FAQ

STAKEHOLDER FORUM

  • 1.Is there any possibility to extend the piloting period in the first round?
    We are still looking into this option, TBC.

    2. Do projects have to contribute to sustainability aspects? How?(sustainability=environment, climate neutrality, GD-related issues...); will this be included in the selection criteria?
    Pilots should look at those areas that contribute to the objectives of Green Deal and state what the specific contributions are.

    3. How does the evaluation process work?
    Eligibility check followed by evaluation by an expert jury. If eligible, your application is forwarded to three experts related to the field, whose evaluation determines the result.

    4. How is eligibility assessed?
    Compliance with the requirements set to the consortium. Eligibility check grid (legal, financial, technical, maturity). We assess in-time submission, respecting page limits, the applicant’s legal status and passing ethical checks, amongst others.

    5. Which guidelines should be considered for ethics?
    Identify possible work/challenges for the GDPR or trustworthy AI and use the proposal to plan tasks and deliverables to show that you will work on these challenges.

    6. Is there a reserve list of applications?
    A reserve list is created from each application round in case the selected projects do not meet the requirements after financial and legal checks.

    DISCLAIMER

    This is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as legal or financial advice. Every organisation must seek its own independent advice regarding the legal and financial framework for the DS4SSCC-DEP action. This document is derived from the European Data Space for Smart Communities Stakeholder Forum meeting and is made available to the project’s Stakeholder Forum members.

  • 1.Can the 50% Co-Funding come from Other European Programs? or from Programs like the RRF?
    Potentially yes. Most importantly is that the resources are directly indicated in the budget. This is to avoid double funding. Co-financing has to be a dedicated cost as indicated directly in the budget for the pilot and it has to be auditable.

    2. Timeline: when will the first round's applications be evaluated / granted funding?
    This will be announced when the application opens, but expected is immediately after the application rounds closes, and first rounds of pilots will probably start in August/September.

    3. Is it possible to extend the beginning of the pilot to January 2025? We will have three rounds of application, so you can apply in a later round if you wish to start later on.

    4. Who will apply to the tender: cities/municipalities, vendors, or both?
    Consortiums must comprise at least two public administrations from different member states. Companies, academia, NGOs can also be part of the consortium.

    5. Who can be a consortium leader?Companies/ municipalities/ universities?
    Everyone can be a leader.

    6. Can there be more than one city/municipality from the same EU state (with an additional/mandatory city/municipality from another EU state)?
    Yes.

    7. Is there a maximum for in-kind contributions?
    In principle, in-kind contributions are not accepted as co-financing, but if applicable, proposals must justify the in-kind contribution.

    8. Can we include personnel costs in the 50%?
    All costs have to be directly visible in the pilot-budget to be eligible. They will have to be documented and accountable. We don’t distinguish between permanent staff and temporary staff (individuals). They will have to hand in timesheets as documentation for their work alongside their contract.

    9. Any limitations on what can be considered in-kind? Like software or data?
    In principle, in-kind contributions are not eligible, co-financing has to be directly stated in the budget. If some in-kind contributions are needed to set up the project, a limited amount can be considered.

    10. Can we calculate salaries of project experts as an in-kind contribution?
    See question number 5.

    11. I have understood that the max budget for a proposal is 3M€, independently from the number of public administrations involved (minimum two, but not limited to), correct?
    Depends on your co-financing. This has to be at least 50%. The EU contribution is maximum 1.5 mil EUR, but you can in theory bring in 10 mil EUR in co-financing if you wish.

    12. The EU contribution is 1.5 million per pilot so 750 k euros if there are 2 countries?
    We do not prescribe what is the split of budget between countries, but it should be distributed equal to their role in the pilot.

