ENRICH in the USA Smart City-Focused Tour

Call for Applications

ENRICH In the USA Smart City-focused Tour

November 11– 15, 2019

A pilot service offered by ENRICH in the USA.

Rolling Application opens: August 12, 2019 | Call closes: October 28, 2019 – 23h59 CET (updated deadline)

1. Services offered in this specific call

ENRICH in the USA is launching a Smart City-Focused Tour in Dallas, Texas to assist European Union and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries smart city stakeholders in connecting to early adopters, and/or finding an ideal US demonstration site for relevant solutions in urban IoT infrastructure serving massive populations. This Smart City-Focused Tour, hosted by the ENRICH in the USA Smart City Landing Hub (https://usa.enrichcentres.eu/enrich-usa-smart-city-landing-hub), provides European stakeholders access to one of the nation’s few “living labs” for IoT and other smart technologies. The Hub is an ideal entrée point for the many EU-based smart city innovations to make immediate customer traction in the US.

The Tour will enable participants to have “backstage” access to regional infrastructure initiatives currently deployed to assist smart city applications in the US’s most comprehensive smart city plan, which includes the areas of deployment of:

• Citizen Engagement/Services;
• Equitable/Inclusive Access;
• Infrastructure;
• Governance/Utilities;
• Mobility;
• Public Health/Healthcare;
• Public Safety; and
• Sustainability/Environmental Monitoring

Participants will have unprecedented access to tour stops of major corporate and local government operations supporting these initiatives. Furthermore, the Tour host will foster custom connections for participants with renowned stakeholders such as AT&T, Cisco, IBM, and DFW International Airport. The Tour is ideal for smart city-interested stakeholders from research, innovation, and/or business organizations from the EU, ideally C-level or executives from departments covering R&D, Engineering, Product Development, Manufacturing, Operations, Business Development and/or Finances. Government officials, cluster coordinators, and/or other smart city specialization experts from the EU seeking a “sister city” from another federal government for their research and innovation stakeholders to collaborate with, are also welcome to foster connections from the Tour.

This Tour will be held November 11 - 15, 2019, and is also on-demand for groups of 12 or more outside of the November timeframe. This first Smart City-Focused Tour will accept up to 35 participants. If 35 qualified participants who meet the eligibility and other selection criteria apply, a waiting list will be created; therefore, you are highly encouraged to apply for the service immediately upon interest. If any spots on the Tour become available, potential participants on the waiting list will be invited on a first come, first serve basis, so long as they also meet the eligibility and selection criteria. The Tour is open to EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries smart city (further defined in Target Group section) stakeholders.

This service gives you the opportunity to:

• Meet with potential customers and secure real-world demonstration sites in a breadth of smart city applications
• Gain a rare understanding to the procurement processes and cycles of a, largely populated urban government customer acquiring smart city technologies within in the US
• Make introductions to and procure networking opportunities to strategic corporate stakeholders and government officials who deployed the smart city initiatives of the Dallas region, and investors integral to the US smart cities/IoT market
• Fully leverage ENRICH in the USA as this Tour/concept is not offered anywhere else in the US, nor is there a publicly accessible, organized tour of similar initiatives elsewhere in the US

Tentative schedule

• Monday November 11: Comprehensive regional Innovation overview from entities such as:

Public Sector

• City of Dallas
• Regional city leadership outside of Dallas [over 200k residents]
• NCTCOG [regional planning organization]

Economic Development

• Dallas Regional Chamber
• Downtown Dallas Inc.
   

• Tuesday, November 12: Smart Transportation

Dallas Innovation Alliance and key transportation/logistics partners

• DART [Dallas Area Rapid Transit]
• DFW Airport
• AV testing track at sporting venues
• Visit to Dallas Cowboys Star complex and e-sports facility
   

• Wednesday, November 13: Smart Buildings and Infrastructure
  •  Tour of select new and retrofitted buildings in Downtown Dallas
  • Tour of AT&T Discovery District
  • Tour of DIA Smart Cities Living Lab
     

• Thursday, November 14: Research and Innovation Programs Supporting Smart and Resilient Cities
• • UT-Dallas Blackstone Launch Pad
  • AV Testing Facilities at Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers Stadiums
  • UT-Arlington CAPPA institute
  • E-sports facility
     

• Friday, November 15: 1:1 Matchmaking with Potential Customers, Funders and Federal Government Agencies
  • AT&T, Cisco, other large corporations
  • Public sector entities
  • VC and PE firms
  • FTC, Department of Commerce, World Affairs Council

Expected outcomes and impact per participant

Average per participant

• ≥3 visitations in each vertical (i.e. transportation, buildings, etc.) to demonstration sites and potential customer/acquisition contacts from Greater Dallas region
• ≥ 1 connection(s) to smart city-savvy investors
• ≥2 business connection per participant resulting in direct follow-up between participants and potential customers and/or industrial partner
• All participants receiving clear incentives directives and having 1:1 conversations with host on regional benefits for stakeholder to conduct business and/or technology partnerships with the region

2. Target Group of this Call

Applicants must be taxpayers in an EU Member State or Associated Country AND/OR be an EU Member State or Horizon2020 Associated Country passport holder. Welcome smart city industry stakeholders include but are not limited to:

