Periodic Reporting for period 1 - IDEAL-IST (Ideal-ist transnational NCP project.)
Reporting period: 2022-03-01 to 2023-08-31
The Ideal-ist Project continues its role as the ICT NCP network, building upon the achievements of previous initiatives. The central objective of the project is to enhance proposer-centric services on a Europe-wide scale. This is accomplished by elevating the visibility of National Contact Points (NCPs), enhancing the overall quality of NCP services, and capitalizing on national NCP structures.
Here is an overview of the work conducted during the reporting period and the primary outcomes attained:
The project has outlined three specific objectives as described in section 1.1 of the Description of Action (DoA). Below, each objective is summarized along with its progress, supported by targeted activities:
Objective 1: Strengthen Collaboration Among Digital NCPs
Objective 2: Provide Comprehensive Support for Digital NCPs
Objective 3: Facilitate Collaboration with New and Innovative Players
Here is an overview of the work conducted during the reporting period and the primary outcomes attained:
The project has outlined three specific objectives as described in section 1.1 of the Description of Action (DoA). Below, each objective is summarized along with its progress, supported by targeted activities:
Objective 1: Strengthen Collaboration Among Digital NCPs
Objective 2: Provide Comprehensive Support for Digital NCPs
Objective 3: Facilitate Collaboration with New and Innovative Players
All the actions carried out by each Work Package to meet the objectives outlined above have been detailed in the Technical Part B document. The results, KPIs, and recommendations for the second period can be found there.
An improved, more consistent, and professionalized NCP service across Europe has been achieved, ultimately simplifying access to Horizon program opportunities and reducing entry barriers for newcomers. During this reporting period, the Ideal-ist project provided comprehensive training opportunities for HE CL4 NCPs, enabling them to offer higher-quality services to the digital community, thus streamlining access to Horizon program calls for interested parties.
The training activities encompassed a range of general NCP service matters, including skills like proposal writing, comprehensive proposal review, proposal evaluation, client consultations, and strategies for promoting calls along with valuable information. Simultaneously, theme-specific activities were tailored to address critical issues relevant to the HE C4 Digital NCP service, such as European Digital Innovation Hubs, EuroHPC JU, Cybersecurity, Horizon Europe, and the Digital Europe Programme. The interaction and knowledge exchange among NCPs during these activities, especially the sharing of experiences, significantly support diverse participation in Horizon, ultimately lowering the entry barriers for newcomers.
Moreover, various methods, including ambassadors for digital related partnerships and briefings on Horizon Europe developments, facilitate access to information for all HE CL4 NCPs and, subsequently, the broader digital proposer community. The Ideal-ist Topic Tree offers NCPs and proposers insights into the history, future prospects, and interconnections of digital-related call topics. This tool proves invaluable for sharing NCP knowledge through the descriptions of linked call topics and holds great potential for fostering cross-thematic collaboration.
The efforts of the HE CL4 NCP team in engaging with numerous NCPs from different areas through knowledge exchange meetings, best practices sharing, and collaborative invitations (e.g. FPC, Topic Tree) have had a positive impact. Ideal-ist is a well-known and interconnected NCP network, and one of its fruitful outcomes is the improved support for digital-related inquiries from proposers active in various digital-related areas of Horizon (e.g. Health, Security, and others) and further selected programmes (e.g. Digital Europe)
Furthermore, Ideal-ist offered online brokerages and long term networking online facilities for HE CL4 calls with great numbers of participants (see description of WP4)
Ideal-ist has addressed the full proposal development life cycle to enhance the quality of proposals submitted, particularly from countries with lower-than-average success rates. This was achieved through the following means:
Providing an online proposal idea check form, along with guidance to National Contact Points on how to offer feedback.
Offering a proposal idea check service during the early stages of proposal development, involving experienced HE CL4 NCPs from the Ideal-ist network who provided valuable advice to proposers.
Providing a full proposal check service one month before the submission deadline. This service ensured feedback to Coordinators from experienced Horizon evaluators. Efforts were made to involve NCPs with less experience and/or from countries with lower-than-average success rates as supporters of the event, giving them the opportunity to gain valuable experience that could be used at the national level to organize similar events. This service was offered online to remove participation barriers related to time and travel costs.
Additionally, the project offered support to HE CL4 NCPs from associated and third countries, equipping them with the necessary knowledge to support their respective proposer communities. This support included webinars and factsheets summarizing key points of relevant ICT calls, in collaboration with the International Cooperation Service Facility. To identify and support key players, a set of country profiles was developed in cooperation with local NCPs.
The training activities encompassed a range of general NCP service matters, including skills like proposal writing, comprehensive proposal review, proposal evaluation, client consultations, and strategies for promoting calls along with valuable information. Simultaneously, theme-specific activities were tailored to address critical issues relevant to the HE C4 Digital NCP service, such as European Digital Innovation Hubs, EuroHPC JU, Cybersecurity, Horizon Europe, and the Digital Europe Programme. The interaction and knowledge exchange among NCPs during these activities, especially the sharing of experiences, significantly support diverse participation in Horizon, ultimately lowering the entry barriers for newcomers.
Moreover, various methods, including ambassadors for digital related partnerships and briefings on Horizon Europe developments, facilitate access to information for all HE CL4 NCPs and, subsequently, the broader digital proposer community. The Ideal-ist Topic Tree offers NCPs and proposers insights into the history, future prospects, and interconnections of digital-related call topics. This tool proves invaluable for sharing NCP knowledge through the descriptions of linked call topics and holds great potential for fostering cross-thematic collaboration.
The efforts of the HE CL4 NCP team in engaging with numerous NCPs from different areas through knowledge exchange meetings, best practices sharing, and collaborative invitations (e.g. FPC, Topic Tree) have had a positive impact. Ideal-ist is a well-known and interconnected NCP network, and one of its fruitful outcomes is the improved support for digital-related inquiries from proposers active in various digital-related areas of Horizon (e.g. Health, Security, and others) and further selected programmes (e.g. Digital Europe)
Furthermore, Ideal-ist offered online brokerages and long term networking online facilities for HE CL4 calls with great numbers of participants (see description of WP4)
Ideal-ist has addressed the full proposal development life cycle to enhance the quality of proposals submitted, particularly from countries with lower-than-average success rates. This was achieved through the following means:
Providing an online proposal idea check form, along with guidance to National Contact Points on how to offer feedback.
Offering a proposal idea check service during the early stages of proposal development, involving experienced HE CL4 NCPs from the Ideal-ist network who provided valuable advice to proposers.
Providing a full proposal check service one month before the submission deadline. This service ensured feedback to Coordinators from experienced Horizon evaluators. Efforts were made to involve NCPs with less experience and/or from countries with lower-than-average success rates as supporters of the event, giving them the opportunity to gain valuable experience that could be used at the national level to organize similar events. This service was offered online to remove participation barriers related to time and travel costs.
Additionally, the project offered support to HE CL4 NCPs from associated and third countries, equipping them with the necessary knowledge to support their respective proposer communities. This support included webinars and factsheets summarizing key points of relevant ICT calls, in collaboration with the International Cooperation Service Facility. To identify and support key players, a set of country profiles was developed in cooperation with local NCPs.