Digital infrastructure and communication through advanced digitalization 2026

We want to fund project that develop new knowledge in advanced digitalisation for Swedish industry. The projects should promote innovation within and be relevant to one of the five thematic areas of the call. Read descriptions of these further down in the text, under the Areas section.

The five areas of focus in this call for proposals are:

• Use of 5G in public and private 5G networks
• Exploratory research and innovation around 6G
• Applications
• Resilient digital infrastructure
• Satellite communication

The project results must have good potential for impact and dissemination to provide competence-enhancing effects for more than just the participating parties.

The call for proposals is part of the Advanced digitalisation program, an effort from Vinnova in collaboration with industry, and mobilizes actors from different parts of society towards common objective.

Advanced digitalisation aims to strengthen Swedish research and make Sweden more attractive for research and innovation investments, and stimulate the development of advanced digital technology. The programme will be implemented with a long-term perspective and contribute to innovative, enabling technologies and the development of core competence areas that meet the needs of industry.

objective of the program is to:

• Contribute to the next generation of advanced, powerful and secure digital solutions – developed in Sweden.
• Strengthen Sweden's attractiveness when it comes to research and innovation investments.
• Contribute to raising the competence and implementation capacity of Swedish business in the area of advanced digitalisation.
• Ensure increased competitiveness for industry operating in Sweden.
• To constitute a collaboration platform and function as a knowledge hub for other Swedish initiatives in the field of digitalization.
• Contribute to society's digital transformation, sustainable development and the work to achieve Swedish environmental goals.

Contribute to a sustainable system transformation

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system transformation, should your project also contribute to increased gender equality and climate change? We are based on the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in the 2030 Agenda. There, we focus on two perspectives: gender equality and climate change.

This means that gender equality and climate change should be integrated into both how your project group is composed and in the intended outcome of your project.

Equal funding of innovations

An innovative force in a sustainable world

Making scientific publications and results available

This the call for proposals will also help to make results available to everyone. Therefore, all possible scientific publications should be open access. When results from research and innovation are made freely available, more people can contribute to solving societal challenges.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia with at least two project partners, including stakeholders from industry. Other partners may be business, academia, research institutes, public activities, authorities or economic associations.

The projects must be driven by industry needs, and therefore at least one company must be part of the consortium. All participating parties can be companies.

In this call for proposals industry refers to the entire production chain – from the extraction of raw materials to finished products, as well as industrial service sectors and technology sectors that are needed for the production chain to function. This includes, for example, energy, logistics and transport, telecommunications, water/air/ventilation and recycling. The defense industry is also covered.

Each participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organization that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs in the project must be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment.

We fund activities for research and innovation projects within one of the call's focus areas.

Examples of activities that are eligible for support:

We fund activities for research and innovation projects within one of the call's focus areas.

Examples of activities that are eligible for support:

• Investigate technical and design conditions.
• Develop prototypes or demonstration versions of products and services. This may include pilot work, testing and validation.
• Research and develop production methods.
• Plan and conduct studies and tests to verify an innovation.
• Investigate market conditions, for example identifying customers, customer needs, possible partners and competitors.

The duration of the projects should be between 12 and 36 months.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salary costs, including employer contributions and other salary-related costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs for consulting services may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher percentage than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then justify the need for consulting services in proposal. This justification is taken into account in our assessment.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are not incurred as a direct result of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning. Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs. Universities, university colleges and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs.

An organization may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

The state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

Vinnova's funding can amount to between 2 and 15 million SEK per project, and can amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the project's total eligible costs.
How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• party size and activities
• which activities the party will carry out in the project.

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full details, see funding Criteria and Levels.

Support for companies conducting research and development

The nature of the projects is primarily expected to meet the Industrial researchsupport basis. Depending on the nature of the projects regarding project activities, funding may also in some cases be granted under the Experimental Development support basis.

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The size of the organization and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

In order for us to assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, we will reject proposal immediately.

Eligibility requirements for project parties

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• At least 2 project partners must participate in the project. This includes the coordinating party.
• At least 1 of the project partners must be a Swedish company.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 8.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

Applications that meet our eligibility requirements will proceed to assessment. In the assessment, we look at how much potential your idea has, how realistic it is and who will implement the project.

