FLUIDOS Open Call on data processing on the Edge

Description

FLUIDOS offers two different types of grant for applicants. 1) FLUIDOS Technology Extension Grant (TEG) requests applicants to demonstrate that they are able to offer additional, open source, functionalities to the FLUIDOS platform. FLUIDOS TEG is open to individual entities, including researchers, developers, SMEs, start-ups, large enterprises, innovators, and research institutions, and grants the opportunity to receive financial support of up to 75,000 EURO. As part of the development of the FLUIDOS, several areas and domains have been identified as priorities for the Open Calls' TEG. Applications addressing the following areas will be awarded bonus points in the evaluation. Privacy preserving Node Telemetry: algorithms and technologies that can inform customers of activity within the FLUIDOS domain without disclosing sensitive information from the hosting domain (e.g., physical topology), while still allowing customers to infer how their services are performing. Extension of the REAR protocol for generic resource negotiation and acquisition, such as VMs from a cloud hyperscaler and/or broader standardisation (e.g., within the GSMa). Integration of authorisation/accounting features with the frameworks proposed for GaiaX, (e.g., clearing houses, federated deployments etc.) Exporting data centre information about energy/carbon footprint to enable global energy/carbon-based optimization strategies. 2) FLUIDOS Use Case Grant (USG) calls the applicants to test and validate FLUIDOS architecture and software by incorporating their own additional software on top of the FLUIDOS system and exploring new sectors beyond the traditional application domains. FLUIDOS UCG will be open to both individual entities (researchers, developers, SMEs, start-ups, large enterprises, innovators, or research institutions) and small consortia of 2-3 entities. Successful applicants will be granted up to 120,000 EURO (per consortia), distributed as the consortia partners see fit. Suggested priority areas for the UCG are the following: A consumer-oriented integrated management suite for FLUIDOS that exposes a functionally capable UI and API (This shall allow for the complete management of FLUIDOS nodes and domains.) Enabling a scalable FLUIDOS-based orchestrator to control and update a large swarm of IoT devices.

Beneficiary & submission

Proposal submission is open until 29 of February, 2024, 5PM CET. For the proposal submission, applicants are asked to carefully read the following steps: For the proposal preparation, the applicants are requested to apply online (https://fluidos.digitalsme.eu/ ) and answer to all mandatory questions (with no exception) Applicants that do not accept the terms and conditions and do not sign and upload to the application platform the completed Honour Declaration and SME Declaration (if required) will not be eligible. Be concrete and concise. Questions have character limitations. Please examine all the open call documents and attend the various online and physical events promoted by FLUIDOS project. It is highly recommended to submit your proposal well before the deadline. If the applicant discovers an error in the proposal, and provided the call deadline has not passed, the applicant may request to re-submit the proposal (for this purpose please contact us at opencall@fluidos.eu. However, FLUIDOS is not committed that resubmission in time will be feasible in case the request for resubmission is not received at least 48 hours before the call deadline. For the proposals' evaluation, the first step will consider the following proposal elgibility criteria: Proposals must have a clear European dimension, facilitate cutting-edge mechanisms for data sharing and processing and contribute towards European Union digitization, targeting clear economic and societal impact. Each applicant may submit only one (1) proposal per Open Call and grant category. Multiple submissions per call is a disqualifying factor. In case an SME submits more than one proposal per open call, all proposals that they have submitted will be automatically excluded from the evaluation process. Applicants may participate in a maximum of one (1) accepted sub-project category. Applicants that are selected for a Use Case Grant in the first Open Call are not eligible for funding in Open Call #2, even if they submit a new proposal.  Applicants are permitted to resubmit a proposal for a different grant during Open Call #2. This is the case of the applicants who have been selected for a Technical Extension Grant in the initial Open Call and who may qualify for a Use Case Grant in the subsequent Open Call. Applicants may re-submit at Open Call #2 a proposal that was not selected for funding during Open Call #1. However, it is mandatory to flag that this is a resubmission and clearly explain the improvements that they have made. As the next step, evaluation of each proposal will be undertaken by two external experts and one technical expert from the project , who will have been allocated to review a number of proposals after having confirmed that they have no conflict of interests with the applicant. The evaluation will be based on five main crtieria: 1. Problem Solving Excellence (weighted 30%), 2. Proposal impact (weighted 35%), 3. Proficiency and experience of the applicant / applying consortium (weighted 15%), 4. Resource allocation for the proposal (weighted 10%), 5. Feasibility and relevance of the proposed workplan (weighted 10%). Each criterion will be scored between 1 and 10 (half point scores are not given) and then multiplied from the criterium weight. More details about each criterium, scoring and prioritisation of applications with the same score can be found in the Section 4 of the Guidelines for Applicants, available at FLUIDOS page (https://www.fluidos.eu/fluidos-open-call/) and application platform (https://fluidos.digitalsme.eu/).

Further information

More information on FLUIDOS page: https://www.fluidos.eu/fluidos-open-call/ And directly in the DIGITAL SME Call Platform: https://fluidos.digitalsme.eu/