Information for Associated Countries

On 25 July 2024 an informative webinar was held with representatives from the 18 selected new EDIHs.

The informative webinar focused on the Grant Agreement Preparation process for the EDIHs in Associated Countries, including detailed information on the legal validation and financial capacity assessment, as well as on the process to be followed until the final signature of the Grant Agreement. Additionally, the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) provided an overview of all the services offered to the EDIH Network, which the new 18 EDIHs will be able to take advantage of.

The slides of the session are available here:

• Legal and Financial validation process
• Description of Action - detailed overview of the process and the tools
• DTA services

The recording of the session is available here.

On 20 February, a webinar was held on the Digital Europe Call (DIGITAL-2023-EDIH-04-ASSOCIATED) ‘Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs – Associated Countries’. 

The webinar offered pre-selected candidates a deep dive into the Call and its application process. This was complemented by insight into the hands-on experience and good practices from already established EDIHs that shared tips and ‘dos and don’ts’ on how to prepare and submit a successful proposal. In addition, the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) presented specific support measures offered to the DIGITAL-2023-EDIH-04-ASSOCIATED call applicants and to the EDIH Network. 

The recording of the session is available here.

The second meeting with Associated Countries was held online on the 28th September 2023.

The main objective of the meeting was to present the support that will be given to the proposers and guide them to write good proposals in order to be selected for funding in the European EDIH Call.

Please access the presentation that was shared during the meeting EDIH-AssociatedCountries presentation-28.09.2023.pdf as well as a quick introduction to the DTA team and services for the EDIH Network DTA General presentation-Associated countries-28.09.2023.pdf.

Additionally, the recording of the session is available here: https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/edihs-associated-countries-information-session-20230928-0744-1

On 12 July 2023, a first meeting was held online with representatives of countries that have either signed, or are intending to sign, an association agreement with the EU for the Digital Europe programme.

The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the next steps required to launch a call for the selection of European Digital Innovation Hubs in the Associated Countries, a process that has been scheduled for the beginning of 2024.

Access the presentation (pdf) shared during the meeting and the template (pdf) for the description of the national digitalisation strategy. An editable version of the template is available for download at the end of this page.

You can also watch the recording of the online meeting at this link:  https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/edihs-associated-countries-information-ses…

The Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (DIGITAL-2023-EDIH-04) call launched under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), opened the 20th December 2023 and closed the 10th April 2024.

All the information of this call is published on the Funding and Tender portal of the European Commission.  

The general work programme can be downloaded from this page.

The workprograme is complemented by the call description, available in this link. 

According to the the workprogramme "Associated Countries are requested to designate a number of potential EDIHs geographically spread (in case they will have more than one EDIH) over the country, that respond to the demand of industry and public sector while taking into account existing assets and National priorities. They have to be selected through an open and competitive process in accordance with national procedures, administrative and institutional structures."

The selection resulted in a designation letter that potential EDIHs had to attach to their proposal submitted to the European Commission call.

Please note that in preparation for this EDIH call, the European Commission had organised a cycle of online workshop addressing the different aspects of the process. All the relevant information can be found on this page:

• First informal meeting with Associated Countries
• Second informal meeting with Associated Countries
• Webinar Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs – Associated Countries

The proposals that will be selected in the EDIH call for Associated Countries will sign a grant with the European Commission. To do this, all the entities participating in the proposal will have to register in the Funding and Tender portal as participants, and receive a "Participant Identification Code" (PIC).

The steps to follow are described here.

Registering as participant does not entail any obligation for the entity, and can significantly reduce the time needed to sign a grant with the European Commission.

The European Commission will be assisted, in the evaluation of proposals for the EDIH call, by external experts. We ask each Associated Country to nominate one "national expert" which is knowledgeable on the situation of the country in terms of digitalisation needs, and that can contribute to evaluate fairly the proposals received.

To work as an expert for the European Commission, (s)he will have to register as an expert in the portal. The various steps needed are explained here.  On the same link you find also all the information about contracts and remuneration of experts.

Registering as an expert does not entail any obligation, but is necessary to work in the evaluation of any call for proposals of the European Commission.  

The call closed the 10th April 2024 and, as a result, 18 new EDIHs offering a wide range of specialised digital transformation services will join the EDIH network from the following countries: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Kosovo.

All applicants have been informed of the assessment results and the grant agreements must be signed by the end of 2024.

Find the detailed call results here.