• Partner 1 = SME from digital sector
• Partner 2 = Private entity from the industrial sector

Applicants must be legal entities located in one of the participating countries in the Single Market Programme (SMP), namely:

• EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs));
• Non-EU countries: listed European Economic Area EEA countries and countries associated to the COSME part of the Single Market Programme (list of participating countries): https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/smp/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_smp_en.pdf )

At least one legal entity of the consortium (digital SME or end-user) must be based in a country of one of the DREAM consortium partners, i.e. France, Italy, Belgium or Romania.

The consortium shall gather entities from at least two different NUTS 1 regions of Europe from eligible countries. Applicants from the EU-13 countries are encouraged to apply. All entities applying as one consortium should be autonomous to one another (without capital or personal links).

The maximum funding per project is 30.000 € in the form of a grant lump sum. Only SMEs are eligible to receive funding.

The DREAM Open Call will provide financial support for two different types of actions, namely:

• Prototyping action will target companies having already carried out a feasibility study and have the need to develop a prototype to spend efforts in miniaturisation, testing, experimentation, MVP building, etc. (TRL 6).
• Demonstration action will target companies having already developed and tested a prototype, with the need to demonstrate its efficiency on a larger scale in real environment (TRL 7-8).

The expected technologies in the DREAM Open Call are digital technologies that can contribute to the sustainability challenge and the resilience of processes:

• Artificial intelligence, Big Data and analytics
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Cloud Computing
• Autonomous Robotics
• Immersive technologies (AR/VR)
• Simulation
• System Integration
• Cybersecurity

The expected industrial sectors addressed in the DREAM Open Call are manufacturing industries, including electronics, nanotechnologies, automotive, mechanicals, aerospace, medical & pharmaceutical, construction, energy & utilities, marine (naval industries), metalworking, chemicals, food & beverage, logistics, printing, textile, luxury, cosmetics, wood, paper, furniture, consumer products, etc.

Open Call Submission process

Guide for Applicants

Applications to the DREAM Open Call shall be submitted exclusively to the following dedicated web address

DREAM Application website

Applicants have to firstly create an account on the aforementioned website. Then, after registration, a dedicated form will appear where all the required information for the application has to be entered as a text box or dropped-down menu or similar. Some additional documents in pdf have to be attached (letter of support if any, results of self-financial viability check and SME self-assessment).

Evaluation process

At least two independent experts will evaluate each proposal independently according to the following criteria:1. Excellence, 2. Impact, 3. Implementation.

A score from 1 to 5, including half scores, will be assigned to each of the 3 criteria. The threshold for each criteria will be 3 points. The overall threshold, applying to the sum of the three individual scores, will be 10 points. For each application above the threshold, a bonus point will be given to the applications in which the 2 participating entities are from 2 different countries (transnational bonus point).