ΑI4Copernicus is an EU-funded (H2020) project which aims to enable innovation by bringing together the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and EO (Earth Observation) communities. AI4Copernicus will make the AI4EU AI-on-demand platform the platform of choice for users of Copernicus data along the value chain (scientists, SMEs, non-tech sector), bringing together the knowledge, algorithms, tools and resources available in domains of high economic and societal impact, such as in Agriculture, Energy and Security.
Within AI4Copernicus 1st Round of Open Calls, we will identify up to 6 projects regarding Uses-Cases in the fields of Health, Energy, Security and Agriculture that can be implemented by exploiting the existing AI4Copernicus resources and tools.
Applicants can be consortia of SMEs[1], startups, that are high-tech and low-tech companies, legally established in: The Member States of the European Union, or Associated Countries to H2020 (the list of Associated Countries available here), including the United Kingdom.
If you want to participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Call for proposals (Use-cases and/or Experiments), your organisation needs to be registered, have a valid VAT number and have a 9-digit Participant Identification Code (PIC). Please quote your PIC and your partner PIC in the proposal template. Additional information about the PIC number can be found here.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361. The main factors determining whether an enterprise is an SME are: (1) staff headcount, (2) either turnover or balance sheet total
[1] SME Definition https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
| Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover or | Balance sheet total |
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 M | ≤ € 43 M |
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 M | ≤ € 10 M |
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 M | ≤ € 2 M |
These ceilings apply to the figures for individual firms only. A firm that is part of a larger group may need to include staff headcount/turnover/balance sheet data from that group too. Additional details can be found: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
To date, there is no clear-cut and widely accepted definition for high-tech or low-tech SMEs. As such AI4Copernicus follows a rather broad conceptual approach without elaborating a very stringent definition or set of indicators.
– High-tech SMEs: are considered to be highly innovative and/or R&D intensive companies and/or use sophisticated and complex technologies such as AI, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, etc.
– Low-tech or no-tech SMEs: are considered to be companies that do not apply sophisticated technologies such as AI, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, etc.
The 1st Round of Open Calls for Use-Cases (consortia projects with a low-technology SME by default) focuses on 4 Industrial Domains: Energy, Security, Health, Agriculture will be open from 30 June 2021.
This type of Open Calls involves:
– SME consortia (EU & Associated Countries)
– Include a low-technology/no-technology company by default
Max funding per project:
– up to € 150.000 (3-partner consortia),
– up to € 120.000 (2-partner consortia)
Νο, AI4Cppernicus consortium partners cannot be funded by the Call.
Yes.
A non-eligible partner could be part of your proposal as a support network partner (with a letter of support) but not as a partner in your consortium.
– Use-Cases: small SME consortia projects with at least two members (max 3 partners), including a non-technology advanced partner by default. The end output of Use-Cases should be at min TRL 5.
– Experiments: single beneficiary projects. The end output of the experiments should be at min TRL 6.
An innovative proposal that addresses successfully all the AI4Copernicus requirements.
For the 1st Round of Open Calls, each selected project will receive up to € 150.000 (for max 3 partners) or € 120.000 (for 2 partners).
Developing and testing AI technical solutions that address industrial challenges by exploiting AI resources and Earth Observation Data focusing only on:
Four industrial domains (energy, security, health, agriculture)
The AI4Copernicus support program (acceleration process) involves a 16-month acceleration program, which includes namely
-Phase 3: Support Phase (14 Months) and
-Phase 4: Sustain Phase (2 Months), as can be seen in Figure 1.
During this period the following services will be provided: Funding (depending on the type of the call) to implement their project for a period of 16 months
-Funding (depending on the type of the call) to implement their project for a period of 16 months
-AI4Copernicus Tools & Resources
-AI4EU, DIASes Tools & Resources
-Technical Mentoring
-Business & Sustainability Mentoring
-Certification: AI4Copernicus Trustmark
-Visibility through AI4Copernicus digital channels and events as AI4Copernicus Ambassadors
Yes, more than one industrial domain can be covered.
The estimated time is 2-3 working days, once a specific project idea is formulated. Please, take into consideration that specific character limits have been established in each field of the online application form, so we encourage you to keep your proposal focused on the requested information, keeping in mind the AI4Copernicus concept and the requirements gathered in the Guide for Applicants for this call. We also recommend you start the submission process quite in advance before the deadline in order to avoid last-minute circumstances. If you have any questions feel free to let us know at info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Is your organisation directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board? If you answered NO then there is no conflict of interest[1] and you can submit a proposal in the 1st Round of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls.
No, your proposal should cover one industrial domain (at minimum). However, if you want you can address more than one industrial domain, depending on your idea.
It is not mandatory to use more than one of the participating DIAS platforms, nor are there any datasets prioritised by default. You can focus on the platforms more suitable for your use case.
No, it is not required to use AI4EU services for developing your services.
All successful applicants should publish a description of their solution and provide a link to their service in the AI4EU catalogue.
In general, we are in favour and promote as open as possible solutions. However, this is not a strict requirement either for the AI4Copernicus Open Calls or the AI4EU platform. You can publish the description of your resource in the AI4EU platform independently of the accompanying license (which however must be included in the description of the resource). In any case, the version integrated into the DIAS platform will necessarily be a docker container exposing the resource, thus there is no need to expose the source code/algorithm itself. You can include any amount of detail that you find appropriate for the algorithmic approach in the documentation of the resource.
