The proposal is expected to reinforce the EU presence in the international ICT standardisation scene, by:

1. Monitoring and gathering information regarding the on-going work from the relevant international and global standards developing organisations (SDOs), fora and consortia, in particular those active in the ICT priority areas identified in the Communication “Priorities for ICT standardisation for the Digital Single Market”. This monitoring should allow European institutions, Member States and industry to better understand where the opportunities and risks are and determine where it is needed to participate and invest resources with maximum impact to promote European strategic interests, both regarding public and users' interests, as well as industrial competitiveness.
2. To set up and manage a facility to support participation of key European specialists (especially from SMES and Academia) in key SDOs to push for European requirements and promote broader European interest. The facility would intervene in domains and SDOs where there is not enough coverage from European companies and not supported by other instruments (PPPs, EU or national R&I projects) as to avoid overlaps and achieve maximum impact.

The proposal should have the ambition to strengthen the position of the European interests to effectively contribute to, benefit from, and influence the global standardisation landscape. The ultimate goal is to ensure that standardisation activity supports a global market creating opportunities for European businesses and consumers and it is achieved via the most appropriate routes and organisations.

Relevant activities at national and EU level, as well as by industry should be taken into account.

In order to improve European participation in the field of international ICT standardisation, proposals should address the following:

• Mapping of the relevant activities in international ICT standardisation, including corresponding SDOs, fora and consortia, in particular regarding the priority domains identified in the Communication “Priorities for ICT standardisation for the Digital Single Market”
• Identification of, technical bodies, committees and concrete working items where (more) European resources are needed.
• Setting up of a management facility to support participation and leadership (e.g. chairing of technical committees) of key European specialists (including from SMES and Academia) in those organisations and technical bodies identified, to push for European requirements and promote European interest.
• Proactively achieving critical mass from industry, including SMEs and Startups, and academia for emerging standardisation activities
• Liaise with relevant on-going developments in EU and national funded R&I projects, in particular with projects having identified standardisation output or with potential relevant results, including as well other coordination and support actions, and relevant PPPs
• When relevant hosting standardisation meetings and workshop in Europe.

This action allows for the provision of financial support to third parties in line with the conditions set out in Part K of the General Annexes, in particular regarding the participation of European specialists in international SDOs. The consortium will define the process that will lead to a selection of an additional pool of specialists that may be needed to fulfil the scope of the proposal. In addition ad-hoc selection processes may be required. Financial support for these specialists will be typically in the order of EUR 1.000 – 8.000 per action by third party. It is expected that minimum 70% of the EU funding requested by the proposal should be allocated to the purpose of financial support to third parties. Third party support is expected to cover the participation of specialists in international ICT standardisation activities to support European interests, including participation in technical bodies, and leadership of relevant committees.

The Commission considers that proposals should cover a period of two years, and that those requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Expected Impact:

• Identification of ICT standardisation areas which need European intervention and proposal of actions to address them;
• Engagement of required stakeholders and experts to ensure lasting impact;
• Increase the influence or Europe into international ICT standardisation, ensuring promotion of European requirements and interests;
• Set-up of a facility to support participation of European experts in international ICT SDOs and technical bodies.
• Increase the participation of European experts in international ICT Standardisation activities to support European interests.
• Getting working items at the right time into the right technical bodies in international SDOs, fora and consortia.
• Synergies with other similar initiatives or European players including from EU (and national) funded R&I projects
• Common positions of European stakeholders in international ICT standardisation.

Please read carefully all provisions below before the preparation of your application.

1. List of countries and applicable rules for funding: described in part A of the General Annexes of the General Work Programme.
   Note also that a number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon 2020 projects. See the information in the Online Manual.
    
2. Eligibility and admissibility conditions: described in part B and C of the General Annexes of the General Work Programme. 
   
   Proposal page limits and layout: Please refer to Part B of the standard proposal template.
    
3. Evaluation
   
   3.1  Evaluation criteria and procedure, scoring and threshold: described in part H of the General Annexes of the General Work Programme.
   
   3.2 Submission and evaluation process: Guide to the submission and evaluation process.
    
4. Indicative timetable for evaluation and grant agreement:
   
   Information on the outcome of single-stage evaluation: maximum 5 months from the deadline for submission.
   Signature of grant agreements: maximum 8 months from the deadline for submission.
    
5. Provisions, proposal templates and evaluation forms for the type(s) of action(s) under this topic:
   
   Coordination and Support Action:
   
   Specific provisions and funding rates
   Proposal templates are available after entering the submission tool below.
   Standard evaluation form
   H2020 General MGA -Multi-Beneficiary
   Annotated Grant Agreement
    
6. Additional provisions:
   
   Horizon 2020 budget flexibility
   Classified information.
    
7. Open access must be granted to all scientific publications resulting from Horizon 2020 actions, and proposals must refer to measures envisaged. Where relevant, proposals should also provide information on how the participants will manage the research data generated and/or collected during the project, such as details on what types of data the project will generate, whether and how this data will be exploited or made accessible for verification and re-use, and how it will be curated and preserved.
   
   This topic participates per default in the open access to research data pilot which aims to improve and maximise access to and re-use of research data generated by projects:
   
   - The pilot applies to the data needed to validate the results presented in scientific publications. Additionally, projects can choose to make other data available for open access and need to describe their approach in a Data Management Plan (to be provided within six months after the project start).
   
   - Note that the evaluation phase proposals will not be evaluated more favourably because they are part of the Pilot, and will not be penalised for opting out of the Pilot.
   
   - Projects can at any stage opt-out of the pilot.
   
   The legal requirements for projects participating in this pilot are in the article 29.3 of the Model Grant Agreement.
   Further information on the Open Research Data Pilot is made available in the H2020 Online Manual.
    
8. Additional documents:
   
   H2020 Work Programme 2016-17: Introduction
   H2020 Work Programme 2016-17: Introduction to Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies (LEITs)
   H2020 Work Programme 2016-17: Information and communication technologies (ICT)
   H2020 Work Programme 2016-17: Dissemination, Exploitation and Evaluation
   H2020 Work Programme 2016-17: General Annexes
   
   Legal basis: Horizon 2020 - Regulation of Establishment
   Legal basis: Euratom Horizon 2020 - Regulation of Establishment
   Legal basis: Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation
   Legal basis: Horizon 2020 Specific Programme

Source: Participant Portal