FAQ

For detailed information on consortium eligibility, please refer to the Legal Framework in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1.Who can apply (e.g., public administrations, companies, academia, NGOs)?

Consortia must comprise at least two public administrations from different EU member states or Digital Europe Programme Associated countries. Companies, academia, and NGOs can also be part of the consortium.

2. Is a public regional agency considered as a public administration?

Yes, if the public regional agency is considered as a recognised public authority.

UPDATE:
While the terminology might differ across the EU, a local administration is interpreted here as a public governmental entity of the respective local city or region.

3. Can organisations from countries outside the EU apply?

To be eligible for this call, all partners forming the consortium and the respective Pilot Sites must be located in the EU Member States and/or in the Digital Europe Programme associated countries. Please note that only associated countries who have been part of DEP since 2022 can participate in the call, as the European data space for smart communities project is funded from the 2022 call.

The pilot consortium members are subject to restrictions due to security reasons. Entities must not be controlled by an ineligible country. If there is a risk for such a case, entities will be offered an opportunity to provide a guarantee.

4. Who can be the lead of the consortium (e.g., companies, municipalities, universities)?

Everyone can be a Lead Applicant, although it’s preferred that the consortium is led by a EU local or regional public administration.

Update: It is important to clarify that the call for pilots is not restricted by the EU NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) classification, unlike other programs such as Interreg or the Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) programme.

The call specifies that any eligible organisation can lead the application. This broad eligibility criterion means that there is flexibility in who can act as the Lead Partner. That said, there is a preference for the lead partner to be an eligible local public administration. This preference is based on the understanding that local public administrations often have the requisite experience and capacity to effectively coordinate and manage such projects. Ultimately, the appropriateness of the Lead Partner and the project will be evaluated by the evaluators based on the criteria laid out in the call.

5. Can there be more than one city/municipality from the same EU state?

There can be more than one city/municipality from the same EU member state, but it is a requirement to have at least two public administrations from different member states.

6. Can the same city apply for two different applications and be part of two different consortia? Can two offices from the same city administration apply?

Yes. However, according to the Granting Authority (European Commission) guidelines, the max support for one third party can be up € 1 000 000, and the amount per consortium can be up to € 1 500 000 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/wp-call/2022/call-fiche_digital-2022-cloud-ai-03_en.pdf).

7. Can a single partner take care of all the technical work for the data spaces developed in the Pilot Sites or is it necessary to have a local / country data technology provider from each participating country?

In general, we do not prescribe which activities the local public administration needs to fulfil in the pilot project, as long as it has allocated effort in the budget and participates actively in the consortium. Hence, depending on your use case and engagement with multiple regions, it could also be feasible to have only one technology provider within the pilot consortium.

8. Is a UK-based public administration eligible to receive funding under the European data space for smart communities?

The Call for Pilots is only open to public administrations from the EU member states and the Digital Europe programme associated countries (from 2022). That means that, unfortunately, entities from the UK cannot participate in the call. For more details, please explore the Call for Pilots Manual available at the project website.

9. Can partners from Serbia participate in the consortium? Serbia has been one of the Digital Europe Programme associated countries since 15.11.2023.

While DEP associated countries are eligible, the call is constrained to DEP countries from 2022 (since the call for European data space for smart communities stems from that year). According to the information available from the EC, Serbia joined DEP in August 2023 and the agreement applies retroactively only up to 1 January 2023. That means that Serbia is not an eligible country for this particular call, unfortunately.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_digital_en.pdf

10. Is it possible to include an affiliated entity of a public administration in a consortium, where the public administration would participate as a partner in the proposal. An Affiliated Entity, as defined in Horizon Europe is an entity that has a link with a beneficiary, particularly a legal or capital link, which is neither limited to the project nor established solely for its implementation. In our specific case, an affiliated entity of a public administration fits within the general concept of an affiliated entity.

As a starting point, any eligible organisation can join the consortium or participate in the pilot project in other capacities, such as an affiliated entity (details about the eligibility are specified in the Call for Pilots Manual). This said, it is preferred that an eligible local public administration would take the role of the Lead Partner.

11. Instead of a single city or village, would it be possible for an Association from Austria to participate in the call for pilots?

There should not be any problem for the association to be part of the consortium and contribute to the pilot project, though it is necessary to involve at least 2 local or regional public administrations from different eligible countries who would act as Pilot Sites. Those administrations need to allocate effort in the budget and provide a Letter of Commitment.

Please note that in principle, the Grant Agreement will be made with the Lead Partner of the consortium, who ensures that 50% of the co-financing is available and auditable across the project partners. It’s a best practice that each partner co-finances their participation in the pilot project from their own means, although it is up to the consortium to agree on how co-financing is actually sourced and distributed.

12.Could you clarify if a big/large entity (more than 2.000 employees) is eligible under this 3rd call that closes on 02/2025?

There is no limit to the size of entities eligible under this call.

13. Please clarify the definitions of "municipal entity" and "local entity" within the context of your program https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-two#block-2df12b365df6cbc11c0d.