The monthly composite approach allows flexibility in terms of adaptation to different geographical areas with images having different frequency of acquisition. You are free of using whatever you prefer but the output is expected to have good generalization capability.
Yes. However, the temporal component is essential to perform an accurate analysis of the phenological trend of different crops, that may become distinguishable in a particular month or date and be easily misclassified in another.
Processing pipelines will be provided as docker images for this 1st round of open calls. Some of them will be also available in a beta version as models in the AI4EU platform. Regarding datasets, depending on the source, they will be provided through web services or as local resources in CREODIAS environment.
Bootstrapping service providers are implementing the services having into account the different needs of the bidders. For that, a lot of parameters will be exposed to be able to customize the processing. It will be possible to provide feedback about the services and the providers could update the services considering new requirements if it is considered needed.
Multiple submissions are available until deadlines.
After the submission of your application, no modification is acceptable. Please, be aware that your application is completed before you proceed with its submission.
Yes, an organisation is possible to submit more than 1 proposal as a partner, however, ONLY one as the coordinator.
[1] Please note that AI4Copernicus may withdraw an application in the event the participant is directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board.
Registered SMEs can participate in the following AI4Copernicus Open Calls: 1st Round, 3rd Round, and 4th Round.
Individuals can participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Calls for citizens: 2nd Round (see figure 2).
Yes, it can apply.
Subcontracting is not allowed.
This is not allowed.
The ‘Guidelines for Applicants’ is the main reference document. It provides detailed information about the requirements of the evaluation and selection process, and the Support Program offered by AI4Copernicus.
All the information needed will be provided to applicants via the following digital channels:
-Project’s website (more info):https://ai4copernicus-project.eu/
-Apply via: https://ai4copernicus-project.eu/open-call-info/
-AI4Copernicus Support team: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Yes, there will be an initial pre-financing (30% of the total funding) established at the beginning of the Support Program (M0).
The maximum amount of financial support to be granted per selected project is up to €150.000 and beneficiaries will receive funding in the following installments:
-Award Stage (pre-financing): 30% of the total
-Interim Assessment: 30% of the total against depending of on the assessment outcome
-Proof of Concept Stage/Final Assessment: rest 40% of the total
The IPR will belong to the IPR holder(s) as it will be specified in the Project Proposal. The AI4Copernicus will have NO claims over this IPR.
If you have submitted a proposal, your project and company-related information need to be stored on our servers until the payment of the balance of the AI4Copernicus project, for potential reporting purposes towards the European Commission. After this date, all information will be deleted from our servers but will still be part of the statistics of the European Commission.
AI4Copernicus requires certain types of personal data, necessary in order to proceed with your application. These personal data types are: a) name, b) address (physical address and email), (c) telephone number. Your personal data will be kept strictly during the Open Call term, solely for the purposes of Open Call and will not be shared with any third party. For any inquiry regarding your personal data and your related rights, you may contact info@ai4copernicus-project.eu.
Yes, you can join our community!
AI4Copernicus aims at developing a vibrant community of peers for knowledge exchange, networking and further collaboration processes in an open space format. You can join us at: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu. In the event, you opt to become part of this community you will be asked to fill in an online consent form.
The “Funding and Support Services Agreement” will be signed once the results of the 1st Round of AI4Copernicus Open Calls for Uses-Cases will be announced. Before signing the agreement between the consortia of selected projects, a Legal Check has to take place.
Do you have any additional questions that are not covered on this page? If so, please let us know: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
A challenge can be seen as a particular problem with a societal, industrial, business, or environmental impact that can be solved utilising AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies and Earth Observation (EO) data in addition to other types of data.
AI4Copernicus is looking for citizen-driven social challenges based on AI (Artificial Intelligence) technologies and Earth Observation (EO) Data. These should aim to help for example individuals, vulnerable communities, the environment, as well as business and the public sector, to deliver innovative services to their customers and citizens of Europe and the World.
ΑI4Copernicus is an EU-funded (H2020) project which aims to enable innovation by bringing together the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and EO (Earth Observation) communities. AI4Copernicus will make the AI4EU AI-on-demand platform the platform of choice for users of Copernicus data along the value chain (scientists, SMEs, non-tech sector), bringing together the knowledge, algorithms, tools and resources available in domains of high economic and societal impact, such as in Agriculture, Energy and Security.
Within AI4Copernicus 2nd Round of Open Calls, we will identify up to 2 social challenges in specific social themes/social causes that can be subsequently solved using Artificial Intelligence and Earth Observation Data.
The 2nd open call for citizen social challenges is addressed to the following type of applicants:
Only beneficiaries external to the consortium will be funded.
Only individuals from the EU member states, Associated Countries[1] (hereafter collectively identified as the ‘Eligible Countries’) and the UK will be eligible to participate in the AI4Copernicus 2nd Round of Open Calls.
Please find the list of Associated Countries here.
The 2 best challenges that will be selected will:
– (a) receive an Award in cash and will be
– (b) be addressed by SME Consortia under the 4th Round of Open Calls for Use-Cases based on the Citizen-driven Social Themes (based on the selected citizen-themes of the 2nd Open Call).
Award in cash:
Non-Financial Support benefits the Citizen-driven Social Challenge Owners (Winners):
The 2nd Round of Open Calls focuses on driven citizen social problems/challenges that can be subsequently solved using Artificial Intelligence and Earth Observation Data, by SMEs that will be selected in the 4th Round of AI4Copernicus Open Calls for Use-Cases based on the Citizen-driven Social Themes.
