The following are a list of questions received by the EC, including through the Horizon 2020 Enquiry service and during Information events.

The answers given below are for general guidance, and are NOT legally binding. For this reason the reader is encouraged to consult the official, source documents. They are specifically related to topics INSO-2 and INSO- 3.

QUESTIONS relating to topic INSO-2: Understanding and supporting business model innovation

Question: Is the number of projects to be financed in INSO-2-2014 equal to only one project?

The indicative budget for this topic is 3 million, and it is also indicated in the topic that it is expected to finance one project. Given the high potential impact of the project and its broad EU coverage, it could be expected that a budget of 3 million would match the activities to be carried out to reach the objectives and targets.

Question: As the topic states, at least 2 million SMEs should be reached by the project. What is expected by the project? Does it basically mean that the project needs to design dissemination strategies that are likely to reach such a number of SMEs?

The project should allow a maximum number of companies to innovate their business models. To do this it would “reach out” to large numbers of companies, at least 2 million SMEs. How this will be done is up to the project. The project can use for example existing channels or networks to connect to SMEs in different EU regions, or develop ways to link to the SMEs and so on. Dissemination is of course part of this,including public disclosure of results and moreover easy access to the new knowledge. The project should target to reach out to 2 million and more SMEs (from all over Europe) within its lifetime, e.g develop appropriate mechanisms or use existing ones for such impact.

Question: The call mentions that ‘the aim is to turn into a self-sustainable platform after the end of the EU funding’. It is not clear how this matches with the ‘open access/data’ policy. How can you guarantee open access if you have to set up a self-sustainable platform? A self-sustainable platform must to - a certain extent - make profit in order to remain sustainable.

The applicants should be aware that they can opt out of the open access pilot when they submit their proposal. This is possible to the applicants if they judge that participation to the open access pilot, which is the default in this case, could potentially limit the impact of the project -in this case, in terms of economic sustainability.

Applicants can also consult the OA guidelines as published on the link below

Question: The call text mentions that at least 10% of Europe's 20 million SME should be reached. Is it possible to foresee some budget in the proposal for achieving this goal?

Reaching out to large numbers of companies especially SMEs is one of the main activities foreseen in this topic, as described under the scope section. Therefore an appropriate work plan and the relevant resources would be needed to work on all four dimensions listed and achieve the results.

Question: Is there a ‘research element’ in the topic?

The topic is to be implemented througha Research and Innovation action.

Question: Is the approach cross-sectorial? Or can it be in one sector?

The topic addresses the challenge of business model innovation across sectors. It is indicated that specific sectors can be targeted as long as the approach includes the transfer of business models across sectors.

QUESTIONS relating to topic INSO-3: The Economic impact of the Innovation Union

Question: Is it expected to focus on economic impact, or have a bit wider socio-economic perspective?

The topic aims to gather evidence on the impact of EU innovation policy on growth and jobs. It should adopt a broad concept of innovation, in line with the Innovation Union Flagship initiative. The focus is on the economic impact. In this context it also requires analysis of the social dimensions.

Question: What is the level of analysis at regional level, in particular taking into account the difficulty to measure it for certain IU commitments?

It depends on the project to present its methodology and level of analysis at different levels. The regional level is not at the focus of the topic, which mainly addresses the EU and Member States levels.

Question: Is an on-line monitoring system expected at the end of the project for end users that would be policy makers at EU, national and regional levels, or more academic use?

The topic does not refer the development of a monitoring system for the IU.

Question: Are there existing reports on the Innovation Union that applicants can consult?

The Innovation Union site is a source of information that applicants should consult

Questions related to both topics INSO-2 and INSO -3

Question: Has the Commission established minimum and maximum duration for the projects to be funded?

There are no special conditions for these topics regarding duration, e.g. no minimum or maximum duration limits defined.

Question: How strict are the indications of the budget, especially when it is expected that only one project will be funded?

The budgets indicated in the topics INSO-2 and INSO-3 (in both cases EURO 3 million) are not an eligibility criterion, e.g. a proposal requesting higher budget is not excluded from the evaluation on that reason. Nevertheless, it is not advised to submit proposals that are requesting a higher EC contribution than the indicative budget of the topic.