The Conecta Hubs call will allocate €6.8 million to fund R&D projects aligned with DIHGIGAL’s challenges.

The Xunta de Galicia plans to publish the Conecta Hubs call for proposals in the DOG on 15 February, which aims to promote collaborative projects in the strategic areas of the Galician Digital Innovation Hubs. DIHGIGAL will manage and support projects that are aligned with its three R&D challenges. Although the call for proposals has not yet been published, its conditions can already be consulted on the GAIN website.

There will be two lines of support: one for industrial research, experimental development or process or organisational innovation projects, and one for product innovation projects. Both lines will have a total budget of €6.8 million. The deadline for submitting applications will be 45 working days from the day after publication.

In addition to the alignment with the DIHGIGAL challenges, the common requirements of the call are that projects must be market focused and focused on knowledge, technology and innovation creation, that they are based on business cooperation through a cluster of between 2 and 6 companies, that they do not extend beyond April 2023 and that they have demonstrable results through a minimum of 3 indicators.

Although the call is mainly aimed at SMEs, large companies will be able to participate in Line 1 for R&D and process or organisational innovation projects with a maximum intensity of between 15% and 65%.

R&D Projects in process or organisation (Line 1) will have a budget of between €250,000 and €1.5M depending on the sub-line, with a support intensity of between 50% and 80%. On the other hand, product innovation projects (Line 2) will have a maximum budget of €600,000, with a maximum intensity of 80% of their eligible investment.

Companies with project ideas in line with DIHGIGAL’s challenges can submit their ideas through the form available in the Challenges section, which is confidential.