Νο, AI4Cppernicus consortium partners cannot be funded by the Call.
For the 2nd Round of Open Calls each selected social challenge will get €5.000.
The estimated time is quite short 1-2 working days (at most), once a specific project idea is formulated. Please, take into consideration that specific character limits have been established in each field of the online application form, so we encourage you to keep your proposal focused on the requested information, keeping in mind the AI4Copernicus concept and the requirements gathered in the Guide for Applicants for this call. We also recommend you start the submission process quite in advance before the deadline in order to avoid last-minute circumstances.
If you have any questions feel free to let us know at info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Are you directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board?
If you answered NO then there is no conflict of interest[2] and you can submit a proposal in the 2nd Round of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls.
Multiple submissions are available until deadlines.
After the submission of your application, no modification is acceptable. Please, be aware that your application is completed before you proceed with its submission.
Yes, an individual is able to submit more than 1 proposal.
No, only individuals/citizens can be funded.
The ‘Guidelines for Applicants’ is the main reference document. It provides detailed information about the requirements of the evaluation and selection process, and the Support Program offered by AI4Copernicus.
All the information needed will be provided to applicants via the following digital channels:
The maximum award amount to be granted per selected social challenge is 5.000€ and individuals will receive the total funding in a one-time payment.
If you have submitted a proposal, your proposal-related information needs to be stored on our servers until the payment of the balance of the AI4Copernicus project, for potential reporting purposes towards the European Commission.
After this date, all information will be deleted from our servers but will still be part of the statistics of the European Commission.
AI4Copernicus needs certain types of personal data, necessary in order to proceed with your application. These personal data types are: a) name, b) address (physical address and email), (c) telephone. Your personal data will be kept strictly during the Open Call term, solely for the purposes of Open Call, and will not be shared with any third party. For any inquiry regarding your personal data and your related rights, you may contact info@ai4copernicus-project.eu.
Yes, you can join our community!
AI4Copernicus aims at developing a vibrant community of peers for knowledge exchange, networking, and further collaboration processes in an open space format.
You can join us at: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
In the event, you opt to become part of this community you will be asked to fill in an online consent form.
[1] Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia
[2] Please note that AI4Copernicus may withdraw an application in the event the participant is directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board.
ΑI4Copernicus is an EU-funded (H2020) project which aims to enable innovation by bringing together the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and EO (Earth Observation) communities. AI4Copernicus will make the AI4EU AI-on-demand platform the platform of choice for users of Copernicus data along the value chain (scientists, SMEs, non-tech sector), bringing together the knowledge, algorithms, tools and resources available in domains of high economic and societal impact, such as in Agriculture, Energy and Security.
Within AI4Copernicus 3rd Round of Open Calls, we will select up to 8 Experiments in the fields of Health, Energy, Security, Agriculture and other sectors like Maritime, Aviation that can be implemented by exploiting the existing AI4Copernicus resources and tools.
Applicants can be SMEs[1] and startups legally established in:
The Member States of the European Union, and/or Associated Countries to H2020 (the list of Associated Countries available here), including the United Kingdom.
If you want to participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Call for proposals (Use-cases and/or Experiments), your organization needs to be registered, have a valid VAT number and have a 9-digit Participant Identification Code (PIC). Please quote your PIC and your partner PIC in the proposal template.
Additional information about the PIC number can be found here.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361. The main factors determining whether an enterprise is an SME are:
(1) staff headcount, (2) either turnover or balance sheet total
| Company category | Staff
headcount |
Turnover | or | Balance sheet total | |
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m | ||
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m | ||
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m | ||
These ceilings apply to the figures for individual firms only.
A firm that is part of a larger group may need to include staff headcount/turnover/balance sheet data from that group too.
Additional details can be found: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
The 3rd Round of Open Calls for Experiments (single SME project) focus in any Industrial Domain like, Energy, Security, Health, Agriculture & other sectors such as Maritime, Aviation among others, will be open from February 1st, 2022.
This type of Open Calls involves:
Single SMEs, Start-ups and spin-offs (EU & Associated Countries)
Max funding per experiment:
– €80.000
Please note that we expect to receive proposals with a budget up to €60.000 each. Proposals that exceed €60.000 and up to €80.000 will need to clearly justify their budgetary request in terms of human resources, sub-contracting and infrastructures needed. This will be taken into consideration under the proposal evaluation stage (i.e., implementation criterion, see Guide for Applicants).
Νο, AI4Cppernicus consortium partners cannot be funded by the Call.
Yes.
An innovative proposal that addresses sufficiently and successfully all the AI4Copernicus requirements.
For the 3rd Round of Open Calls each selected project will receive up to €80.000.
Please note that we expect to receive proposals with a budget up to €60.000 each. Proposals that exceed 60.000 EUR and up to €80.000 will need to clearly justify their budgetary request in terms of human resources, sub-contracting and infrastructures needed. This will be taken into consideration under the proposal evaluation stage (i.e., implementation criterion, see Guide for Applicants).
Developing and testing AI technical solutions that address industrial challenges by exploiting AI resources and Earth Observation Data focusing on any industrial domain (Energy, Security, Health, Agriculture & other sectors like Maritime, Aviation, etc).
The AI4Copernicus support program (acceleration process) involves a 16-month acceleration program, which includes namely
During this period the following services, will be provided:
Yes, more than one industrial domain can be covered.
