Shortening the time from project idea to project start – a positive outlook!

One of the main objectives for ITEA 3 is to restructure the Call calendar to be able to achieve a 10-month period from initial project idea (Call opening) to project start. The new ITEA 3 Call calendar will come into effect with the opening of the first Call on 23 September 2014 followed by the labelling of projects already in March 2015 and targetting project start in July 2015.

The ITEA Office, in close cooperation with the Public Authorities, has already begun working on gradually improving the timing of projects submitted in the last Call of ITEA 2. An example of this is the start of the BENEFIT project on 1 July 2014, meaning a 15-month period from Call opening to project start or 8 months from project submission to project start. This is a clear improvement by around 7 months on the latest ITEA 2 Calls and shows the positive effect produced by the actions taken together with the Public Authorities.

The new ITEA 3 Call calendar will entail a further reduction of PO-FPP preparation time by around 3 months and a further reduction of the national funding application process by around 3 months.

It shows that it is feasible for consortia to start working on their project in a shorter period of time, enabling them react more quickly to market demands and maintain a more competitive position. The ITEA Office will do its utmost in the near ITEA 3 future to achieve this 10-month objective and support project consortia in any way.