In particular, in Spain, local entities may include bodies like provincial councils (diputaciones) or city-level public institutions. Could, for instance, a public university based in a city be considered eligible as part of a consortium under your program's criteria?

Regarding the local or regional public administration, while this can be interpreted quite widely including also public agencies within a city / region, a public university would not be considered as a local administration, as these carry quite a different role within local ecosystems. This said, the consortium can surely include academic institutions as partners, while ensuring that there are at least 2 local administrations from different eligible countries involved as Pilot Sites in the consortium.

14. I can read from the call that companies can also be part of the consortium. Are there any restrictions on our participation, considering our membership in the Smart Communities Network?

Yes, a consortium of at least 2 local public administrations can also include companies in this call. However, please note that the pilot consortium members are subject to restrictions due to security reasons, which means that entities must not be controlled from a country that is not an eligible country. All entities (except entities that are validated as public bodies by the EU countries) have to fill in and submit an Ownership Control Declaration within 14 days after awarding.

We don't see any major concerns regarding your involvement in the Smart Communities Network that could hinder participation in the call.

15. For the city coordinator of the project, would it be eligible for the cost of subcontracting a company to provide them support in the project management tasks (under "subcontracting cost" category)? If not, can a company be a partner in the consortium dedicated particularly to the project management tasks?

As subcontracting may not cover tasks such as pilot management and coordination, those tasks should be carried out by a consortium member, normally by the Lead Partner. This is reasonable, as the Grant Agreement will be signed with the Lead Partner, who is responsible for the pilot implementation and carries out the coordination of the pilot. It is preferred that the lead partner is a local or regional public administration in the EU Member States.

For detailed information on funding and eligible costs, please refer to the Financial Framework in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1. Is the max budget for a proposal 3M€, independently from the number of public administrations involved?

Depends on the co-financing that must be at least 50% of the budget. The EU contribution is max 1.5M€, but the co-financing can be higher (e.g., in theory you can bring in 10M€ in co-financing).

According to the Granting Authority (European Commission) guidelines, the max support for one third party can be up € 1 000 000, and the amount per consortium can be up to € 1 500 000 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/wp-call/2022/call-fiche_digital-2022-cloud-ai-03_en.pdf).

2. Can the total cost of the budget be less than 2M€ (1M€ co-financing)?

The amount of 2-3M€ is suggested, but there is no minimum amount set according to the Granting Authority (European Commission) guidelines. The total budget can be less than 2M€ if sufficient justification is provided about the implementation of the pilot and related budget (50% co-financing obligation still applies).

3. Are there any rules on how the budget must be divided between pilot partners?

We do not prescribe the budget split between the countries and partners, but it should be distributed according to their role in the pilot. However, we expect the budget per pilot partner not to exceed 2/3 of the total project budget.

According to the Granting Authority (European Commission) guidelines, the maximum support for a third party can be up € 1 000 000, and the amount per consortium can be up to € 1 500 000 (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/wp-call/2022/call-fiche_digital-2022-cloud-ai-03_en.pdf).

4. Should the 50% co-financing come from all pilot project partners? Is the co-funding assumed by each partner or by the whole applicant consortium?

In principle, the Grant Agreement will be made with the Lead Partner of the consortium, who ensures that 50% of the co-financing is available and auditable across the project partners. It’s a best practice that each partner co-finances their participation in the pilot project from their own means, although it is up to the consortium to agree on how co-financing is sourced and distributed.

5.Does each partner need the same percentage of co-financing (50%) or the project as a whole?

The project as a whole. In principle, the Grant Agreement will be made with the Lead Partner of the consortium, who ensures that 50% of the co-financing is available and auditable across the project partners. It’s a best practice that each partner co-finances their participation in the pilot project from their own means, although it is up to the consortium to agree on how co-financing is sourced and distributed.

To be more precise, max. 50% of the cost for each project partner is funded by the grant. The other part can be co-funded as decided by the consortium. In practice, the sum of all commitments from the Letters of Commitment must be at least 50% of the budget. In other words, partner A can cover the cofinancing cost of partner B. 

6. Is it acceptable to have unbalanced financial participation of the consortium participants, e.g. when one city invests €1M, and another – only €50k?

We understand that this is an extreme case, however, we want to understand our options.

The short answer is yes. We have further mentioned in the FAQ of the project, that in principle, the Grant Agreement will be made with the Lead Partner of the consortium, who ensures that 50% of the co-financing is available and auditable across the project partners. It’s a best practice that each partner co-finances their participation in the pilot project from their own means, although it is up to the consortium to agree on how co-financing is sourced and distributed.

7. Are in-kind contributions allowed as part of co-financing?

Is it acceptable for in-kind investment in the project both from the city and from non-profit or commercial partners of the Municipality?