The estimated time is 2-3 working days, once a specific project idea is formulated. Please, take into consideration that specific character limits have been established in each field of the online application form, so we encourage you to keep your proposal focused on the requested information, keeping in mind the AI4Copernicus concept and the requirements gathered in the Guide for Applicants for this call. We also recommend you start the submission process quite in advance before the deadline in order to avoid last minute circumstances.
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know at info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Is your organisation directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board?
If you answered NO then there is NO conflict of interest[2] and you can submit a proposal in the 3rd Round of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls.
One of the DIAS platform (CREODIAS, WEKEO) should be used.
Focus on the DIAS platform more suitable for your experiment.
There is no such restriction, you can use a combination of satellite data from different series. However, you are expected to use Copernicus data, as well as any other data necessary.
No, it is not required to use AI4EU services for developing your services.
All successful applicants should publish a description of their solution and provide a link to their service in the AI4EU catalogue.
AI4Copernicus services should be exploited as part of the project (see Part 2 of Technical Documentation).
In general, we are in favor and promote as open as possible solutions.
However, this is not a strict requirement either for the AI4Copernicus Open Calls or the AI4EU platform. You can publish the description of your resource in the AI4EU platform independently of the accompanying license (which however must be included in the description of the resource). In any case, the version integrated into the DIAS platform will necessarily be a docker container exposing the resource, thus there is no need to expose the source code / algorithm itself. You can include any amount of detail that you find appropriate for the algorithmic approach in the documentation of the resource.
The monthly composite approach allows flexibility in terms of adaptation to different geographical areas with images having different frequency of acquisition. You are free of using whatever you prefer but the output is expected to have good generalisation capability.
Yes. However, the temporal component is essential to perform an accurate analysis of the phenological trend of different crops, that may become distinguishable in a particular month or date and be easily misclassified in another.
Processing pipelines will be provided as docker images for this 3rd Round of Open Calls. Some of them will be also available in a beta version as models in AI4EU platform. Regarding datasets, depending on the source, they will be provided through web services or as local resources in CREODIAS environment.
Bootstrapping service providers are implementing the services having into account the different needs of the bidders. For that, a lot of parameters will be exposed to be able to customise the processing. It will be possible to provide feedback about the services and the providers could update the services considering new requirements if it is considered needed.
Multiple submissions are available until deadlines.
After the submission of your application, no modification is acceptable. Please, be aware that your application is completed before you proceed with its submission.
Yes, an organisation is possible to submit more than 1 proposal as a partner, however, ONLY one will be funded.
Yes, an organisation can be selected for funding in more than 1 Open Calls of AI4Copernicus project as a partner. However, the total funded amount should be up to € 60.000.
Please note that we expect to receive proposals with a budget up to € 60.000 each. Proposals that exceed € 60.000 and up to € 80.000 will need to clearly justify their budgetary request in terms of human resources, sub-contracting and infrastructures needed. This will be taken into consideration under the proposal evaluation stage (i.e., implementation criterion, see Guide for Applicants).
Registered SMEs can participate in the following AI4Copernicus Open Calls: 1st Round, 3rd Round and 4th Round.
Individuals could participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Calls for citizens: 2nd Round (see figure 2).
Yes, it can apply.
Subcontracting is allowed.
This is not allowed.
The ‘Guidelines for Applicants’ is the main reference document. It provides detailed information about the requirements of the evaluation and selection process, and the Support Program offered by AI4Copernicus.
All the information needed will be provided to applicants via the following digital channels:
Yes, there will be an initial pre-financing (30% of the total funding) established at the beginning of the Support Program (M0).
The maximum amount of financial support to be granted per selected experiment is up to €80.000* and beneficiaries will receive funding in the following installments:
* Please note that we expect to receive proposals with a budget up to €60.000 each. Proposals that exceed 60.000 EUR and up to €80.000 will need to clearly justify their budgetary request in terms of human resources, sub-contracting and infrastructures needed. This will be taken into consideration under the proposal evaluation stage (i.e., implementation criterion, see Guide for Applicants).
The IPR will belong to the IPR holder(s) as it will be specified in the Project Proposal.
The AI4Copernicus will have NO claims over this IPR.
If you have submitted a proposal, your project and company related information need to be stored on our servers until the payment of balance of the AI4Copernicus project, for potential reporting purposes towards the European Commission.
After this date all information will be deleted from our servers but will still be part of the statistics of the European Commission.
AI4Copernicus requires certain types of your personal data, necessary in order to proceed with your application. These personal data types are: a) name, b) address (physical address and email), (c) telephone number. Your personal data will be kept strictly during the Open Call term, solely for the purposes of Open Call and will not be shared with any third party. For any inquiry regarding your personal data and your related rights you may contact info@ai4copernicus-project.eu.
Yes, you can join our community!
AI4Copernicus aims at developing a vibrant community of peers for knowledge exchange, networking and further collaboration processes in an open space format.
You can join us at: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
In the event you opt to become part of this community you will be asked to fill in an online consent form.
The “Funding and Support Services Agreement” will be signed once the results of the 3rd Round of AI4Copernicus Open Calls for Experiments will be announced. Before signing the agreement between the consortia of selected projects, a Legal Check has to take place.
The last 2 months of the project, i.e. M15 and M16, are related to the project’s sustainability activities (e.g., sustainability workshops, etc).
Therefore, during these two months it is expected on your behalf to have a small effort allocation, equal to 1 – 1,5 Person/Month (PM) at maximum.
