European Commission launches Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC)

Deadline: 18 May 2020

In 2017 the European Commission launched the Digital Cities Challenge to help 41 cities across the EU transform their digital policy to make their urban space more enjoyable for everyone. This year the Commission is going a step further to help 100 cities become greener, more social and smarter in the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC).

(Ad) Are You Searching for Latest Grants, New Donors, Sample Proposals, Jobs and How to Apply Resources? fundsforNGOs Premium has all these and more at one place! Learn more.

Cities shape the future of the EU. 72% of EU citizens live in them (United Nations). And city ecosystems are powerful actors of change. 50% of the reductions necessary to reach net zero can be achieved at city level (C40). The right technologies targeted to the right problems can deliver green, smart and sustainable growth for cities – improving the quality of life for everyone who calls them home.

ICC will unite EU cities in seizing the opportunity for green smart sustainable growth, improving the quality of life and fostering new opportunities for citizens. 100 cities will receive world-class support – in person, online, and as a community.

(Ad) Stop getting irritated with excessing advertisements. View the information you want quickly on a clean, ad-free and exclusive Member Dashboard that offers tools to search for grants, view latest grant opportunities, upcoming deadlines, sample proposals, downloadable ebooks and also organize your favourites! Learn more.

The vision of the ICC is to create a European network of 100 intelligent cities that exploit the potential of emerging technologies and take ambitious steps to improve the quality of life of their citizens and ensure growth, sustainability and resilience.

To this extent, the ICC will act as a driver for cities willing to live up to a simple expectation: that they can play a leading role in driving a technological revolution which will lead not only to increased growth and competitiveness, but more importantly, to healthier, greener and more sustainable living conditions and spaces of the EU’s citizens. Effective technologies targeted to the right problems can deliver green, smart and sustainable growth for cities – improving the quality of life for everyone who calls them home. In this sense, the ICC is a unique and first-of-its-kind initiative, not only because of its scale and the uniqueness of its targets (i.e. small-to-medium-scale cities with unleashed potential), but also due to its holistic approach to building a better future for Europe.

(Ad) Are you still finding it difficult to search for donors online? Join Premium and use our powerful Donor Search mechanism to find relevant donors based on your country and location or keyword. Our specially developed algorithm will search across the internet for the most relevant and useful donors of your interest willing to fund your work. Learn more.

What do cities stand to gain from participating in the ICC?

ICC supports cities in implementing transformation strategies to address common challenges in becoming an intelligent city. The cities chosen to take part in the ICC will receive free-of-charge support needed to develop and implement strategies aimed at making them greener, more liveable and more intelligent. This will enable them to take full advantage of digital and non-digital technologies, to improve the quality of life of their citizens and ensure growth, sustainability and resilience. Through their participation in the Challenge, cities will:

(Ad) Not able to keep track of so may different grant opportunities and their deadlines? No problem! fundsforNGOs Premium has a handy tool called “Deadline Calendar.” This tool will help you keep track of all upcoming grant opportunities and their deadlines and view them in a beautiful calendar format. Learn more.

Review existing strategies based on real stakeholder needs, and form a prioritized step-by-step roadmap;
Use these to deliver quick win projects in the first 6 months, followed by larger projects that together result in a measurable improvement on city life.
Become part of an international self-sustaining network of innovation and collaboration working towards the SDGs. By the end of the programme, cities should expect to not only be transformed in their use of intelligent and advanced technologies, but long term, self-sustaining benefits:
Quick win commitments in the first 6 months;
Centre-stage of a new EU marketplace, designed for cities, SMEs, and a wide range of urban businesses;
Joint investments to seek funding from EU financial instruments;
New perspectives on the city’s needs, progress, strengths as well as new opportunities for citizens affected by the transition to a greener economy;
Learning from and developing long term collaborations with international mentors.
Measurable impacts that matter to the citizens in 2 years;
Beneficiary cities will receive tailored support from a dedicated team of experts to design and roll out initiatives aimed at reaching established city ICC goals. In addition, participation offers a unique opportunity to build inter-city networks and collaborations with peers across Europe and beyond. As part of the ICC journey, each city will gain access to the following:
Expert advice tailored to your city: regional specialists will deliver a programme based on the collective expert experience of over 100 smart city strategies, tailored to the biggest thematic issues for your city – be it energy, mobility or clean manufacturing, or other local priorities. This will include a number of local visits to your city and meetings with ecosystem stakeholders;
Community conventions – for action over talk: regular gathering of EU smart ecosystem to compare performance; hear from world class speakers, receive targeted training; celebrate success and commit to shared action – procurement, standards or shaping marketplaces;
Online toolbox to activate enablers: get best practice guidance on key enablers (e.g., creating value out of open data, breaking down market barriers for SMEs, finding new outcome-driven business models). Use also innovative tools to engage citizens to understand their views and help them track your progress;
Mentoring to make partnerships – at home and abroad: get 1-on-1 guidance from the most innovative cities in the EU, who can steer you on your journey and connect you with their own solutions. Interact also with global participants, to learn, to trade and to create new markets.
Policy Goals

The ICC can act as a catalyst for cities to implement policy agendas aimed at achieving green, social and intelligent transformative changes. Participation in the ICC can be linked to the following city goals:

(Ad) Are you looking for readymade proposals? fundsforNGOs Premium has a vast collection of Sample Proposals from successful grantees around the world. These proposals are available for viewing so that you can quickly get new ideas, best practices, lessons learned and develop your proposal in the perfect manner. Learn more.

Transforming industry, green manufacturing and clean production
Growing start-ups, SMEs and social economy
Transforming and greening construction, housing and urban management
Smart and sustainable tourism
Smart and green mobility and transport
eGovernment and digitising public services
Enhancing citizen participation and connectivity
Promoting health and wellbeing of citizens
Supporting safety and security
Innovative education and training for up- and re-skilling
Waste management and circular economy
Scaling up renewable energy solutions and energy-efficiency
Efficient management of water and water systems
Sustainable use and management of natural resources
Sustainable and resilient food systems
Climate resilience and disaster management. In their applications, cities will be asked to identify up to four city goals and sectors they wish to build their involvement in the ICC on. This will constitute the basis for the development of thematic networks within the ICC community. Expressions of interest should also be tailored to these selected city goals.
Duration

The Intelligent Cities Challenge has a total duration of 25 months, running from June 2020 to July 2022. Selected cities are expected to remain engaged in the ICC throughout this time.

(Ad) How to raise funds? Where can I find a list of donors for my area of work? How to write proposals? How can I submit a grant request to USAID, the European Commission or the Gates Foundation? How can I use Social Media to promote my work? We have developed powerful resources in the form of Ebook and Articles covering all this information and more. Learn more.

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible, applicants must comply with the following:

Be from an EU Member State;
A local public government entity (i.e. municipalities, districts) that are either responsible for or involved in the funding and/or implementation of a policy or programme of a city related to digital transformation, smart / intelligent city, sustainable urban development.
Located within the European Union.
Representing cities with more than 50 000 inhabitants.
The following cities are not eligible to apply:

EU cities with less than 50 000 inhabitants and not applying as part of a consortium.
Cities located outside of the EU.
Cities with advanced levels of digital technology for sustainability uptake and well developed ecosystems. Applications from cities located in EU outermost / island regions are actively encouraged.
For more information, visit https://www.intelligentcitieschallenge.eu/