In-kind contributions are not accepted as co-financing. Please find further information about eligible funding in the Financial Framework of the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

UPDATE:

General in-kind contributions (goods, services, general staff costs etc) are not eligible in this call. However, it is likely that a participating organisation will assign existing staff to work on the project, and cover 50% of their salary (of the corresponding effort for the pilot project) with own financial sources. In this regard, it would not be considered as in-kind, but as investment into the project and hence, it would be an eligible co-financing. However, please note that double funding is not allowed, hence the remaining part could not be covered by other EU projects.

8. Could you further explain what in-kind contribution includes? Also permanent staff contribution to the pilot?

Generally speaking, in-kind contributions refer to various kinds of goods or services, which are not involving money or not measured in monetary terms. Certain personnel costs (derived from the implementation of the pilot) could be considered as own investment, and may be eligible for co-financing. For further explanation, the team working on the project must submit timesheets as documentation of their work. These timesheets should be accompanied by employment contracts confirming the personnel’s involvement in the pilot project. This documentation must demonstrate that personnel costs are covered at least 50% through co-financing, with no more than 50% sourced from funding received.

For further details, please refer to the Call for Pilots Manual, section ‘2.3 Financial Framework’ (2.3.6, page 17), which outlines payment procedures. The pilot will be co-financed based on the actual costs incurred during the pilot, subject to verification during and at the end of the pilot. These costs must be explicitly stated in the budget and must be auditable.

9. What is considered as in-kind? Are software or data considered as in-kind?

In-kind contributions are not accepted as co-financing. Co-financing must be directly stated in the budget.

10. Can personnel costs be in the 50% of co-funding?

All costs must be directly visible in the pilot budget to be eligible during the pilot period. They will have to be documented and accountable. We don’t distinguish between permanent staff and temporary staff (individuals).

They must hand in timesheets as documentation for their work alongside their employment contract.

11. Is the calculation basis for staff cost 1720 hours per year?

Yes, 215 days, same method as in Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programme.

12. Can the 50% co-funding come from other European programs or programs like the RRF?

Co-financing must be a dedicated cost as indicated directly in the budget for the pilot and it must be auditable. This is to avoid double funding. All activities must observe relevant regulations, including state-aid rules and risks of double funding.

Most importantly, the consortium needs to ensure there is no double funding of activities from the EU. This means that the piloting activities could not be financed e.g., through other Horizon Europe project funding.

13. If 50% co-financing should be in the data space pilot and not in the application?

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.

14. Since  the project needs to involve local and regional authorities from the public sector, how will their expenses be covered? Is the 50% co-funding applicable to both private and public bodies / organisations?

As described in this FAQ page, in principle, the Grant Agreement will be made with the Lead Partner of the consortium, who ensures that 50% of the co-financing is available and auditable across the project partners. It’s a best practice that each partner co-finances their participation in the pilot project from their own means, although it is up to the consortium to agree on how co-financing is sourced and distributed.

Note that the two Pilot Sites - local or regional administrations need to allocate effort in the pilot budget and provide a Letter of Commitment.

The financial support is provided in the form of grants based on, and reimbursed against, actual costs incurred and submitted in interim and final reporting. The reimbursement rate is 50% of the total eligible costs. The maximum grant amount can NOT be exceeded, which means that all additional financing for the pilot will be the sole responsibility of the members of the pilot consortium.

15. Is hardware eligible cost if it is needed for use-case to plugin to Data Space?

It must 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.

16. You have stated that 'Subcontracting may only cover a limited and reasonable part of the pilot’s action' without indicating any reference of the potential percentage this could be. Are there any restrictions?

We have followed the usual practice in the European projects and confirmed that a limited and reasonable part of the action could be subcontracted. This said, it is not possible for us to define a clear limit with a specific percentage as that depends on the context of the proposed pilot project and the activities that would be necessary to outsource.

Please consider that subcontracting may not cover tasks such as pilot management and coordination. Subcontracting is also not allowed between members of the consortium.

17. What can be considered subcontracting? Can you give me concrete examples? And when they say that subcontracting does not include pilot management and coordination, what exactly does this mean?

Regarding the conditions set for subcontractors and eligible subcontracting costs, please refer to the Annotated Grant Agreement of the Digital Europe programme. You can access it here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/digital/agr-contr/mga_dep_en.pdf

The pilot management and coordination should normally be implemented by the Lead Partner of the consortium, and should not be subcontracted.

18. Is VAT an eligible cost?

Value-added tax is considered as eligible where it is not recoverable under the applicable national VAT legislation and is paid by a beneficiary other than a non-taxable person as defined in Article 13(1) of Council Directive 2006/112/EC13 of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax.

19. What is the overhead rate?

The overhead rate is 7%, following Digital Europe funding schemes.

20. Is it acceptable for one of the cities to use for the project not the public money of the city itself, but the money of sponsors and commercial partners of the city, provided that we create an open ecosystem of Web 3.0 Data Space on open standards?

As above, it is acceptable that co-financing can be sourced from different funding sources. However, the engaged Pilot Sites (local administrations) must allocate effort in the pilot budget and provide a Letter of Commitment.