• Startups and SMEs developing innovation and products
• Large corporation executives in R&D, Engineering, Product Development, Manufacturing, Operations, Business Development and/or Financial Departments
• Cluster coordinators
• Economic development organizations
• Multipliers
• Industry and trade representatives
• Local or regional government representatives serving smart city stakeholders, or direct procurement officers of smart city solutions acquisition
• University administrators representing smart city technologies and/or researchers
• Science/Technology/Industry/Research/University Park executives serving smart city stakeholders
• University administrators
• Science/Technology/Industry/Research/University Park executives

Commercial stakeholders interested in the Tour should be developing solutions that are data analytics and visualization, Internet of Things (IoT), sensor technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), and several other technologies. Similarly, consulting or other service providers within the smart city industry are welcome as well.

3. Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• If an individual, applicant must be a tax payer in an EU MS/AC AND/OR be an EU MS/AC passport holder
• If incorporated, applicant must pay taxes in an EU MS/AC AND/OR have as the majority of shareholders EU MS/AC passport holder
• Be able to communicate (read and speak) in English

4. Funding Principle

Due to funding of this service by the European Commission, the cost per participant for all expenses is a non-reimbursable fee of 675€.  (As the Tour’s actual value is over 2200€ per participant.) This highly reduced participant fee covers at least two meals per day, transportation to/from hotel and all Tour stops and other direct fees.

Participants will also have to cover the costs for flights to and from the United States, as well as other costs not mentioned above (e.g. ESTA/VISA application costs, health insurance, accommodation, dinners, etc.) by themselves.

5. Submission Procedure

All applicants must register at the electronic submission tool F6S under https://www.f6s.com/enrichintheusasmartcitytour It is highly advised again, that interested applicants should apply as soon as possible, and not wait for the application deadline, as eligible applicants who meet the selection criteria will be invited to the Tour in the order in which they applied. ENRICH in the USA staff will assist with questions or portal issues for applicants. Besides basic information, applicants must mark a checklist for actual criteria and must complete each section of the application.

In F6S, the applicant is asked to register themselves and fill in general information, personal information (such as name, institution, organization type, contact details, and specific questions referring to the organization type). All applicants must acknowledge that they are made aware that some costs have to be covered individually.

You will need to complete all required questions in the F6S application form before you are allowed to submit. Applicants for the Tour should be able to confirm that they:

• Engage in commercial and/or research activities within the smart city industry (see previous section for definition/areas of alignment)
• Are a major decision maker in executing new customer, supplier, or partnership relationship developments
• Have a sincere interest in US-based business, technology development, and/or other partnership collaboration opportunities and be a decision maker in potential location scouting activities

The questions listed under Specific Questions were designed to help both the applicant and Host organizations foster ideal connections within the ecosystem, as well as to refine the Tour’s itinerary. These questions include:

• What types of products/services and/or research does your organization work on? If you do not directly conduct technology development, please indicate if you have stakeholders (customers/clients, members, tenants, etc.) that do conduct technology development and in what areas relevant to the Tour sector
• What are your expectations from the ENRICH in the USA Smart City-Focused Tour
• Why are you interested in learning more about the US market
• Please list particular companies, investors, and/or institutions you are interested in being connected to within the Landing Hub region this tour is held within. (Please visit: https://usa.enrichcentres.eu/landing-hubs for more information on Tour hosts and listings of potential customers/investors/partners; you are welcome to access your own resources to answer this question)

Note that all application responses have to be submitted in English.

6. Evaluation and Selection Procedure

The fundamental principles governing the evaluation of the applications are:

• Transparency: The process for selecting applicants will be clearly described and made available to any interested party.
• Fairness and Equality of treatment: All applications shall be treated alike, irrespective of where they originate or the identity of the applicants.
• Ethical and Legal considerations: Any application that contravenes ethical principles and legal regulations may be excluded from being evaluated and rejected at any time.

Selected participants must meet basic eligibility criteria and participant fee must be received by October 20, 2019. Applicants who meet the criteria will be contacted with payment information.

Step 1: Eligibility Check: Will be done by the ENRICH in the USA staff following the criteria defined in section 3:

1. If they meet the respective eligibility criteria (outlined above)
2. If they meet the respective target group for this call (outlined above)

Step 2: Applicants who meet the optimal selection criteria and satisfactorily answer the Specific Questions outlined in Section 5 listed above, will be invited to the Tour. Unanswered or partially completed questions will not be considered to move forward in the process. A team formed of ENRICH in the USA staff and ENRICH in the USA Smart City Hub organization executives will review applications in the F6S portal, every two weeks leading up to the application deadline.

Step 3: Scoring: All applicants will be evaluated on a five-star evaluation scale – if applicants can confirm all three selection criteria statements and answer all four of the Specific Questions thoughtfully, they will earn a 5-star rating.

Step 4: Admission: The first 35 candidates with 5 star-scores will be invited to attend the Tour. Within two weeks of applying, if not sooner, applicants will be notified of their selection.

Please note: ENRICH in the USA is beholding the right to create a wait list of suitable candidates reaching the necessary 5 stars score

Time Schedule

Contacts

For questions regarding the ENRICH in the USA Smart City-Focused Tour, please contact