As such we would kindly ask you to take this into consideration in the course of your planned activities and implementation plans.
Person Months (PM) are the estimated overall effort allocated by the agency/ies participating in a project for the implementation of the project.As such one should take into consideration the working time of all personnel involved for the whole duration of the project.
One PM means that the agency involved will need to have an employee, working full time for one month (or two employees working half time, etc.).
Please note that each agency involved must keep sufficient supporting documents (e.g timesheets to be approved at least monthly by the responsible person) to show that the PMs they declare are eligible.
Moreover, the declared number of PMs must:
• be linked to the implementation of the action,
• be incurred during the action’s duration,
• be identifiable and verifiable and
• comply with the applicable national law on taxes, labour and social security.
Kindly note that you can find additional info in this regard on What is ‘human effort’ (person-months) and how to calculate it?
The code for the CAMS model output downscaling service is open source, and can be found at https://github.com/mishooax/ai4cop-health-cams (including a Dockerfile than can be used to build an image for testing purposes).
[1] SME Definition https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
[2] Please note that, AI4Copernicus may withdraw an application in the event the participant is directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board.
ΑI4Copernicus is an EU-funded (H2020) project which aims to enable innovation by bringing together the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and EO (Earth Observation) communities. AI4Copernicus will make the AI4EU AI-on-demand platform the platform of choice for users of Copernicus data along the value chain (scientists, SMEs, non-tech sector), bringing together the knowledge, algorithms, tools and resources available in domains of high economic and societal impact, such as in Agriculture, Energy and Security.
Within AI4Copernicus 4th Round of Open Calls, we will select up to 3 Use-Cases projects based on citizen social challenges that can be implemented by exploiting the existing AI4Copernicus resources and tools.
Applicants can be consortia of SMEs[1], startups, that are high-tech and at least one low-tech company, legally established in:
The Member States of the European Union, and/or Associated Countries to H2020 (the list of Associated Countries available here), including the United Kingdom.
If you want to participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Call for proposals (Use-cases and/or Experiments), your organization needs to be registered, have a valid VAT number and have a 9-digit Participant Identification Code (PIC). Please quote your PIC and your partner PIC in the proposal template.
Additional information about the PIC number can be found here.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361. The main factors determining whether an enterprise is an SME are:
(1) staff headcount, (2) either turnover or balance sheet total
| Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover | or | Balance sheet total | |
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m | ||
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m | ||
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m | ||
These ceilings apply to the figures for individual firms only.
A firm that is part of a larger group may need to include staff headcount/turnover/balance sheet data from that group too.
Additional details can be found: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
To date, there is no clear-cut and widely accepted definition for high-tech or low-tech SMEs.
As such AI4Copernicus follows a rather broad conceptual approach without elaborating a very stringent definition or set of indicators.
The 4th Round of Open Calls for Use-Cases (consortia projects with a low-technology SME by default) focus on the citizen-based social challenges and will be open from 1st February 2022.
This type of Open Calls involves:
Max funding per project:
– up to €150.000 (3-partner consortia), up to €120.000 (2-partner consortia) (minimum 2 partners consortia). The maximum amount to be granted per third party (per partner) will NOT exceed €60.000.
The Social Themes to be addressed (as identified by the citizens alphabetically ordered):
Please note that each proposal should address on of these challenges.
Νο, AI4Cppernicus consortium partners cannot be funded by the Call.
Yes.
A non-eligible partner could be part of your proposal as a support network partner (with a letter of support) but not as a partner in your consortium.
An innovative proposal that addresses sufficiently and successfully all the AI4Copernicus requirements.
For the 4th Round of Open Calls each selected project will receive up to €150.000 (3-partner consortia), up to €120.000 (2-partner consortia) (minimum 2 partners). The maximum amount to be granted per third party (per partner) will NOT exceed €60.000.
Developing and testing AI technical solutions that address industrial challenges by exploiting AI resources and Earth Observation Data focusing on citizen-based social challenges.
The Social Themes categorised as following: Creating Digital Twins of remote territorial areas; Mapping Health Facilities; Monitoring Illegal Fishing; Optimising Air Quality Footprint; Optimising Waste Management; Predicting Economic Recessions; Predicting Fire Risk probability; Predicting Health Risks; Predicting Poverty; Reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) in cities; Reducing the overheating of urban spaces (Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect)
The AI4Copernicus support program (acceleration process) involves a 16-month acceleration program, which includes namely
During this period the following services, will be provided:
Yes, more than one industrial domain can be covered.
The estimated time is 2-3 working days, once a specific project idea is formulated. Please, take into consideration that specific character limits have been established in each field of the online application form, so we encourage you to keep your proposal focused on the requested information, keeping in mind the AI4Copernicus concept and the requirements gathered in the Guide for Applicants for this call. We also recommend you start the submission process quite in advance before the deadline in order to avoid last minute circumstances.
If you have any questions feel free to let us know at info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Is your organisation directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board?
If you answered NO then there is no conflict of interest[2] and you can submit a proposal in the 4th Round of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls.
No, your proposal should cover one industrial domain (at minimum).
However, if you want you can address more than one industrial domain, depending on your idea.
One of the DIASes platforms (CREODIAS, WEKEO) should be used. Focus on the DIAS platform more suitable for your experiment.
There is no such restriction, you can use a combination of satellite data from different series. However, you are expected to use Copernicus data, as well as any other data necessary.
No, it is not required to use AI4EU services for developing your services.