21.Can you please clarify the 50% ?  We do have activities in building community stakeholders strategies but not activities in data space supporting the strategy. Can we use the activities of  community stakeholders as 50% co-fund and get 50% for data space and analysis from the EU?

As stated in the Call for Pilots Manual, the applicants are expected to bear at least 50% of the pilot costs, as direct co-financing. Co-financing (at least 50% of the budget) has to be a dedicated cost as indicated directly in the budget for the pilot and has to be auditable. This has to be documented following normal accounting practices. To be eligible, co-financing cannot include in-kind resources not explicitly monetised in the pilot budget, and all activities must observe relevant regulations, including state-aid rules and risks of double funding. As normally, all costs need to be actual and incurred during the pilot period time frame. Hence, please ensure that the intended source would not include in-kind contributions nor funding from e.g., other EU projects.

22.To increase embeddedness in national policies and scaling, the consortium members (municipalities) involved intend to deploy the general facilities that are being developed in the National Innovations program financed by the national growth fund (no-EU finances involved). These activities are part of the co-funding of the consortium members. Can you confirm that, if expenditure complies with regulations, national funding is in principle eligible as co-financing for activities through municipalities?

Using the funding from the national growth fund as co-financing depends on the details of the programme. Hence, we recommend reaching out to the representative of the local funding programme to discuss this in more detail. From the DS4SSCC-DEP perspective, it is important that co-financing doesn't include in-kind resources not explicitly monetised in the pilot budget, and all activities must observe relevant regulations, including state-aid rules and risks of double funding.

23.Do all organisations in the consortium have to provide a CFS at the end of the project or only those with a budget exceeding a certain threshold?

Indeed - all "awarded organisations must provide a Certificate on Financial Statements (CFS) with their final report, carried out by an external auditor. " as stated in the Call for Pilots Manual in section 2.3.7.

24.For the implementation of the project, personnel costs will be the main cost category of the partners in our region. They want to involve existing experienced staff – NOT hire new staff just for the pilot project. In the online Info session for the 2nd call it was mentioned that personnel needs to be contracted for the pilot (to distinct from in-kind which is not allowed). Does “contracted for the pilot” mean that the partners have to hire new staff exclusively for the pilot, or can they sign Assignment Letters with specific staff members stating the percentage of work time dedicated to the pilot project?

Indeed, the personnel costs require a justification with the contract stating the distinct roles and responsibilities of a person within the pilot project. We understand you may want to assign current staff members to work on the project, and hence, annexes added to currently active work contracts or Assignment Letters should suffice for that.

25.Is there a template for the time recording to be used by personnel working on the pilot project?

We have not provided a template for time recording at this point. You may re-use the standard format usually used in EU projects, in case awarded for the grant.

26.Direct personnel costs from partners appear to be eligible as co-financing for DS4SSCC, and we normally refer to this as "eligible in-kind contributions". Is it correct that we call "eligible in-kind contributions" from project partners are allowed as co-financing? This would be paid salaries and auditable costs from project partners that directly go to pilot implementation, and can be reported into the project accounts.

In the context of DS4SSCC, we strongly encourage the use of the term ‘co-financing’ instead of ‘in-kind’. Within DS4SSCC, ‘in-kind’ is viewed more as a cost that cannot be directly audited or documented using standard accounting practices. This approach ensures that we can verify whether the pilot project indeed co-finances at least 50% of all costs related to piloting activities, complies with all relevant regulations (including state-aid rules), and avoids risks of double funding.

Regarding personnel costs, the team working on the project must submit timesheets as documentation of their work. These timesheets should be accompanied by employment contracts confirming the personnel’s involvement in the pilot project. This documentation must demonstrate that personnel costs are covered at least 50% through co-financing, with no more than 50% sourced from funding received.

For further details, please refer to the Call for Pilots Manual, section ‘2.3 Financial Framework’ (2.3.6, page 17), which outlines payment procedures. The pilot will be co-financed based on the actual costs incurred during the pilot, subject to verification during and at the end of the pilot. These costs must be explicitly stated in the budget and must be auditable.

27.Is it correct that double-funding refers to EU-funding, and that DS4SSCC allows for using national grant funding as co-financing? As part of our 50% co-financing, if partners contribute hours to a DS4SSCC pilot that are financed by national public agencies (e.g., national digitalization agency), then would this combination of national funding and EU funding be allowed?

The combination of national funding as co-financing and EU funding received as part of the DS4SSCC is permitted, although we encourage you to discuss the details also with the representatives from the national authorities to avoid any risk of double funding or violations of state aid rules.

28.As an example, there are two recently started projects in our country with public and private sector partners. One is developing a data space for a municipality using FIWARE and the other is developing a reference architecture for municipal local digital twins where we could incorporate the DS4SSCC blueprint as an activity next year. These projects are mostly grant financed with national, county and municipal funding, as well as "eligible in-kind contributions" from private sector partners in form of direct costs in paid salary. Provided that these activities are within the project period of an approved DS4SSCC pilot, can we plan to include these activities and costs as part of our project plan and co-financing when applying for the DS4SSCC pilot?

