2014 (assuming we don’t fold the whole company scheme) is where we get serious about embedding top-notch functionalities for research and collective intelligence in the Edgeryders platform. I remind you we have been thinking along the lines of:
- a "network dashboard" providing near-real time monitoring of the conversation graph (this is detailed in the Dragon Trainer project)
- massive open online ethnography functionalities.
I would like someone to run a check on a couple of the new calls. In particular, I have been pointed to:
Open Disruptive Innovation Scheme (implemented through the SME instrument). What I like about this is that it supports “fast prototyping and demonstration of disruptive innovation bearing a strong EU dimension” (whatever “EU dimension” means in this context). Phase 1 gives winners a lump sum of 50K euro to spend in 6 months for a feasibility study – I think a prototype would probably meet the requirements. If we got this, we would probably have something to show our clients. Coaching is also available. Phase 2 is only available for select Phase 1 winners that come up with a disruptive and realistic business plan. They offer 0.5 to 2.5 million Euro grants (co-funding of 30%) – very likely not for us, but a business plan we do need, and the coaching part of Phase 1 would be very helpful to building one. The only problem is that the deadline seems to be very far away (December 2014!). I think that is a mistake; what they must mean is you can apply any time before that date, and applications are evaluated on a rolling basis. There are over 220 million euro allocated – that’s lot of 50K grants!
ICT-enabled open government seems to move from the very same position as the original Edgeryders project: “Public administrations need to address the new challenges posed by the evolution of society. Financial constraints are making this task difficult. At the same time, expectations - in terms of burden reduction and efficiency of public services - are growing.” We could be interested in the pilots on transparency and corruption fighting. If we decide to take this up, I’ll talk to Giulio – folks at UNDP care deeply about ICT as an anti-corruption enabler, and launched services such as Kallxo (Kosovo’s version of ipaidabribe.com). This looks like a more traditional instrument – a large research project carried out by a consortium.
@Matthias, would you be up for it? You are the rare developer who can write eloquently, so you are almost self-sufficient here.