PROPOSAL PART B

ICT PSP call for proposals 2007 – ICT PSP/2007/1

Thematic Network

ICT PSP Main Theme identifier and title:	………………………………………….
				(e.g. 4.1 Experience sharing on ICT initiatives for SMEs  

[Proposal full title]

[Proposal acronym]

Date of preparation: 									

Version number (optional): 								

Name of coordinating person: [Coordinator person name, organisation] 		

e-mail: [Coordinator email] 								

fax: [Coordinator fax] 									

List of participants: 

Participant no.*	Participant organisation name	Participant short name	Country	
1 (Co-ordinator)				
2 (Participant)				
3 (Participant)				
4 (Participant)				
5 (Participant)				
6 (Participant)				
7 (Participant)				
…				

* Please use the same participant numbering as that in section A2 of the administrative forms

A: Table of Contents Page

PROJECT PROFILE
B1. Relevance of the Thematic Network
B1.1. Project description and objectives
B1.2 Policy background and EU dimension
B2. Impact
B2.1. Expected outcomes
B2.2. Expected impact
B2.3. Consortium and key personnel
B2.4. Consensus building, openness of the Network and long term sustainability
B3. Implementation
B3.1. Chosen approach
B3.2. Work plan
B3.3. Project management
B3.4. Dissemination
B3.5. Resources to be committed

PROJECT PROFILE (Short, precise, verifiable) – maximum 2 pages

Proposal acronym:	 						

Proposal full title:	 						

Information on the Thematic Network

Description of the objectives of the Thematic Network and alignment with the specific objectives of the Work Programme

Short description of the activities and outcomes foreseen in the Thematic Network (workshops, best practice exchange, meetings) 

Short description of the consortium and role of the participants in the Thematic Network 

Expected impact of the Thematic Network

B1. Relevance of the Thematic Network

B1.1. Project description and objectives

(Explain the concept of your project in terms of objectives and main ideas that lead you to propose this network. This section should in particular include: 

-	A brief description of the general background of the project and its relevance for the ICT PSP Work Programme and theme identifier selected.

-	A description of the main objectives of the Network.

-	A description of the specific issues that are going to be addressed by the Thematic Network (e.g. main barriers for ICT uptake, legal / organisational / technical / political issues, new and unexploited opportunities, etc))

B1.2 Policy background and EU dimension

(This section should explain the relevance of the Network to related EU and national policies, strategies and activities. Give examples of references to national or European strategies relevant for the work of the Network and the partners involved. Indicate how the activities of the Network will reinforce existing national and EU initiatives and describe the benefits of the proposed project compared to existing activities.)

B2. Impact 

B2.1. Expected outcomes

-	(Describe what are the outcomes expected from the work and activities of the Network and how these outcomes will contribute to the ICT PSP Work Programme objectives and theme identifier selected. The outcomes must be realistic and clearly linked with the activities, tasks and deliverables of the Thematic Network.

-	Indicate the policy implementation schemes intended to be developed and whether the outcomes of the Thematic Network will be oriented towards: 
•	building an EU wide solution or approach to the theme selected for the Network, or
•	ensuring the widest future replication and co-deployment of innovative solutions, or
•	providing guidance for ICT-enabled solutions and their roll-out in the theme selected, or
•	a combination of the above or
•	others

Note: The award sub criterion A2 a) for the Thematic Networks will specifically evaluate the potential contribution of the expected outcomes (presented by the applicants in this section) to the ICT PSP Work Programme objectives and theme identifier selected.)

B2.2. Expected impact

(Describe the expected impact and the approach to achieving the related specific objective of the ICT PSP Work Programme. Mention the steps that will be needed to bring about these impacts. Mention any assumptions and external factors that may determine whether the impacts will be achieved, including the main barriers and foreseeable risk factors.

Identify a set of indicators against which progress will be measured throughout the duration of the Network. This may include a targeted number of relevant best practices; a set of indicators against which best practices will be defined; indicators against which the uptake of solutions and their impact can be appraised; a number of awareness campaigns or events, qualifying and quantifying the audience and reach of these activities, etc. This list of possible indicators is non-exhaustive, and the applicants should define indicators that must correspond and be suitable to the concrete expected results. The indicators must be realistic and clearly linked with the activities, tasks and deliverables of the Thematic Network

The evaluation of the impact through the indicators proposed should be reported to the Commission in the regular progress reporting.

Note - The award subcriterion A2 b) for the Thematic Networks will specifically evaluate the potential impact expected as presented by the applicants in this section. )

B2.3. Consortium and key personnel

(Describe each consortium participant briefly (not longer than 10 lines), highlight their specific expertise for and their role in the project and indicate the key personnel (brief CV, not longer than 5 lines) foreseen to work on the project. Clearly indicate for the coordinator, and all of the other network participants the role of each in the proposed project. Special attention has to be paid to the specific objective description of the Work Programme when it includes an indication on the nature of the consortium composition. 

Describe the groups of stakeholders that will be represented in the network and the role that each of these groups is expected to play.

The composition of the consortium should be justified, in terms of presenting its capabilities and commitment for the tasks to be carried out and to reach the objectives of the project. It has also to be made clear, using concrete examples, how each participant can contribute with its own experience to the work of the Network, as well as the expectation of each participant in terms of knowledge to be gained through the exchange of experiences and best practices within the Network. 

The organisation proposed to manage the project should be able to demonstrate prior competence and experience in managing large-scale international cooperation projects.)

B2.4. Consensus building, openness of the Network and long term sustainability

(This section should provide information on how the targeted stakeholders will be reached, also beyond the network participants. It should also describe the ways that target users for the network results will be involved in the work of the network. 
Demonstrate the capability of the Thematic Network to build support across the EU in view of EU wide consensus. 
Explain how the consortium intends to ensure the sustainability of the network after the end of the project and the Community funding.)

