Applicant’s Guide For Proposal Submission Applicant 2016
User Manual:
Open the PDF directly: View PDF 
.
Page Count: 9
| Download | |
| Open PDF In Browser | View PDF |
Information Technology/Academia Collaboration (ITAC) Program Applicant’s Guide for Proposal Submission ITAC Collaborative Funded Projects Last Update June - 2016 Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 2 Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 2 About the Collaborative Funded Projects ............................................................................................. 3 2.1 Scope and Definitions ................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Eligibility ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2.3 Project Fund Limit ......................................................................................................................... 4 3 Proposal Submission ............................................................................................................................. 4 4 Proposal Evaluation .............................................................................................................................. 5 5 Proposal Presentation ........................................................................................................................... 7 6 Proposal Resubmission Policy ............................................................................................................... 7 7 Budget Estimation ................................................................................................................................. 7 8 Funded Project Auditing ....................................................................................................................... 7 8.1 Milestone Reports and Progress Evaluation ................................................................................. 7 8.2 Milestone Reports......................................................................................................................... 7 8.3 Project Closure Report .................................................................................................................. 8 8.4 Funded Project Guide ................................................................................................................... 8 9 Funding from Other Agencies ............................................................................................................... 8 10 Additional ITAC Assessments ............................................................................................................ 8 10.1 Testing Process Assessment.......................................................................................................... 8 10.2 Marketing Assessment .................................................................................................................. 8 Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 3 1 Introduction PRP ARP PDP Start Point Idea Proof-ofConcept Prototype End Point Category The ITAC program works within the following mission statement: “To bring value to Egyptian ICT Industry by fostering collaboration between industry and academia aiming at developing R&D based innovative products and services that put Egyptian ICT companies in a leading position in the ICT market, both locally and internationally.” The currently available Collaborative Funded Projects (CFPs) in the ITAC program are the Product Development Projects (PDP), the Advanced Research Projects (ARP), and Preliminary Research Projects (PRP). Each of these projects has its conditions on the entry point and the final output as summarized in the figure below. The goal of this guide is to introduce interested applicants to the eligibility criteria, the proposal preparation and submission steps, the evaluation process, and the funding process. Proof-ofConcept Prototype Final Product 2 About the Collaborative Funded Projects 2.1 Scope and Definitions CFP funds aim at boosting the ICT industry in Egypt by exploiting the research power in Egyptian universities and research centers, with the goal of developing innovative and competitive Egyptian products. A key element in these projects is the existence of a research component that will require the collaboration of an ICT industry partner with an Egyptian university or research institute in the ICT field. Thus, the roles of the academic Principal Investigator (PI) and the Industrial Partner (IP) should be clearly defined. The CFPs are meant to take the product from the stage where it is just an idea, through the proof-of-concept and prototyping stages, till it becomes a complete product ready to hit the market. The start and end points of each project are defined as follows: Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 4 Proof-of-Concept: Solid work published by the applicants in a journal, a patent owned by the applicants, or promising preliminary results of the proposed research or methodology. Prototype: A working but not necessarily complete product. It may still need additional research for improving its output, miss some features, or need customization for specific applications. Final Product: should satisfy all the specifications of a commercial product and should be ready to hit the market by the conclusion of the PDP period. In all these projects, the collaboration between an Egyptian ICT academic institution and an Egyptian ICT industrial partner is required. The extent of contribution/involvement of the industrial partner depends on the project category. For PRPs, endorsement from an interested ICT industrial partner is required (in the form of a letter of interest/intent or actual contribution to the project). For ARPs and PDPs, significant contribution of the IP is required and clearly indicated in the proposal, namely, in the marketing strategy and plan, the industry analysis, and in the product development. 