All successful applicants should publish a description of their solution and provide a link to their service in the AI4EU catalogue.
AI4Copernicus services should be exploited as part of the project (see Part 2 of Technical Documentation).
In general, we are in favor and promote as open as possible solutions.
However, this is not a strict requirement either for the AI4Copernicus Open Calls or the AI4EU platform. You can publish the description of your resource in the AI4EU platform independently of the accompanying license (which however must be included in the description of the resource). In any case, the version integrated into the DIAS platform will necessarily be a docker container exposing the resource, thus there is no need to expose the source code / algorithm itself. You can include any amount of detail that you find appropriate for the algorithmic approach in the documentation of the resource.
The monthly composite approach allows flexibility in terms of adaptation to different geographical areas with images having different frequency of acquisition. You are free of using whatever you prefer but the output is expected to have good generalisation capability.
Yes. However, the temporal component is essential to perform an accurate analysis of the phenological trend of different crops, that may become distinguishable in a particular month or date and be easily misclassified in another.
Processing pipelines will be provided as docker images for this 4th round of open call. Some of them will be also available in a beta version as models in AI4EU platform. Regarding datasets, depending on the source, they will be provided through web services or as local resources in CREODIAS environment.
Bootstrapping service providers are implementing the services having into account the different needs of the bidders. For that, a lot of parameters will be exposed to be able to customise the processing. It will be possible to provide feedback about the services and the providers could update the services considering new requirements if it is considered needed.
Multiple submissions are available until deadlines.
After the submission of your application, no modification is acceptable. Please, be aware that your application is completed before you proceed with its submission.
Yes, an organisation is possible to submit more than 1 proposal as a partner, however, ONLY one as the coordinator.
Yes, an organisation can be selected for funding in more than 1 Open Calls of AI4Copernicus project as a partner. However, the total funded amount should be up to € 60.000.
Registered SMEs can participate in the following AI4Copernicus Open Calls: 1st Round, 3rd Round and 4th Round.
Figure 2: The 4 Rounds of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls (& submission deadlines)Please note that the max budget is up to €150.000 (3-partner consortia), up to € 120.000€ (2-partner consortia). Therefore, each partner should not have a budget that exceeds €60.000.
Individuals can participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Calls for citizens: 2nd Round (see figure 2).
Yes, it can apply.
Subcontracting is allowed.
This is not allowed.
The ‘Guidelines for Applicants’ is the main reference document. It provides detailed information about the requirements of the evaluation and selection process, and the Support Program offered by AI4Copernicus.
All the information needed will be provided to applicants via the following digital channels:
Yes, there will be an initial pre-financing (30% of the total funding) established at the beginning of the Support Program (M0).
The maximum amount of financial support to be granted per selected project is up to €150.000 (3-partner consortia), up to €120.000 (2-partner consortia), therefore, each partner’s budget should not exceed €60.000.
Beneficiaries will receive funding in the following installments:
The IPR will belong to the IPR holder(s) as it will be specified in the Project Proposal.
The AI4Copernicus will have NO claims over this IPR.
If you have submitted a proposal, your project and company related information need to be stored on our servers until the payment of balance of the AI4Copernicus project, for potential reporting purposes towards the European Commission.
After this date all information will be deleted from our servers but will still be part of the statistics of the European Commission.
AI4Copernicus requires certain types of your personal data, necessary in order to proceed with your application. These personal data types are: a) name, b) address (physical address and email), (c) telephone number. Your personal data will be kept strictly during the Open Call term, solely for the purposes of Open Call and will not be shared with any third party. For any inquiry regarding your personal data and your related rights you may contact info@ai4copernicus-project.eu.
Yes, you can join our community!
AI4Copernicus aims at developing a vibrant community of peers for knowledge exchange, networking and further collaboration processes in an open space format.
You can join us at: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
In the event you opt to become part of this community you will be asked to fill in an online consent form.
The “Funding and Support Services Agreement” will be signed once the results of the 4th Round of AI4Copernicus Open Calls for Uses-Cases will be announced. Before signing the agreement between the consortia of selected projects, a Legal Check has to take place.
The last 2 months of the project, i.e. M15 and M16, are related to the project’s sustainability activities (e.g., sustainability workshops, etc).
Therefore, during these two months it is expected on your behalf to have a small effort allocation, equal to 1 – 1,5 Person/Month (PM) at maximum.
As such we would kindly ask you to take this into consideration in the course of your planned activities and implementation plans.
Person Months (PM) are the estimated overall effort allocated by the agency/ies participating in a project for the implementation of the project.
As such one should take into consideration the working time of all personnel involved for the whole duration of the project.
One PM means that the agency involved will need to have an employee, working full time for one month (or two employees working half time, etc.).
Please note that each agency involved must keep sufficient supporting documents (e.g timesheets to be approved at least monthly by the responsible person) to show that the PMs they declare are eligible.
Moreover, the declared number of PMs must:
• be linked to the implementation of the action,
• be incurred during the action’s duration,
• be identifiable and verifiable and
• comply with the applicable national law on taxes, labour and social security.
Kindly note that you can find additional info in this regard on What is ‘human effort’ (person-months) and how to calculate it?
The code for the CAMS model output downscaling service is open source and can be found at https://github.com/mishooax/ai4cop-health-cams (including a Dockerfile than can be used to build an image for testing purposes).
Do you have any additional questions that are not covered in this document? If yes, please let us know: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
[1] SME Definition https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
[2] Please note that, AI4Copernicus may withdraw an application in the event the participant is directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board.
