Context and challenge

EOVALUE is launching an open call for development of innovative applications integrating openly available datasets (incl. space and on site observations) and/or on-line services, adding value by creating new variables or indicators to support the EuroGEOSS initiative and in particular the Sustainable Development Goals or the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, or the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Other areas of application will be considered providing they address broad environmental or social themes across geographic scales.

Conditions for entry

Any legal entity from the 28 EU Member States plus the countries associated to Horizon 2020 can participate.

The Evaluation Criteria

The entries will be evaluated by an international panel co-chaired by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Directorate General Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and including representatives of the public and private sectors and academia. Criteria for evaluation for the application include support to European policy, and/or the Group on Earth Observation (GEO) engagement priorities (Sustainable Development Goals or the Sendai Framework for Risk Reduction, or the Paris Agreement on Climate Change), use of European capacity including European data, computing infrastructure, knowledge such as models, algorithms, or code.

Applications that make use of public APIs to access open data or services, and/or integrate existing open datasets through APIs, or build bridges across existing open datasets, APIs, and projects, or publish data through public APIs will be given more favourable consideration.

Applications developed using the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS) or the European Open Science Cloud, and /or making use of Artificial Intelligence techniques to add value to the data will also be given greater consideration.

Applications that already have an identified user community will also be given greater consideration.

All applications need to address clearly the following four questions:

1. What is the proposed application going to do?
2. Which data sets or service will it use?
3. If parts of the app are already developed, how does the proposal add value?
4. Which are the advantages of the proposed app compared to already existing ones?

The Awards

The 20 best applicants will be awarded contracts by the JRC for a maximum of € 13.500 to develop the applications further, and take them to the stage of first public release within 3 months of signing the contracts. The winners will also be invited to present their applications to a dedicated international event co-organised by the European Commission. This will give visibility to the winning teams and provide opportunities for further development. Travel and daily allowance will be supported by the European Commission for 1 person from each winning team.

Ownership of the Results

The application product and their documentation delivered to the European Commission (EC) at the end of the contract must be made available to the European Commission for reuse without restrictions and will be published by the EC as an open resource.

To ensure reuse, the successful applicants who sign a contract with the JRC to develop their application must agree to transfer the full ownership of the results to the European Union (EU), including copyrights and other intellectual property rights. Due acknowledgement of the developers names and logos will of course be provided.

Sample Data

GEOSS Data CORE resources can be accessed through APIs documented and available for testing at http://api.geodab.eu/dab/api-rest-docs/  

Dates

• Launch of the call 15 February 2019
• Deadline for submitting application concept, prototype, or user story (e.g. as document, slide presentation or video): 30 March 2019
• Selection and notification of winning applications: 15 April 2019
• Contracts with JRC signed: 30 May 2019
• Apps delivered to JRC with documentation: 15 September 2019
• Testing by JRC and user panels: October 2019

Submissions will be open from 15 to 30 March. 

Maximum Size 1 MB

For info: massimo.craglia@ec.europa.eu