2016, COSTECH, Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road, Kijitonyama, Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (organised by COSTECH). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 17 November 2016, Travel Lodge (Plot 28295, Block 3), Gaborone, Botswana (organised by Ministry of Transport and Communications, Botswana). Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 21 November 2016, Hilton, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (organised by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ethiopia). Download Agenda

- 28 November 2016, Sunbird Lilongwe Hotel, Malawi (organised by National Commission for Science and Technology, Malawi), Download Agenda and H2020 Workshop Report

- 09 December 2016, Casa Miltu Hotel, Plot 137/139 Ntinda Road, Kampala, Uganda (organised by UNCST). Download Agenda

- 09 December 2016, National Advanced School of Engineering Polytechnic Yaounde, Cameroon (organised by ANTIC). Download Agenda

- 14 December 2016, Ebene Cybertower, Mauritius (organised by National Computer Board). Download Agenda

Workshop Goals

The purpose of these Horizon 2020 Training workshops is to learn about Horizon 2020 as a research and innovation funding mechanism and specifically to discuss opportunities for African organisations involved in Research and Innovation under the ICT-39-2017 Call and other relevant calls.

Participants should review the IST-Africa Guide to Horizon 2020 and the focus of the ICT-39-2017 Call in advance. It is necessary to review the brainstorming questions in the Agenda in advance and come to the workshop with specific ideas to be discussed.

Focus of ICT-39-2017 Call

The Horizon 2020 ICT-39-2017 Call for Proposals (deadline 25 April 2017) provides a unique opportunity for African institutions undertaking Research and Innovation to co-design an Innovation Action based on addressing end-user requirements in sub-Saharan African countries in cooperation with European partners.

Innovation Actions are focused on technological improvements/adaptations as well as innovative service creation based on existing technologies. Activities should be led by a clearly defined user need/market opportunity for the technology being adapted based on requirements of sub-Saharan African countries identified through co-design . It is therefore necessary to identify a project focus that is relevant in a number of countries from the same region with a sustainability plan for wider roll out following successful validation and project funding.

Proposals should feature an explicit element exploring technology adoption, through understanding and evaluating behavioural responses to the introduction of new technologies in different regional settings. Societal and gender issues will be taken into account.

Based on the focus of this call it will be necessary to ensure that there are multidisciplinary teams - thematic experts in the target domain as well as ICT experts. Based on a number of African countries being involved, it is also necessary to co-design a proposal that addresses a common challenge at national level, that can be validated in a number of scenarios in the different countries.

Innovation Actions have limited research and development related to adaptation of existing technology . It is expected that any research related to the challenge to be addressed and understanding of the state of the art in the thematic area is already undertaken and demonstrated in the proposal submitted. Since demonstration and market validation is the primary focus of an Innovation Action, the consortium must demonstrate relevant links with end-user communities who will be involved in the validation process and this needs to be clearly demonstrated in the proposal submitted.

Horizon 2020 proposals are submitted by a consortia, which brings together necessary complementary expertise to address the project focus from Africa and Europe. It is a requirement of the funding instrument that there are a minimum of 3 European partners from 3 different Member States in addition to the relevant African partners. Horizon 2020 projects are based on a grant to the legal entity who is the partner providing reimbursement of actual costs (personnel rates from payroll, necessary equipment and travel).

Expected Impacts :

- Development of relevant technology responding to specific needs and conditions of the target country;

- Sustainable uptake of results within the targeted countries, beyond the project completion date;

- Reinforced international dimension of the ICT and Innovation aspects of Horizon 2020 and a higher level of international cooperation with low and middle income countries in ICT R&D and Innovation, focusing on areas that are beneficial to the target countries/region;

Type of Action: Innovation Action (18 months - 2 years in duration)

Funding per proposal: 1 - 2 million euro

Deadline: 25 April 2017

Additional Support Information

IST-Africa has also prepared a number of reports and guides, which provide assistance:

IST-Africa Horizon 2020 Guide

IST-Africa Guide to 2017 Calls for proposals within Horizon 2020

Overview of ICT-39-2017 Call

IST-Africa Report on ICT Initiatives and Research Capacity in IST-Africa partner countries

This report provides an overview of the current ICT Initiatives, Research Capacity, mapping of thematic priorities and research capacity in the context of the ICT-39 H2020 Call and updated mapping of research priorities under Horizon 2020 in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda as at January 2016. ISBN No: 978-1-905824-47-2. This is a valuable reference report to assist in identifying partners for inclusion in ICT-39 Proposals.

IST-Africa Project Repository provides insights in previous EU funded projects with participation from IST-Africa partner countries

IST-Africa Organisational Repository provides insights into organisations from Europe and IST-Africa partners who have cooperated in previous EU projects

IST-Africa Paper Repository provides access to research papers published in IST-Africa Conference Proceedings since 2006 including contact details for researchers