We encourage upcoming data spaces at the local, regional, and national levels to be federated and interoperable in the long term. However, you must avoid duplicating work done in other projects. Instead, focus on making this pilot project distinct by adhering to the specific requirements set for each DS4SSCC pilot (e.g., cross-domain service development through data cooperation) and developing a clear co-financing plan for this particular pilot project. This plan should explicitly outline and justify only the costs related to this specific pilot project. Connections with other local initiatives should, of course, be mentioned in the project proposal.

29.We are discussing possible establishment of a large development project next year with possible funding from national public agencies, where a portion of the project could be implementation and demonstration of the DS4SSCC blueprint and local digital twin reference architecture in our country. Can we include this activity and cost as part of our project plan and co-financing when applying for the DS4SSCC pilot?

The pilot project should certainly contribute to broader-level goals. However, as stated earlier, it must maintain a clear focus by adhering to the requirements outlined in the DS4SSCC call for pilots. The accounting process must be kept separate, clearly demonstrating the co-financing specific to this pilot project. Only activities that directly contribute to the execution of the pilot project are permitted, and the necessity of these activities as part of the piloting process must be clearly justified.

30.The FAQs state that at least 2 public administrations in separate countries need to apply for the pilot. Must the lead public administration be a municipal or regional authority, or can it be a national public administration, such as KS, which represents all municipalities and regional authorities in Norway?

It is required that at least two local administrations from different EU Member States and/or Digital Europe Programme associated countries are represented in the consortia. Even though it is up to the consortia who is leading, it is preferred that the lead partner is a local or regional public administration in the EU Member States. It is also allowed for national authority to participate in the consortia.

31.If two Norwegian municipalities and/or regional authorities apply with a non-Norwegian public administration, does one of the Norwegian administrations need to be lead applicant or can the two Norwegian public administrations co-lead the Norwegian consortium?

Only one public administration should act as the lead applicant with whom the Grant Agreement will be signed, in case selected for funding. The Lead Applicant is responsible for the pilot implementation and carries out the coordination of the pilot. Other public administrations will serve as co-applicants. To agree on the internal governance and management of the project, the consortium partners should sign a Consortium Agreement.

32. My understanding is that the lead applicants need to provide a letter of intent with the application, which states that the consortium can contribute the 50% co-financing required for the project. If the project budget allows partners to contribute direct costs as co-financing, can the lead applicant commit to co-financing based on partner commitments to the project? When does the commitment become legally binding and who carries liability? Can the liability be distributed among project partners, or if allowed co-leads?  Can the Lead Applicant, in their Letter of Commitment, refer to letters of intent with project partners in order to demonstrate capacity for 50% co-financing? The project partners (public and private sector) will be the organizations carrying out the development work and pilot demonstration, and in doing so, will provide the 50% co-financing required.

Applicants must demonstrate their capacity to provide at least 50% co-financing with the Letter of Commitment(s). Thus, liability could be distributed internally within consortia if the 50% of co-financing requirement is met. However, the grant agreement is signed with the Lead Applicant, who should ensure that they have done their due diligence regarding the partners and sourcing of the co-financing. The commitment becomes legally binding when the pilot is selected and grant agreement signed.

The Lead Applicant can refer also to their partners' co-financing in their letter, but it should also contain an explicit declaration of commitment to contribute to the project and co-finance (a part of) the activity.

33.Is the max Grant requested 1.500.000 euro including the 7% indirect costs?

Yes, indirect costs are part of the total sum of the budget, out of which a maximum of 1 500 000 euros will be granted as support from the EC.

34.You’ve stated that timesheets must be accompanied by employment contracts confirming the personnel's involvement in the pilot project. Could you elaborate on this as this is not normal practice for EU projects. What are the specific requirement for these employment contracts?

As described in the FAQ, the personnel costs require a justification with the contract stating the distinct roles and responsibilities of a person within the pilot project. In case current staff members are assigned to the project, separate employment contracts are not needed, as annexes added to currently active work contracts or Assignment Letters should suffice for that.

35.Is the the Development Agency of a city/region considered as a public administration? 

The consortium must include at least 2 local public administrations from two different EU member states, who will act as the Pilot Sites. However, the local administration might agree with their respective development agency that the work is carried out primarily by the development agency. However, to ensure commitment, the local administrative should allocate (at least some) effort to the project and indicate that in the application and budget as well as provide a Letter of Commitment.

UPDATE:
While the terminology might differ across the EU, a local administration is interpreted here as a public governmental entity of the respective local city or region.

For detailed information on technical requirements, please refer to the Technical Framework in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1. What is the technological readiness level expected from the pilots?

An example of “high level of technological maturity” is having at least a data platform or digital twin in place in the city or community. Emerging data space is also welcome.

We recommend the applicants to use the LORDIMAS Digital Maturity Assessment tool to self-assess the digital maturity of the region or a city. This said, it’s not required during the application phase.