B3. Implementation 

B3.1. Chosen approach 
(Explain the structure of your work plan, its overall strategy, and the methodology used to achieve the objectives.)

B3.2. Work plan 
(A detailed work plan should be presented, broken down into Work packages (WPs) for the different network periods. It is recommended to define one WP for a period of 6 months, e.g. WP1 for months 1-6, WP 2 for month 7-12, etc.

Key components/ tasks of each of the work packages must include
 
•	reporting of results and outcomes to the public, and wide dissemination through publications and conferences (note: it is expected that most of the deliverables will be made publicly available);
•	organisation of meetings, events and related travels;
•	coordination and management of the network. 

The work plan should provide also a detailed description of the envisaged deliverables. A deliverable is a specified output resulting from the implementation of the different work packages (WPs). They may be tangible (for example, a study, a report, an action plan) or can be intangible (for example, a workshop, a meeting or a conference). For intangible deliverables reports should be foreseen. 

The work plan has to be presented as follows:

•	Show the timing and dependencies of the different tasks and deliverables through a GANTT chart. 
•	Provide a detailed work description using the following templates:
o	Work Package (WP) list (use table 1 template);
o	Work package description incl. list of deliverables per WP (use table 2 template)
o	Deliverables description (use table 3 template)
o	Summary effort table (use table 4 template)

•	The number of deliverables used must be appropriate to the complexity of the work and the overall value of the proposed project. The planning should be sufficiently detailed to justify the proposed effort and allow progress monitoring by the Commission.

•	Any significant risks should be identified, and contingency plans described.)

Table 1: Template - Work package list 

Work package list 

Work package 
No.(i)	Work Package 
Title 	Total person days 
per WP (ii)	Start 
Month 	End 
Month 	
WP 1			Month 1	Month 6	
WP 2			Month 7	Month 12	
WP 3			Month 13	Month 18	
-					
-					
	TOTAL				

Notes:

i.	Work package number: WP 1 – WP n
ii.	The total number of person days effort allocated to each work package (i.e. the cumulative 
	efforts by all consortium participants per WP). 

Table 2 – Template: Work package description (incl. list of deliverables per WP)

Workpackage description

WORKPACKAGE x (WP x): Project Period month 1- n (i)
	
Description of objectives, work and tasks for the WP period (ii)	

Progress indicators for the WP period (iii) – measurement of progress against target and plan	

List of  Deliverables for the WP 
	
Deliverable
No (iv)	Deliverable name	Nature
(v)	Dissemination
level (vi)	Delivery 
date (project month) (vii)	

Notes:

i.	Define a workpackage for each project period of 6 month, e.g. WP1 for months 1-6, WP2 for months 7-12, etc. 

ii.	Identify the objectives, work and the tasks for the period and ensure that all and each of them is related to the deliverables

iii.	Progress indicators can e.g. be: progress reports produced, number of events, number of stakeholders reached, number of best practices exchanged, etc.

iv.	Deliverable numbers in order of delivery dates. 

v.	Please indicate the nature of the deliverable using one of the following codes: 
R = Report;, SP = Specification, E=Events or meetings, O = Other.

vi.	Please indicate the dissemination level using one of the following codes (note: it is expected that most of the deliverables will be publicly available):

P = Public, for wide dissemination (public deliverables shall be of a professional standard in a form suitable for print or electronic publication); 

C = Confidential, limited to project participants. Irrespective of the status, all reports and deliverables must be made accessible to the other project participants and the responsible European Commission services.

vii.	Month in which the deliverables will be available. Month 0 marking the start of the project, and all delivery dates being relative to this start date. 

Table 3: Template – Deliverable description

Deliverables description

Deliverable number :		
Deliverable title:		
Dissemination level (i):		
Nature of the Deliverable (ii):		
Month of Delivery:		
Participant no. of participants who contribute to this deliverable:								
Participant short name								

Deliverable description and objectives to be achieved (iii)	

Role of the different participants in the production of the deliverable (iv) 	

Notes:

i.		Please indicate the dissemination level using one of the following codes (note: it is expected that most of the deliverables will be publicly available):

P = Public, 	for wide dissemination (public deliverables shall be of a professional standard in a form suitable for print or electronic publication); 

C = Confidential, limited to project participants. Irrespective of the status, all reports and deliverables must be made accessible to the other project participants and the responsible European Commission services.

ii.	Please indicate the nature of the deliverable using one of the following codes: 
R = Report;, SP = Specification, E=Events or meetings, O = Other.

iii.	Provide a description of the deliverable and a concise explanation of the objectives to be achieved by the deliverable. Use quantifiable and verifiable elements. 

iv.	State the role of the participants for each deliverable. 

Table 4: Template – Summary of staff effort

(A summary of the staff effort is useful for the evaluators. Please indicate in the table the number of person days per participant over the whole duration of the planned work.)

Participant No.	Participant Short name	Total Effort – in person days	
1			
2			
3			
4			
5			
6			
7			
etc.			
Total			

B3.3. Project management

(Describe the organisational structure and decision-making mechanisms of the project. Show how they are matched to the complexity and scale of the project.

Organisational and change management should be properly addressed in the proposal, with a detailed specification of the approach and methods to be used.)

B3.4. Dissemination 

(Describe the measures you propose for the dissemination and/or exploitation of project results, and the management of knowledge, of intellectual property, especially in view of impact on national and European level.)

B3.5. Resources to be committed

(Please describe how the totality of the necessary resources will be mobilised, including any resources that will complement the EC contribution. Show how the resources will be integrated in a coherent way, and show how the overall financial plan for the project is adequate.)

(The completed proposal Part B is submitted in PDF format)