Deadline: 10 November 2019

The European Union (EU) is seeking proposals for its “Innovate Jordan Programme” to contribute to positioning private sector innovation as the main driver of inclusive economic development.

This will be achieved by increasing the depth and coherence of the enterprise and innovation ecosystem through three distinct and complementary lots:

• Lot 1: SME Growth Factory
• Lot 2: Centre(s) of Excellence
• Lot 3: Open Innovation Hub

Objectives

The specific objective(s) of ‘Innovate Jordan’ are:

• For Lot 1: to create or develop an ‘SME Growth Factory’ that helps existing innovative high growth potential enterprises to scale and grow.
• For Lot 2: to support the development of (a) sector Centre(s) of Excellence that boost the competitiveness of high growth and innovation potential sector(s) by facilitating access to innovation inputs.
• For Lot 3: to support the establishment of an Innovation Hub that promotes and strengthens the innovation culture and facilitates innovation demand and supply matchmaking.

Priorities

The priorities of ‘Innovate Jordan’ programme are:

• The private sector is placed at the centre of innovation development. This justifies the requirement of the call for lead-applicants to be private sector entities.
• The primary driver of innovation development is the demand for solutions. Such demand is exposed through undertaking of value chain analysis and market study which enables innovators to position their value propositions based on comparative advantages.
• Knowledge is recognized as a central input fostering enterprise competitiveness through innovation. The action will contribute to producing, disseminating and transforming knowledge into commercial opportunities and trigger technology absorption, investment and growth.
• The call aims at strengthening linkages and partnerships: these linkages can be within a specific sector, be organised within value chains or clusters or aim to generate synergy between the private and public sectors, academia and civil society. The call is also seeking to open up and connect the Jordanian ecosystem with the international innovation environment and encourages stakeholders to transfer expertise, build strategic partnerships, adopt good practices and generate synergy.
• The call will support actions that enhance the active participation of women in the innovation cycle: This can be achieved – for instance – by providing special attention and tailor-made support to women-led innovative enterprises or women innovators, promoting women-led applied research and/or by facilitating the adoption of innovative solutions developed by women-led enterprises or communities.
• The call is designed to generate additionality and complementarity by building-on the existing innovation ecosystem: the Jordanian ecosystem has made significant progress over the last 15 years and is diversified, dynamic and endowed with infrastructure and facilities. The call will encourage investment in intangible activities that complement and exploit the existing ecosystem to leverage impact (focus on investment in innovation inputs such as knowledge, technology transfer, learning, financing rather than investing in physical buildings and equipment unless absolutely necessary).
• Actions supported should demonstrate the viability and replicability of their approach: each action should be based on a thorough needs analysis. It should be underpinned by an intervention approach that adds value to the existing support ecosystem and include a realistic roadmap for sustainability.
• The specific definition of innovation and projects performance indicators are left to the applicants’ discretion: Impact performance indicators do not have to reflect directly the job creation objective of the programme, but may clearly articulate how the action will contribute to the overall objective of driving growth and job creation through innovation.

Size of grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

• Lot 1: SME Growth Factory
  • Minimum amount: EUR 4,500,000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 6,650,000
• Lot 2: Centre of Excellence
  • Minimum amount: EUR 2,000,000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 4,000,000
• Lot 3: Open Innovation Hub
  • Minimum amount: EUR 5,500,000
  • Maximum amount: EUR 7,300,000.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant

• In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
  • be a legal person and
  • be Jordanian registered private sector entity (but entities established outside Jordan, in an eligible country as defined by European Neighbourhood Instrument, will also be admissible); and
    • For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. Unless sector-specific eligibility rules provide otherwise, if the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, applicants will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible to participate) or will be required to leave the project on the basis of Article [12.2 of the General Conditions] of the grant agreement.
  • This obligation does not apply to international organisations.
  • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

Co-applicant(s)

• Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
• Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.

Affiliated entity(ies)

• The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
• Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
  • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
    • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
      • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
        • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
        • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
    • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.

How to Apply

• The application procedure consists of two phases:
  • Concept notes
  • Full applications
• In the first instance, only concept notes must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2nJWWOh and download the guidelines.