2. 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? It seems to me, easy to ‘state’ that one is in 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. Also, if this applies to all partners in a consortium, how is it applied to those with a non-technical background/contribution?

Having a LORDIMAS score is recommended, but not required. In order to be eligible for the piloting programme, Pilot Site(s) need to have at least a data platform, digital twin or emerging data space in place. This will need to be confirmed, and further elaborated in the application. You can find the LORDIMAS tool at https://lordimas.espon.eu

3. Are there requirements for compliance? E.g., 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.

4. Is there a minimal viable product we have to have as a digital infrastructure (e.g. we have our own urban data platform consisting of open source components such as superset or keycloak) to be technically compatible with regards to the third call specifics?

The Call does not set a specific threshold for the maturity of the chosen solution already in place in the Pilot Sites. However, please consider whether it would be feasible within the piloting period to establish an operational data space, based on your current digital infrastructure. You may further use the LORDIMAS Digital Maturity Assessment tool to assess your level of maturity. In the application, you will need to map the DS4SSCC building blocks against the platform architecture in place and indicate which standards and implementations you are using for each mapped building block, noting that at least standard Data Models, Data Format and APIs used have to be interoperable.

5. Will the DS4SSCC blueprint be implemented with the SIMPL framework? What is the 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 also be considered.

6. Apart from SIMPL middleware, what other preparatory works and frameworks should be followed/adhered to?

Please check the Technical Framework chapter in the Call for Pilots Manual which provides a distinct list of technical requirements that pilots should follow.

7. Can existing projects whose outcome will be the design of a DS be combined with this initiative?

We recommend not replicating the work and instead relying on available assets provided by the DS4SSCC and Data Spaces Support Centre. However, the European Data Space for Smart Communities aims to federate all existing and upcoming data spaces at the local, regional, or national level. By following the same approach in the blueprint, all can be interoperable. We recommend compliance with our Technical Blueprint to make the federation feasible.

8. If there is existing infra (IDM-identity management) what should be taken into consideration? Is data shared between organisations or individuals?

See the following link for followed approach for IDM: https://inventory.ds4sscc.eu/reference-architecture

9. Should both sites connect from 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?

All the Pilot Sites must show the data sharing across domains.The proposed use case must use data from both domains to create value from cross-domain data sharing.

10. Is it obligatory that solutions at all pilot sites are compliant with MIM1, MIM2 and MIM6 at proposal submission stage already? (or at the end of the pilot project?)

Compliance with MIM1, MIM2 and MIM6 can be achieved in the course of pilot project, but it must be indicated in the application how you plan to achieve that and by when. Please note that compliance with the respective MIMs are crucial for the federation of the data spaces, and hence, it could not be left open until the end of the project. As part of the journey to become compliant with the MIMs, you are expected to contribute to these MIMs working groups  (roughly requiring 1 hour per month per MIM, for a few months - as long as it is relevant) and in turn also align with them.


11. What does it mean to be compliant with the MIMs?

In general, we expect commitment to align and contribute to the developments around Minimum Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs). Considering the requirement to comply with MIMs 1, 2 and 6 in the DS4SSCC-DEP piloting activities, selected pilots must explain in the periodic technical report how the pilot (i.e., Pilot Sites) comply with the MIM1, MIM2 and MIM6 as described in the MIMs Plus Version 7 document and align with its current development to ensure full compliance.

Pilots must commit to engaging in discussions within the Living-in.EU MIMs Plus working groups on if and how their pilots implement the MIMs, or how the MIMs should be updated to reflect their approach (roughly requiring 1 hour per month per MIM, for a few months - as long as it is relevant).

*While aligning with MIM1,2, and 6 is required for successful federation, the European Data Space blueprint describes the relevance of further MIMs for each of the building blocks. As such, upon onboarding the pilots will review and select additional MIMs to comply with.

Further notes:

We recognise that MIM3 is still in active development, and that guidance is limited. We recommend that you look into the related building blocks:

• Publication & Discovery services

• Data Usage Accounting

• Access & Usage policies and control

• Business Agreements

in the Catalogue of Specifications and try to define which technologies would be relevant for your pilot. Please note that the implementation of TM Forum API's as they are mentioned in the MIM3 description is entirely optional, and we welcome alternatives.

With respect to MIM 7, the documentation that is provided on the OASC MIMs GitBook is correct and the most updated one. The documentation that is found in the DS4SSCC only points to one specific aspect of MIM7, namely the publication aspect. This is because MIM7 recommends the use of INSPIRE data themes when publishing data catalogues, but we can see how this might be confusing.

12. We doubt that the technological readiness would be acceptable: 39/100 on LORDIMAS. Could you kindly confirm if our municipality is eligible for the programme?

We haven't defined a specific LORDIMAS score for assessing the needed technological maturity during the eligibility check. Instead, we ask all Pilots Sites to confirm whether they have either a data platform, digital twin or an emerging data space in place. You may complement that with a LORDIMAS score, though this is completely optional.