    13. What happens if two offices from the same city administration apply for two different pilots? Is it possible?
    It is possible

    14. Is a public regional agency considered as a public administration?
    In principle, yes.

    15. Applicants need to have done the “LORDIMAS Digital Maturity Assessment” and come out as Digitally native or digitally optimised. How is this self assessment validated? Also, if this applies to all partners in a consortium, how is it applied to those with a non-technical background/contribution?
    It will more likely be a recommendation rather than a requirement. TBD

    16. Is there a risk that no more projects will be selected after the 1st wave if there are many applicants?
    No. We expect to select 1-2 pilots in the first round, and 3-4 in the second and third round. Important also to note here that you are welcome to re-submit your application, so actually you can apply for all three rounds.

    17. Is it correct that the 50% co-financing should be in the data space pilot and not in the application?
    To be investigated. In general, we look at the pilot budgets on the project level - the total grant received by the European Commission needs to be matched at least with 50% of co-financing that is both accountable and auditable.

    18. Is hardware eligible cost if it is needed for use-case to plugin to Data Space?
    It has to be documented that it is for the project and needed by the project. This also needs to consider the depreciation rate. For example, if the hardware’s expected lifetime is 80 months and the pilot project runs for 16 months, only 20% (16/80) of the cost is eligible.

    19. Can the same city apply for two different applications? Being in two different consortiums?
    Yes.

    20. Is it possible to apply for a smaller amount than what you have suggested, and also to extend the duration of the pilot? It can be tricky to use 2-3 mil. EUR in just 12-16 months.
    To be investigated.

    DISCLAIMER

    This is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as legal or financial advice. Every organisation must seek its own independent advice regarding the legal and financial framework for the DS4SSCC-DEP action. This document is derived from the European Data Space for Smart Communities Stakeholder Forum meeting and is made available to the project’s Stakeholder Forum members.

  • 1.Could you give any example of “high level of technological maturity”?
    Having at least a data platform or digital twin in place in the city or community. Of course, an emerging data space is also welcome.

    2. Are there requirements for compliance? On Gaia-X or FIWARE Data Spaces Connectors?
    You can follow any implementation that is compliant with the indications in the Technical Blueprint which is also following the recommendations of the Data Spaces Support Centre blueprint.

    3. Applicants need to have done the “LORDIMAS Digital Maturity Assessment” and come out as Digitally native or digitally optimized. How is this self assessment validated? It seems to me, easy to ‘state’ that one is at a more advanced state, and indeed this is very often the case in self evaluation, to think and hope that one has come some way.
    Recommendation, not required. TBD.

    4. SIMPL middleware. A part form SIMPL, what other preparatory works and framework should be followed/adhere to?
    We recommended to follow also these frameworks:

    5. We are working on a project whose outcome will be the design of a Data Space. Could we combine both initiatives?
    We recommend not to replicate the work and rely on available design assets provided by the DS4SSCC and DSSC.

    The European Data Space for Smart Communities aims at federating all the existing and upcoming data spaces at local, regional or national level. By following the same approach in the blueprint, all can be interoperable. We recommend that to be compliant with our Technical Blueprint to make the federation feasible.

    6. Will DS4SSCC blueprint be implemented with SIMPL framework? What is as-is and to-be connection between both?
    The components of data spaces can be implemented from different implementers, SIMPL is one source of implementations, but others can be also considered. We will engage with SIMPL as soon as possible.

    7. If there is existing infra (IDM-identity management) how is this taken into consideration? Is data shared between organisations or individuals?
    See our Blueprint for followed approach for IDM.

    8. Should both sites connect in the technological point of view (e.g. data exchange) or is it enough that each site executes cross-domain use cases independently? Are only DS building blocks then shared between both sites?
    They need to show the data sharing across domains, that is the use case must use data from both domains to create value out of the sharing.

    DISCLAIMER

    This is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as legal or financial advice. Every organisation must seek its own independent advice regarding the legal and financial framework for the DS4SSCC-DEP action. This document is derived from the European Data Space for Smart Communities Stakeholder Forum meeting and is made available to the project’s Stakeholder Forum members.