ΑI4Copernicus is an EU-funded (H2020) project which aims to enable innovation by bringing together the AI (Artificial Intelligence) and EO (Earth Observation) communities. AI4Copernicus will make the AI-on-demand (former AI4EU) platform the platform of choice for users of Copernicus data along the value chain (scientists, SMEs, non-tech sector), bringing together the knowledge, algorithms, tools and resources available in domains of high economic and societal impact, such as in Agriculture, Energy and Security.
Within AI4Copernicus 5th Round of Open Calls, we will select up to 10 Micro-Projects with open themes that can be implemented by testing the existing AI4Copernicus Project services. The 5th Round of Open Calls targets technology-advanced users that are interested in incorporating and assessing the AI4Copernicus services in AI solutions for EO.
Applicants can be technology-advanced SMEs[1] and startups legally established in the Member States of the European Union, and/or Associated Countries to H2020 (the list of Associated Countries available here), including the United Kingdom.
If you want to participate in the AI4Copernicus Open Call for Micro-Projects, your organisation needs to be registered, have a valid VAT number and have a 9-digit Participant Identification Code (PIC). Please quote your PIC and your partner PIC in the proposal template.
Additional information about the PIC number can be found here.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are defined in the EU recommendation 2003/361. The main factors determining whether an enterprise is an SME are:
(1) staff headcount, (2) either turnover or balance sheet total
[1] SME Definition https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
| Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover | or | Balance sheet total | |
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m | ||
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m | ||
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m | ||
These ceilings apply to the figures for individual firms only.
A firm that is part of a larger group may need to include staff headcount/turnover/balance sheet data from that group too.
Additional details can be found: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en
The 5th Round of Open Calls for Micro-Projects (single SME project / technology advanced users) with an open theme will be launched in February 2023.
This type of Open Calls involves: Single SMEs, Start-ups and spin-offs (EU & Associated Countries).
Max funding per micro-project: €30.000
No, AI4Copernicus consortium partners cannot be funded by the Call.
Yes.
An innovative proposal that addresses sufficiently and successfully the 5th open call objectives.
For the 5th Round of Open Calls each selected project will receive up to €30.000.
Short projects with open themes, involving single high technology SMEs that will be Testing of AI4Copernicus Project services, utilising Copernicus data and the AI4EU platform and services.
The 5th Round of Open Calls involves a single “testing” phase of the AI4Copernicus Project services, as well as three sub-phases, as shown in the following figure:
Figure 1: 5th Round of Open Call Phases for SMEs
During this period the following services, will be provided:
Visibility through AI4Copernicus digital channels and events as AI4Copernicus Ambassadors
Yes, more than one industrial domain can be covered.
The estimated time is 2-3 working days, once a specific project idea is formulated. Please, take into consideration that specific character limits have been established in each field of the online application form, so we encourage you to keep your proposal focused on the requested information, keeping in mind the AI4Copernicus concept and the requirements gathered in the Guide for Applicants for this call. We also recommend you start the submission process quite in advance before the deadline in order to avoid last minute circumstances.
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know at info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
Is your organisation directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board?
If you answered NO then there is NO conflict of interest[1] and you can submit a proposal in the 5th Round of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls.
One of the DIAS platforms (CREODIAS, WEKEO) should be used. Focus on the DIAS platform more suitable for your testing activities.
There is no such restriction, you can use a combination of satellite data from different series. However, you are expected to use Copernicus data, as well as any other data necessary.
[1] Please note that, AI4Copernicus may withdraw an application in the event the participant is directly linked with an AI4Copernicus Partner or a member of the Advisory Board.
No, it is not required to use AI4EU services for your testing activities.
All successful applicants should publish a description of their solution and provide a link to their service in the AI-on-demand catalogue.
For the 5th Open call, it is mandatory for the projects to test at least one (1) of the AI4Copernicus services. The list of the AI4Copernicus services can be found in the Technical Documentation.
No, it is not required to use the supplementary I-NERGY services for your testing activities.
In general, we are in favour and promote as open as possible solutions.
However, this is not a strict requirement either for the AI4Copernicus Open Calls or the AI-on-demand platform. You can publish the description of your resource in the AI-on-demand platform independently of the accompanying licence (which however must be included in the description of the resource). In any case, the version integrated into the DIAS platform will necessarily be a docker container exposing the resource, thus there is no need to expose the source code / algorithm itself. You can include any amount of detail that you find appropriate for the algorithmic approach in the documentation of the resource.
The monthly composite approach allows flexibility in terms of adaptation to different geographical areas with images having different frequency of acquisition. You are free of using whatever you prefer but the output is expected to have good generalisation capability.
Yes. However, the temporal component is essential to perform an accurate analysis of the phenological trend of different crops, that may become distinguishable in a particular month or date and be easily misclassified in another.
Processing pipelines will be provided as docker images for this 5th Round of Open Calls. Regarding datasets, depending on the source, they will be provided through web services or as local resources in the CREODIAS environment.
Bootstrapping service providers are implementing the services having into account the different needs of the bidders. For that, a lot of parameters will be exposed to be able to customise the processing. It will be possible to provide feedback about the services and the providers could update the services considering new requirements if it is considered needed.
Multiple submissions are available until deadlines.
After the submission of your application, no modification is acceptable. Please, be aware that your application is completed before you proceed with its submission.
Yes, an organisation is possible to submit more than 1 proposals as a partner, however, ONLY one will be funded.
