UDENE Tools for Global Business Solutions that Accelerate Copernicus Adoption

Description

At least 2 person-months of work that would be committed during the October-November 2025 timeframe, delivering the final report by 15th December, the latest. The output of this work will be a feasibility report that describes the implementation of a business case enabled by the Copernicus system as used in UDENE tools, or an innovative solution based on the tools, algorithms, or models delivered by UDENE. If the subgrantees introduce new data sets to be used, then they will report the data, its use, behaviour of the tools, and relation to business outcomes. The identified European EO product and service providers are expected to join voluntarily as a part of their marketing effort or in absentia. A complete feasibility report includes: 1. Detailed Business Case including clearly defined value proposition, target market segments, competitive analysis, and demonstrated scalability of the EO-based solution integrating UDENE tools. 2. Partnership Documentation outlining roles, responsibilities, and contributions of European EO providers and local SMEs or other entities, emphasizing mutual capacity building and knowledge transfer achieved through the collaboration. 3. Pilot Projects plans showcasing at least two successfully implemented business-oriented pilot solutions. Each pilot must demonstrate practical application of UDENE tools, measurable outcomes, and a clear assessment of effectiveness in addressing specific urban or environmental challenges, along with their Proof of Concept (PoC) implementations in the international partner countries. 4. Market Entry and Sustainability Plan, presenting the roadmap for scaling, sustained commercial viability, identified funding or revenue models, and potential pathways for broader global market adoption. 5. Recommendations and Lessons Learned highlighting barriers encountered, strategies for overcoming them, and insights beneficial for future partnerships and similar initiatives aimed at accelerating global EO datasets and tool adoption. In the case of delivering an innovative solution, the provider will also deliver a white paper and user guide, describing the intended usage of the solution and its purpose.

Beneficiary & submission

UDENE Project is a Research and Innovation Action funded by EUSPA under the Horizon Europe Programme. It leverages Copernicus Earth Observation (EO) data to discover occurrences (natural experiments) of urban development interventions intended for an Area of Interest (AoI) elsewhere in the world, which are similar to the AoI in terms of causally related properties to the intended outcome of the intervention. Existing use cases target the effect of green spaces on urban heat islands, the effect of transportation infrastructure on air quality, and the effect of the built environment on earthquake resilience. By integrating EO data, machine learning, and advanced causal modelling, UDENE provides robust tools enabling evidence-based urban planning and decision-making. The project supports international collaboration, promoting the uptake of Copernicus services through validation of practical urban development solutions across Copernicus International partner countries such as Serbia, Tunisia, and Türkiye. Purpose of the Call: To stimulate international business collaboration by integrating UDENE tools into market-driven solutions developed jointly by European Earth Observation based products and services providers and local SMEs or other entities, thereby accelerating global adoption and commercialization of Copernicus Earth Observation-based applications. The Call Specific Objectives: 1) To establish sustainable partnerships between European providers and local entities (in particular SMEs) in Copernicus International Partner countries 2) To demonstrate the commercial viability and scalability of business solutions integrating UDENE tools for urban planning and environmental management. 3) To facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity building, enhancing the capabilities of local entities and SMEs to independently adopt and market Earth Observation-based solutions globally. Expected outcomes (applies to all Copernicus International Partner countries): The grant recipients are expected to deliver a feasibility report that provides evidence for the feasibility arguments they have about the business cases they have submitted. Software, model, or algorithm development can be a part of the feasibility report, as in proof of concept, but not necessarily. The reports should include at least the following components: 1) Market-ready business-oriented solutions integrating UDENE tools that are developed collaboratively by European EO providers and local entities, addressing specific urban and environmental challenges. 2) Feasibility studies or pilot implementations demonstrating tangible benefits and commercial potential of EO-based solutions in international partner countries. 3) Business cases illustrating scalability, sustainability, and the potential for broader global market adoption of integrated UDENE tools and Copernicus data-driven applications. Submission Process: Interested parties can use the guidelines available at the UDENE website Open Calls page to prepare proposals and the winners will be compensated to get to use the UDENE tools in October-November to implement their proposed workplans. Funding: There will be two winners per call per country, each of which will receive 10.000€ lump sum funding upon completing their feasibility reports. The Evaluation Process: The evaluation will be a two-stage process         Stage 1 - The Screening Procedure for Eligibility and Feasibility Checklist: SMEs, start-ups, Local authorities, NGOs, Associations, Industrial Organizations, Research Performing Institutions, individuals, and teams of individuals, based in one of the target countries and as defined in Horizon Europe rules for participation, can be applicants. Only single applicants shall be eligible (no consortia). The proposed work should be reasonably feasible within the available time frame, given the functionalities of the UDENE tools as shown in the UDENE Practical Guidelines.            Stage 2 - The Quality Assessment Procedure: 1) Concept and Innovation (Novelty and feasibility of the proposed business cases and their commercial impact; The expected RoI, reliability and quality of the business solution and its expected Market Readiness Level(MRL); Level of technological challenges addressed) 2) Impact (Economic and societal impact; European dimension, cross-sector/-border scalability; Offering the application as open source or not) 3) Applicant expertise (Capacity to perform the task; Knowledge, technological and business expertise; Financial viability/stability; Allocation and justification of resources)

Further information

Eligible organisations should be established in Türkiye, Serbia or Tunisia. Additional eligibility criteria can be found in the Call documentation. All eligible applicants and partners must respect the fundamental rights and values on which the EU is founded. More info about UDENE Project is at: https://udene.eu/ More information about UDENE FSTP Open Calls is at: https://udene.eu/open-fstp-calls/ Regular weekly FAQ updates will be accessible on sub-web pages. UDENE Help Desk: info@udene.eu LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/udene_project/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/UDENE/61556171654905/ Online Info Sessions: 11th August 2025 for Serbia; 13th August 2025 for Türkiye; and 15th August 2025 for Tunisia. The submission link and the links to the online info sessions will be provided at: https://udene.eu/open-fstp-calls/ Applications for UDENE Open Call must be done in English. Applicants will need to sign a Declaration of Honour, an Ethics, Intellectual Property and Security Declaration and an SME Declaration if applicant is an SME.