2.2 Eligibility The PI and the research team must be working in an Egyptian university or research institute. The IP must be an Egyptian established ICT company. 2.3 Project Fund Limit Accepted projects will be supported by the ITAC program with the amounts indicated in the table below. Project Category ITAC Fund Limit (EGP) PDP ARP PRP 2,000,000 1,000,000 130,000 Additional Fund to IC Fabrication and Circuit Prototyping (EGP) 250,000 250,000 100,000 The ITAC support may be used towards eligible budget items as explained in the ITAC Financial Guide. The budget covers only ICT components. Securing separate fund for non-ICT components is a prerequisite (for e.g. components related to agriculture, health… etc.) Support to electronic IC fabrication and circuit prototyping should be in line with the service offered by the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center’s FabCat program to maximize the benefit of both sources of support. 3 Proposal Submission A template is provided on the ITAC webpage for the typical sections of the proposal (http://www.itida.gov.eg/En/OurPrograms/ResearchInnovation/ITAcademiaCollaboration/Pages Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 5 /Guides.aspx). This template represents the minimum requirements that are expected to be found in the proposal. Please use the templates in the section under “Guides and templates”/”Collaborative Funded Projects”. The proposal should be prepared to address all the scoring items provided in the Score Sheet relevant to each project category. The proposal topic should be within the areas published on the ITAC webpage. Only online submission of proposals is accepted. The submission package should include: o Project Abstract: in PDF format, the filename should be a short/abbreviated name for the project followed by “_Abstract”. For e.g., My Proposal_Abstract.pdf. o Project Proposal: in PDF format, the filename should be a short/abbreviated name of the project followed by “_Proposal”. For e.g., My Proposal_Proposal.pdf. o Project Team Resumes: in PDF format, one file combining all resumes. The filename should be a short/abbreviated name of the project followed by “_Resumes”. For e.g., My Proposal_Resumes.pdf. o Company Profile: in PDF format, the filename should be a short/abbreviated name of the project followed by “_Company”. For e.g., My Proposal_Company.pdf. To submit the proposal, please visit the ITAC page on ITIDA’s website. 4 Proposal Evaluation The evaluation of proposals is carried out by highly experienced independent reviewers with expertise in both academia and industry. The ITAC team ensures that the process is fair and in line with the principles approved by the ITAC Steering Committee (SC), which is formed from a group of experts from industry and academic institutions. Reviewers performing technical evaluation are expected to keep the confidentiality of the proposal material and perform an independent, impartial, and objective review. The flowchart on the next page summarizes the review cycle starting with the proposal submission and ending with the final decision of the ITAC SC. Upon receipt by the ITAC team, proposals are checked for completeness, eligibility, and scope. The result of the initial check is sent to the applicant, along with an ID for eligible proposals to be used throughout the review cycle. Reviewers are selected to evaluate the proposal, and, upon receipt of their individual reviews and scores, a unified decision and score is made in a reviewer panel meeting, and the applicant receives the consolidated review comments and one of the following decisions: o Reject: 1. Reject (the proposal idea is not acceptable based on the weaknesses). 2. Reject (resubmit in a future round after addressing the weaknesses) o Accept: the applicant is requested to make minor/no revisions. Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 6 +0 Weeks Proposal Submission Ineligible Eligibili ty Submission Window Eligible +4 Weeks Reviewer Selection Reject Reviewer Selection +2 Weeks Proposal Evaluation and Consolidated Decision Individual Reviews and Panel Report Below threshold Panel Decisio Above threshold +6 Weeks Call for Presentations Below threshold Presentatio n Above threshold Revision needed Request Resubmission Revision Evaluati +3 Weeks Presentation Report and Final Decision +1 Week Conditional Accept/ Revisions Requested Unsatisfactory Scheduling Shortlisted Proposal Presentations Satisfactory Contract Preparation and Scheduling Signing Date Accept and Sign Contract +4 Weeks Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 7 5 Proposal Presentation Applicants whose proposals receive an “Accept” decision and a score above a certain threshold are deemed as shortlisted proposals. The team of the shortlisted proposal is invited to give a presentation before the SC members and the reviewers. This presentation results in another unified score based on how the applicants addressed the comments/concerns in the panel report, and final decision is made. Based on the presentation score, proposals which are found winning will proceed to the next stage. 6 Proposal Resubmission Policy Rejected proposals may resubmit in a future round upon addressing the review committee comments indicated in the decision message and report. The ITAC accepts one resubmission for a rejected proposal. If a resubmitted proposal is rejected, then this proposal cannot be resubmitted again. 