Canadian software innovation partnering mission to ITEA PO Days in Antwerp, Belgium—September 9 to 13, 2024

The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) is pleased to invite Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), universities, large firms, research organizations and relevant not-for-profit organizations and industry associations to submit an Expression of Interest to join the 2024 ITEA Project Outline (PO) Preparation Days partnering mission to Antwerp, Belgium, which will take place from September 9 to 13, 2024.

1. Mission objective

This mission is focused on establishing industrial co-innovation opportunities in software-intensive systems and services between Canadian and foreign organizations with the aim of participants partnering in collaborative R&D projects under EUREKA's ITEA Cluster.

2. Sectors of focus

Software-intensive systems and services in the following challenge areas:

• Smart cities
• Smart communities
• Smart health
• Smart mobility
• Smart industry
• Smart energy
• Smart engineering
• Safety and security

3. Key dates

• Deadline to register: June 10, 2024
• Expression of Interest form submission deadline: June 17, 2024
• Notification of results: July 5, 2024

4. Related events and tools

• ITEA Collaboration Tool and 2024 event details: 2024 ITEA PO Days
• ITEA Call 2024 Preparation Session (hosted by ITEA): June 27, 2024 – to register: ITEA 4 · Preparation session
• Online mission kick-off webinar for selected Canadian participants (hosted by NRC IRAP): July 19, 2024

5. Canadian delegation—SME profile

Canadian SME participants should meet the requirements below to be part of this initiative:

• Be an incorporated, profit-oriented small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Canada
• Have 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
• Pursue growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services or processes in Canada
• Have a differentiated and protectable technology that could become competitive in global markets
• Have sufficient working capital and human resources to undertake a multi-year research and development collaboration and commercialize the results
• Be committed to significant growth through international market expansion

Preference may be given to SMEs who:

• have a minimum of 15 full-time equivalent employees
• have at least $2M in annual revenue
• have commercialized 1 or more products internationally

Note: Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this partnering mission and call for proposals. For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming an NRC IRAP client, please contact NRC IRAP at 1-877-994-4727.

All other interested Canadian organizations (non-SMEs) must also register for this opportunity to be considered as part of the Canadian delegation.

6. Mission description

ITEA PO Days 2024 is a partnering event in conjunction with the ITEA4 2024 call for proposals. More than 300 organizations from over 40 countries will attend the event, including global industrial leaders like Philips, Atos, Barco, NXP, Ericsson, Nokia, Bosch, Siemens and others.

ITEA PO Days 2024 provides organizations with the opportunity to:

• present and learn about project ideas in a poster session and during project idea pitch sessions
• discuss and work on project ideas in working group sessions
• meet companies and potential partners from all over Europe and beyond
• learn from existing project consortia and the ITEA Office about the project process, best practices, and how organizations can take part

In addition to participating in the ITEA PO Days 2024 partnering event to be held from September 10 to 12, the Canadian mission program will include a pre-ITEA PO Days orientation day on September 9, and an outreach program to meet innovative companies and research organizations in and around Antwerp from September 12 to 13, facilitated by NRC IRAP in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service.

An online mission kick-off webinar for selected Canadian participants will be held on July 19, 2024.

7. Background information

ITEA is a transnational and industry-driven research, development and innovation program in software innovation. ITEA is a EUREKA cluster program that enables a global and knowledgeable community of large industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, start-ups, academia and customer organizations to collaborate in funded projects that turn innovative ideas into new business, jobs, economic growth and benefits for society.

Once a year, ITEA organizes PO Days to broker collaborations and formulate consortia amongst over 300 participants from over 40 countries, including Canada. Canada has participated in ITEA since 2014 and has rapidly expanded its involvement. Canada consistently ranks among the top 10 countries contributing to ITEA projects in recent calls.

8. Financial support

Project funding through NRC IRAP will only be available to eligible Canadian SMEs. Other organizations will need to secure funding from other sources or self-fund.

Canadian SMEs selected by NRC IRAP for participation in this mission will be invited to apply for up to $5,000 for reimbursement of 75% of travel and accommodations costs associated with the mission. Selected participants will be sent instructions and information about this support.

9. Contact information

For more information, contact the NRC IRAP International Office by email at IRAP.International.PARI@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca or Vance Pan, National Lead, Eureka ITEA Cluster Program, NRC IRAP at Vance.Pan@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

10. How to apply

1. Interested candidates for this mission (SMEs and non-SMEs) must first register with NRC IRAP by selecting the register button below.
2. An Expression of Interest form will be provided to potentially eligible applicants. The Expression of Interest application form will request additional information about the applicant, organization, technology and co-innovation opportunities of interest.
3. All participants will also need to register for the ITEA PO Days event directly. Further details will be provided to selected delegates.

11. Registration

If there is no register button visible below this line, it means that registration for this partnering mission has closed.