Yes, an organisation can be selected for funding in more than 1 Open Calls of AI4Copernicus project as a partner. However, the total funded amount should be up to € 60.000.
Please note that we expect to receive proposals with a budget up to € 30.000 each.
Figure 2: The 5 Rounds of the AI4Copernicus Open Calls (& submission deadlines)
Registered SMEs can participate in the following AI4Copernicus Open Calls: 1st Round, 3rd Round, 4th Round, and 5th Round (see Figure 2).
No, individuals could have participated in the AI4Copernicus Open Calls for citizens: 2nd Round (see figure 2).
Yes, it can apply.
This is not allowed.
This is not allowed.
The ‘Guidelines for Applicants’ is the main reference document. It provides detailed information about the requirements of the evaluation and selection process, and the Support Program offered by AI4Copernicus.
All the information needed will be provided to applicants via the following digital channels:
Especially in the context of the 5th Open Call, the AI4Copernicus consortium organised a Technical Webinar for all interested parties, where the AI4Copernicus services were presented. Information about this webinar can be found here.
Yes, there will be an initial pre-financing (60% of the total funding) established at the beginning of the Testing Phase (M1).
The maximum amount of financial support to be granted per selected experiment is up to €30.000* and beneficiaries will receive funding in the following instalments:
The IPR will belong to the IPR holder(s) as it will be specified in the Project Proposal.
The AI4Copernicus will have NO claims over this IPR.
If you have submitted a proposal, your project and company related information need to be stored on our servers until the payment of balance of the AI4Copernicus project, for potential reporting purposes towards the European Commission.
After this date all information will be deleted from our servers but will still be part of the statistics of the European Commission.
AI4Copernicus requires certain types of your personal data, necessary in order to proceed with your application. These personal data types are: a) name, b) address (physical address and email), (c) telephone number. Your personal data will be kept strictly during the Open Call term, solely for the purposes of Open Call and will not be shared with any third party. For any inquiry regarding your personal data and your related rights you may contact info@ai4copernicus-project.eu.
Yes, you can join our community!
AI4Copernicus aims at developing a vibrant community of peers for knowledge exchange, networking and further collaboration processes in an open space format.
You can join us at: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
In the event you opt to become part of this community you will be asked to fill in an online consent form.
The “Funding and Support Services Agreement” will be signed once the results of the 5th Round of AI4Copernicus Open Calls for Micro-Projects will be announced. Before signing the agreement between the consortia of selected projects, a Legal Check has to take place.
Person Months (PM) are the estimated overall effort allocated by the agency/ies participating in a project for the implementation of the project.
As such one should take into consideration the working time of all personnel involved for the whole duration of the project.
One PM means that the agency involved will need to have an employee, working full time for one month (or two employees working half time, etc.).
Please note that each agency involved must keep sufficient supporting documents (e.g timesheets to be approved at least monthly by the responsible person) to show that the PMs they declare are eligible.
Moreover, the declared number of PMs must:
Kindly note that you can find additional info in this regard on What is ‘human effort’ (person-months) and how to calculate it?
The code for the CAMS model output downscaling service is open source, and can be found at https://github.com/mishooax/ai4cop-health-cams (including a Dockerfile that can be used to build an image for testing purposes).
The main objective of the 5th call is for the successful applicants to evaluate and make good use of the services that were developed to facilitate earth observation resources. Proposals that won’t make use of any of the AI4Copernicus services will not be evaluated.
The progress of the successful proposals will be assessed with a report at the end of the first two months and a demonstration at the end of the project. The main objective of the interim report is that the SMEs will have to present which services they utilised and the derived outcome, whether it is positive or negative. The demonstration will be presented in the form of a video where the applicants will have to depict the results of the 5 month assessment of the AI4Copernicus services.
Especially in the context of the 5th Open Call, the AI4Copernicus consortium organised a Technical Webinar for all interested parties, where the AI4Copernicus services were presented. Information about this webinar can be found here.
It is OK to use Metop-B data, EUMETSAT data, Sentinel data, or any other Copernicus data in your proposal (you are required to use Copernicus data). You don’t have to use the datasets under the category “energy bootstrapping services” if it is irrelevant to your application.
It is a mandatory requirement though to utilise at least one service from the AI4Copernicus services listed in the AI4Copernicus Technical Documentation, even if it is not an energy one.
AI4Copernicus will provide Cloud resources only to the winners (therefore not to all applicants) of the 5th Open Call. The winners resulting from the 5th Open Call will be able to test the AI4Copernicus services and their solutions in CREODIAS or WEKEO during the testing phase (June 2023 – October 2023). Notice that there is no requirement for any of the applicants to use any cloud resources before the selection phase, but to have a plan to utilse CREODIAS or WEKEO in case they will be selected .
At the moment, the LSTM for the prediction trains on a fixed-length time series and performs the prediction of the last step of the series. The service can be easily adapted to perform multiple predictions of different indices at a time.
Yes, the tools are publicly available and can be accessed through https://www.ai4europe.eu/ (please follow the links in the corresponding footnotes as shown in the AI4Copernicus Technical Documentation).
Do you have any additional questions that are not covered in this document?
If yes, please let us know: info@ai4copernicus-project.eu
The applicants should submit their application forms via the AI4Copernicus Open Call Platform
In order to stay informed about the open AI4Copernicus Open Calls submission sign up for the AI4Copernicus call mailing list on the AI4Copernicus website.