7 Budget Estimation Proposals must include a detailed estimated budget in which all prices/expenses are given in EGP. Applicants of proposals approved for funding will be contacted by the ITAC requesting a filled budget based on the ITAC budget template. For further information about the ITAC financial rules, please refer to the ITAC Financial Guide posted on the ITAC webpage. 8 Funded Project Auditing 8.1 Milestone Reports and Progress Evaluation The ITAC funds projects on a milestone-by-milestone basis. The ITAC will assign a technical auditor who will be responsible for: o Evaluating the milestone reports and submitted by the project PI. o Conducting milestone review meetings with the project team to evaluate the progress against the planned technical objectives. If the project is inexplicably not progressing according to the original proposal, the ITAC will take all measures in order to terminate the project and recover any unspent budget. In the event of receiving a follow up report that is not accepted by the auditor, ITAC has the right to request additional follow up reports/reviews or to terminate the contract. 8.2 Milestone Reports At the end of each milestone, technical and financial reports are requested from the project team including the following items: o o o Achievements, challenges, and obstacles during the milestone. Justification for any diversion from the project plan. A report on financial expenditures during the milestone. Applicant’s Guide o ITAC Program 8 Updated budget and project plan for the remaining period of the project. 8.3 Project Closure Report Submitted before the official closure of the project, the final technical and financial report should include the following items: o o o Detailed technical achievements and deliverables of the project. Detailed financial report of the activities and expenditure of the project. Proposed future research. 8.4 Funded Project Guide More details about the process of funding projects, the needed forms and templates … etc. can be found in the Funded Project Guide that will be sent by email to the funded project team upon signing the contract. 9 Funding from Other Agencies The ITAC Program expects transparency from applicants with regard to submission of substantially the same topic to other agencies. ITAC holds the right to share parts of the proposal with other agencies in case of similarities with projects by some or all project team reported by other agencies. If the proposal is submitted to multiple agencies, the ITAC Program should be notified if funding is approved by another agency prior to the contract signing or during the project funding. 10 Additional ITAC Assessments 10.1 Testing Process Assessment ITIDA’s Software Engineering Competency Center (SECC) is collaborating with the ITAC Department in the testing process assessment of beneficiary ICT Companies as applied to the ITAC CFP target product/solution. Passing SECC Testing Process Assessment is a prerequisite to request funds from ITAC in future rounds and/or move from ARP phase to PDP phase. SECC team will assess the company (during/after the last milestone) in a 3-days pre-paid assessment process. If the company fails to pass the assessment, it will be requested to resolve the issues raised in SECC report and another reassessment visits will be conducted after that. Unfortunately, if the company does not pass the reassessment test, it will not be eligible to benefit from any services offered by ITIDA. 10.2 Marketing Assessment ITAC has put in place a comprehensive support program for its CFP beneficiaries that includes marketing assessment with an advisory support for eligible beneficiaries for shortlisted proposals. Beneficiaries are advised to develop and complete the relevant marketing and commercial plans that will be sent by ITAC team as a separate document, for the shortlisted Advanced Research Projects (ARP) and Product Development Projects (PDP) phases. Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 9 All marketing and commercial Plans will be assessed by ITAC marketing advisory team that will ensure that its beneficiary have put in place a solid marketing and commercial study for their relevant projects. This should help increase projects success rate for its beneficiaries and ensure higher business sustainability in the future. Accordingly, a comprehensive report will be developed by the advisory team highlighting the status of the marketing plan and areas of development. This report will be scheduled as per the agreed milestone deliveries stated in the CFP proposal for the ARP and PDP phases. According to the issued marketing assessment report, the beneficiaries might be scheduled for a marketing advisory session with selected marketing consultants to support the beneficiaries with their marketing and commercial plans.
Source Exif Data:
File Type : PDF File Type Extension : pdf MIME Type : application/pdf PDF Version : 1.6 Linearized : No Has XFA : No Language : en-US Tagged PDF : Yes XMP Toolkit : Adobe XMP Core 5.6-c015 84.159810, 2016/09/10-02:41:30 Format : application/pdf Creator : Last Update Description : ITAC Collaborative Funded Projects Title : Applicant’s Guide for Proposal Submission Create Date : 2016:08:10 13:03:31+02:00 Creator Tool : Microsoft® Word 2010 Modify Date : 2018:04:21 13:26:33+02:00 Metadata Date : 2018:04:21 13:26:33+02:00 Producer : Microsoft® Word 2010 Document ID : uuid:fc7dac46-0d04-44b5-98d7-06c63ce4186c Instance ID : uuid:a518c078-5a0f-432e-afb3-e94795443763 Page Count : 9 Author : Last Update Subject : ITAC Collaborative Funded ProjectsEXIF Metadata provided by EXIF.tools