Please note that the evaluators review the technological maturity during the evaluation of the proposals, and assess the feasibility of implementing the data space pilot. It is expected that higher maturity would be needed to successfully implement the pilot, such as LORDIMAS stages “Digitally Optimised” or “Digitally Native”, but this is not mandatory.

Please find further information about this in the Technical Framework section at the Call for Pilots Manual (available for download at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three or the respective webpage of the round currently open)

For further guidance on the scope of work for piloting activities, please refer to the section “Scope” in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1. You have already mentioned that the inclusion of AI and/or digital twins in the project is valuable, but exactly how important are the development of AI models in this project? Most use case examples "predict traffic" or "predict weather", etc. are not possible without AI, and they place a lot of focus on AI.

It is not the main purpose, AI services can be part of the use case, if they bring value to the users, but the important focus is to show how to share data across domains to build services on top. The main goal is the validation of the blueprint, set up the data space and showcase that sharing of data is feasible to provide value.

Further regarding the role of AI, it's a very relevant aspect, and it would be expected that AI is a natural (but not explicitly required) element in many pilot proposals. AI starts with data, and data naturally leads to AI. The cross-sectorial data space for smart communities is closely linked to the AI Testing Facility CitCom.ai TEF, so the link is natural.

This said, having an AI aspect will not save a bad proposal, just as not having an AI focus would not disqualify an excellent proposal. But in reality, AI is probably relevant in some way for many, in various parts of the data pipelines.

2. It was mentioned that stakeholders from two different domains have to be included. Does it mean that stakeholders that are providing data have to be partners of the consortia, even if the data they are providing is publicly available?

Some of the aspects we will assess are the datasets that will be made available through the dataspace. If you organise your pilots without adding new datasets (not accessible now) it would be too limiting. You can also add datasets from third parties, but if you do not have a link to the owners and need to work on the datasets, it seems tricky. This said, It is not necessary for all stakeholders involved in data sharing within the data space to be members of the consortium in order for you to access their data.

3.Would the development of a joint data space on healthcare innovation in our region and thus the ability to showcase valuable data insights, currently scattered among various data holders, be a topic that fits within DS4SSCC? Healthcare as such is not mentioned as one of the priority topics/themes, hence the question.

As the project focuses on smart communities, it is true that health related topics are not in our core focus. This said, it depends on your use case as health and wellbeing has close connections with the environmental factors of citizens. If your use case is linked to some of the Green Deal domains and other domains related to the New Bauhaus Initiative, your proposal might be still in scope. Please find more information about the scope of work in the Call for Pilots Manual available at https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three (or the respective webpage of the round currently open)

4.Could you please clarify if it is possible that the public(s) service(s) that use cross-domain data in each pilot site can be different in each pilot site. Could a use case involve several public services?

We haven’t set any criteria for how similar the services developed in both pilot sites must be. However, it is expected that both pilot sites use data from the same selected (at least two) domains to create value from cross-domain data sharing. 

Regarding the second question, yes, the use case can involve several public services, though it would be good to describe their particular role and involvement in the application.

5. Have you announced any results from the previous rounds to see if our idea has already been funded, thus this may limit our application's success rate?

You can find news about the results from application round 1 here:

https://www.ds4sscc.eu/pilotoverview and

https://www.ds4sscc.eu/updates/transforming-european-communities-third-press-release-highlights-new-pilots

For further guidance on Impact & Sustainability, please refer to the Monitoring and Assessment in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1.Do projects have to contribute to sustainability aspects? How? Will this be included in the selection criteria?

Yes, pilots should identify areas that contribute to the objectives of the Green Deal and specify their contributions in the Application Form.

For detailed information on ethical requirements, please refer to the Ethical Framework in the Call for Pilots Manual (available at https://www.ds4sscc.eu/cfp-three).

1.Which guidelines should be considered for ethics?

Applicants must 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. Please refer to the principles and frameworks described in the Ethical Framework in the Call for Pilots Manual.

1. Can we include some graphics / figures in the Application Form, apart from the text limited to the maximum characters allowed per section?

Including additional figures and graphics to the application form is allowed in order to complement the textual information, but these should not be used for by-passing the character limits. Hence, characters on the images will be accounted for when checking the character amounts. 

Please also note that the evaluators are not required to take the figures and graphics into consideration, so the textual information should still be sufficiently comprehensive to understand your proposal.

2. How many projects will be selected in each submission round?

We expect to select 1-2 pilots in the first round and 4-6 in the second and third rounds. Applicants are also welcome to re-submit their applications, so you can apply for all three rounds. There is no risk that no more projects will be selected after the 1st and 2nd rounds due to the high number of applicants.

3. When will the first round of applications be evaluated and granted with funding?

The evaluation of applications from the first round is expected to start in September 2024, and first pilots are expected to start in November 2024.

4. When applying in the first application round, is it possible to extend the beginning of the pilot to a later date?

We will have three application rounds, so you can apply in a later round if you wish to start later.

