Applicant’s Guide For Proposal Submission Applicant 2016

User Manual:

Open the PDF directly: View PDF PDF.
Page Count: 9

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
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.
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:
PRP
Idea
Proof-of-
Concept
ARP
Proof-of-
Concept
Prototype
PDP
Prototype
Final Product
Category
Start Point
End Point
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
Additional Fund to IC Fabrication
and Circuit Prototyping (EGP)
PDP
250,000
ARP
250,000
PRP
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
Proposal
Submission
Eligibili
ty
Reject
Reviewer
Selection
Call for
Presentations
Presentatio
n
Request
Resubmission
Conditional Accept/
Revisions Requested
Accept and Sign
Contract
Revision
Evaluati
Ineligible
Eligible
Below
threshold
Above
threshold
Individual Reviews and
Panel Report
Panel
Decisio
Below
threshold
Above
threshold
Revision needed
Unsatisfactory
Satisfactory
+0 Weeks
+4 Weeks
+2 Weeks
+6 Weeks
+3 Weeks
+1 Week
+4 Weeks
Submission
Window
Reviewer
Selection
Proposal
Evaluation
and
Consolidated
Decision
Scheduling
Shortlisted
Proposal
Presentations
Presentation
Report and
Final Decision
Contract
Preparation
and
Scheduling
Signing Date
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 Achievements, challenges, and obstacles during the milestone.
o Justification for any diversion from the project plan.
o A report on financial expenditures during the milestone.
Applicant’s Guide ITAC Program 8
o 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 Detailed technical achievements and deliverables of the project.
o Detailed financial report of the activities and expenditure of the project.
o 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.

Navigation menu