About Open Call
1. What is the deadline for submitting proposals?
The call will be open from 8 June (10:00 GMT+1) until 28 August 2022 (23:59 GMT+1).
2. What type of solutions are you looking for?
The Urban Mobility Innovators Open Call is looking for solutions to improve accessibility and safety of people with reduced mobility and other vulnerable groups who have their mobility-experience restricted — such as persons with disabilities, elders, children, pregnant women, and others, tackling the following challenges:
1. Seamless Route Planning
Verified information on accessibility conditions of public spaces (transportation, services and venues) that allows for reliable, effortless and immediate route planning through, for example, real-time accessibility barriers identification.
2. Autonomous Navigation
Support users with visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive impairments to navigate the public space in the city easily, confidently, and autonomously.
3. Inclusive Ticketing Services
Provide inclusive ticketing services (e.g.: purchase, charging, validation) for users with visual, hearing, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.
4. Safety Promotion
Promoting safe journeys for everyone at any moment in the city.
5. Fruition of Public Spaces
Allow for users with visual impairments to access and enjoy public and green spaces.
6. Community Solutions for Inclusive Mobility (transversal)
Promote and enable community intervention towards solving mobility challenges.
1. Seamless Route Planning
Verified information on accessibility conditions of public spaces (transportation, services and venues) that allows for reliable, effortless and immediate route planning through, for example, real-time accessibility barriers identification.
2. Autonomous Navigation
Support users with visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive impairments to navigate the public space in the city easily, confidently, and autonomously.
3. Inclusive Ticketing Services
Provide inclusive ticketing services (e.g.: purchase, charging, validation) for users with visual, hearing, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.
4. Safety Promotion
Promoting safe journeys for everyone at any moment in the city.
5. Fruition of Public Spaces
Allow for users with visual impairments to access and enjoy public and green spaces.
6. Community Solutions for Inclusive Mobility (transversal)
Promote and enable community intervention towards solving mobility challenges.
3. What are the benefits of participating in the Urban Mobility Innovators Open Call?
Successful applicants will be supported with:
- A financial grant to cover costs of development and implementation: For solutions tackling one challenge, an amount of up to €50.000 will be available. For solutions tackling two or more challenges there will be a global amount of up to €60.000;
- Exposure to top mobility ecosystem players, governmental representatives, NGOs and Association representatives of mobility-restricted users.
4. Can i apply?
In order to be eligible, the applicants must:
- Be a legal entity (public or private body) established as a Micro, Small, or Medium Enterprise (SME) , Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Higher Education Institution, or Research Centre;
- Be established in one of the EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden;
or in one of the third countries associated with Horizon Europe: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Tunisia, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.
5. hat do you mean by digital solution?
The grant will fully fund the development, adaptation and testing of open-source solutions that will contribute to a more accessible and inclusive mobility ecosystem in Lisbon. Still, we are not limiting the format of the solutions — they can take the form of applications, platforms, or any digital program or tool that contributes to a more accessible and inclusive mobility ecosystem in Lisbon.
6. Should my solution be data-centric
Not necessarily. We do encourage the use of city data (acess to data here) to respond to the real challenges of vulnerable communities, so if you use data in your solution, that’s great. Still, there are various relevant examples of types of solutions, such as voice-over, and asset mapping, that are not centered around data.
7. What is open-source?
In conformity with the open access requirements of the call, finalised solutions must be delivered in compliance with open-source principles, such that the source code and all used libraries are licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL-V3) or equivalent, as long as it is ensured compliance with the open-source principles listed in Open Source Initiative (OSI) definition (https://opensource.org/definition). Any additional deliverables, in other formats, must be released under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public Licence.
8. What information do I need to provide in my application
We ask for information about your organization and team, as well as details regarding your proposal, including a Workplan & Budget and a signed Declaration of Honour. Please refer to the Bid Toolkit to access all information relevant for submitting a proposal.
9. Can the same entity apply with more than one solution?
No, each applicant organisation can only submit one proposal.
10. Can I replace the application with a more recent version after submission?
No, once you finalize and submit your proposal, you will not be able to revise it.
11. What happens once I’ve submitted my proposal?
Once you’ve submitted your proposal on the F6S platform, a member of our team will first confirm your eligibility for the Urban Mobility Innovators Open Call. We may get in touch with you to gather further details, if needed. After the set cut-off date, your proposal will be assessed by a jury of at least 3 members. The jury will then draft a ranking list, comprising the top 40 scores.
In cases of doubts or need for further clarification, applicants will be summoned by the jury for a final interview, during the week of 10 - 14 October, 2022, before reaching the final list of up to 20 proposals. To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of project delivery, pre-selected applicants that made it to the final list will be assisted in refining their workplans & budgets.
In cases of doubts or need for further clarification, applicants will be summoned by the jury for a final interview, during the week of 10 - 14 October, 2022, before reaching the final list of up to 20 proposals. To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of project delivery, pre-selected applicants that made it to the final list will be assisted in refining their workplans & budgets.
12. I’ve been in accelerators before and have customers – is this right for me?
The Urban Mobility Innovators Open Call is not an accelerator, but if you are interested in developing and implementing open-source solutions that tackle mobility challenges of underserved users in the city of Lisbon, then do send us your proposal.
13. Who owns the intellectual property rights of the developed solutions?
Innovators will remain the sole owners of the delivered solutions, and all associated Intellectual Property. Neither VoxPop nor its partners will retain any Intellectual Property Rights or any equity stake from solutions.
14. What kind of costs are covered by the financial grant?
The grant can be spent on costs that are relevant for the execution of the proposal, such as paying for staff directly associated with the proposal, acquiring technologies and tools, costs of travelling and accommodation, and subcontracting (e.g. for marketing, training or legal support).
15. If accepted, what will be expected from me?
Applicants who are accepted will go through a 6-month marathon to achieve implementation. During the six months, the applicant will be asked to provide regular updates on their progress, as well as attend one or two review meetings (remote or in-person) at key milestones in their proposal project.
Towards the end of the sixth month, the final report must be submitted. The report should include the detailed information about the results of the implementation activities and impact assessment. The final payment is subject to the approval of this report.
Towards the end of the sixth month, the final report must be submitted. The report should include the detailed information about the results of the implementation activities and impact assessment. The final payment is subject to the approval of this report.
16. What activities do I need to attend in person?
Accepted applicants will be invited to attend:
- The Kick-off Event, an internal event hosted by the Lisbon City Council joining all innovators developing the innovative solutions, as well as the VoxPop partners and participating NGOs/Associations involved in our challenge definition;
- The Demo Day, a showcase event that aims to communicate the solutions developed by the innovators, where representatives of other EU-cities will be invited to join in to promote the potential scale-up of the solutions.