5. Is there any possibility to extend the piloting period?

The expected duration of the piloting is 12-18 months for rounds 1 and 2, while the expected duration for the pilots in round 3 is 12-16 months.

6. How is eligibility assessed?

The Evaluation Team will pre-screen applications for eligibility before expert evaluation begins, using the Eligibility Check Grid (general, legal, financial, technical, ethical) as detailed in Table 6 of the Call for Pilots Manual. We assess in-time submission, respecting character limits, the applicant’s legal status and passing ethical checks, amongst others.

7. How does the evaluation process work?

All eligible applications go through an evaluation process that includes the following steps:

i.Evaluation by the Evaluation Committee(s) and Ethics Board (individual expert evaluations and a consensus group meeting).

ii. Final ranking and selection of the pilots by the Evaluation Team.

All eligible applications will be matched with expert evaluators according to their fields of expertise, with at least three expert reviewers per application. The assigned experts assess the proposals using the predefined evaluation structure. For more details, refer to section 3.5, Evaluation Framework and Road to the Implementation Stage, in the Call for Pilots Manual.

8. 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.

9. If the project is not accepted in the first round, which are the conditions to apply for the second or third round?

Resubmission is permitted for the future rounds. You will also receive short feedback to your proposal with the scores received across the criteria, which you can then take into consideration in the iteration of the proposal. 

Please also note that we will select 1-2 proposals in the 1st round, and increase the number for the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

10. The LoC template available on the application website includes the following final paragraph:  "Co-financing provided for the pilot project: (amount of co-funding provided) EUR through the means of (specify source, if possible)." Since the Municipality will not be the co-financier, but another partner will, do you think it is necessary to keep this paragraph? Should we also have a LoC, signed by the administrator of the co-financing partner, where this paragraph would be included?

Regarding the required LoC from the Municipality, they should confirm in the letter their political support to the pilot and also confirm they are actively involved in the project, with allocated effort in the budget. This is also one of the eligibility criteria for eligibility:

"Eligible consortia must consist of at least two local or regional public administrations from different EU member states (MS) and/or Digital Europe Programme (DEP) Associated countries, promoting cross-sectoral collaboration and dealing with the European Green Deal objectives. Those local administrations have to allocate effort in the pilot budget and provide a Letter of Commitment. The local administrations can also involve other eligible parties working with them (e.g., companies, academia, NGOs). “

Regarding co-financing, they can simply confirm in the letter that 0 EUR will be provided. 

As the LoC is required from all partners co-financing the pilot, the partner co-financing the effort should also provide that as part of the application package.

11. Regarding the Letters of Commitment,  can these documents be signed using digital signature?

Digital signature is sufficient, though the signed document should be accessible without any need of downloading separate software.

12. Apart from the Letters of Commitment, do we need to provide any additional information - legal documents (apart from the 4 types described in the call site)? Also, the stakeholders should be described as “groups” that will be included in consortium? Ex. Chambers or other kinds of communities?

During the application period, only the 4 documents are required (application form, budget, letters of commitment, and the ethics and data protection self-assessment). If selected for grant, all entities (except entities that are validated as public bodies by the EU countries) have to fill in and submit an Ownership Control Declaration (OCD) within 14 days from the notification date. If you want to already prepare the declarations, you can find the template at the call webpage at https://ds4sscc.eu/cfp-two.

The stakeholder group refers to types of stakeholders, such as private companies, academic institutions, civil society organisations etc.

13. Could you confirm whether these limits are counted with or without spaces? Additionally, how is the character count adjusted when images are included in a response? For instance, does the 25% character deduction apply for each image if multiple are used? (This is especially important when answering questions where the architectural figures are explained.)

The main page of the Application Form template also should answer to your questions (at least partly):

Applicants are required to answer all questions in the application form within the character limits (counted without blanks).

PS! Images, graphics, and figures are allowed, but these should meet the following requirements:

• Images size must not exceed ½ of A4 page

• Each image counts as 25% of the respective character limit, regardless of the actual amount of text included on the image

• Image should not be used as a workaround for character limits (for example by providing tables as images, etc)

All sentences and images exceeding the limitations will be hidden from the application for evaluation.

The 25% of the allowed character limit (respective to the specific question) will be counted for each image used, so indeed, please keep that in mind, in case you wish to use multiple images per question.

14. Can you please confirm whether a single Ethics and Data Protection Self-assessment per consortium [by the lead partner] is sufficient, or should all consortium partners provide such a self-assessment?

One single Ethics and Data Protection Self-Assessment per the whole consortium / pilot project is sufficient.

15. Where in the budget-template can we put in the amount of co financing by organisation by work package. Do you want us to put an extra line in the budget-template by organisation by work package with the co-financing?

The co-financing amount can be confirmed in the Application Form - section 3.9.

16. Does the project duration of maximum 16 months include the time for the audit? What is the deadline for providing the audit certificate?

The Lead Partner of the pilot will be required to submit the interim and final reports on behalf of the consortium within 30 days following the end of the pilot period, together with the audit certificate (i.e., Certificate on Financial Statements)