What do we assess?

When assessing applications, we look at three main criteria:

• Potential: We analyze what effects and what value we can expect from the project.
• Actors: We assess the participants' competence and ability to implement the project and achieve the desired results and effects.
• Feasibility: We assess how realistic and credible the project plan is, both for implementing the project and for achieving desired results.

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with contributing to increased gender equality and climate change, and we always follow up and assess these perspectives.

Potential

• The project's potential to develop solutions, knowledge and expertise within the chosen focus that can promote advanced digitalisation in line with the program's objective.
• The project's potential impact and impact on Swedish industry.
• How well perspectives on sex, gender and climate change have been integrated into the project proposal, and what significance these have for the project's results.

Actors

• The project partners' competence, credibility and ability to implement the project.
• The consortium's anchoring in Swedish industry within the chosen field.
• The ability of the project partners to disseminate, utilize, commercialize and further develop the results and knowledge generated in the project, both within their own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well the financial contribution, participation, power and influence are distributed in an equal manner in the project team.
• How well the need for consulting services is justified. This only applies if a project party's budget contains more than 20 percent consulting costs.

Feasibility

• The realism of the project plan in relation to set objective, methods, activities and budget.
• The participation and relevance of the specified project partners in the project's various work packages and activities.
• How well the project design contributes to the utilization and dissemination of the results in Swedish industry, both within the own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well risks are described and managed in the project's implementation.

How do we assess?

Once we receive the applications, we review them. We screen out any applications that are incomplete or do not meet our eligibility requirements.

Applications that are correct and complete are distributed among different appointed evaluator and assessed in competition with each other. The evaluators are appointed by us based on their expertise in the field. Each proposal is assessed by at least three evaluator.

Once the evaluators have reviewed the applications, we will have an assessment meeting where the evaluators will recommend which applications should be granted. We will also call for an interview if necessary before making a decision.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding this applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Organizations may not cover project costs in this the call for proposals with public funding or own funds intended for other project.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project according to their budget in proposal. Financial capacity refers to a registered turnover or available capital that corresponds to the company's entire budgeted own funding of the project.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. Since applications are assessed competitively, you may be rejected even though you meet all eligibility requirements and criteria.

In the decision, we state how much of the costs we will cover for each organization.

You cannot appeal our decision, but you are welcome to apply to us again at another time.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms and conditions include the following:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so it is a good idea to get this in place before the project starts.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them.

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project shall, upon invitation from the program manager, participate in relevant events within the Advanced digitalisation program and thus contribute to the dissemination of knowledge within Swedish industry in accordance with the program's aim.
• In information about the project and in each publication of project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out with support from Vinnova within the Advanced digitalisationprogram. Publication refers to, for example, publication, regardless of medium, and oral presentations. In English, the name Vinnova is rendered as Sweden's Innovation Agency.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you have received more money than you are entitled to or if you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay.

To apply for funding you fill out a proposal in our e-service. In proposal you answer questions about the project, participating project partners, and budget.

Please also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Project description: May comprise a maximum of 10 portrait A4 pages with single-column 12-point text. The project description should follow the template found further down on this website.
• Project summary: Attached in a separate appendix. May comprise a maximum of 1 portrait A4 page. The project summary should be able to be shared with the program's external program council and should therefore not contain confidential or other sensitive information. The appendix is not part of the assessment process. The project summary should follow the template found further down on this website.
• CV attachment: CVs for the project manager and all key personnel. The attachment is expected to include at least one CV per participant. Varje CV may be a maximum of 1 A4 page with 12 point text. The CV attachment should follow the template found further down this website.

How long does proposaltake?

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on the analyses you will do.

In our e-service you can start filling in the details and then continue at a later time. You can also give permissions to others who you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is complete, mark it complete.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then clear it again for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

Underlying needs

Communication systems and digital infrastructure form the basis for digitalisation. The possibilities to connect and interconnect secure systems and devices are continuously developing. To meet eligibility requirements for future services and applications, capacity, stability, security and quality need to be improved. To ensure interoperability between devices and systems in digital solutions, standardized protocols and interfaces are also important.

Traffic volumes and stresses on underlying infrastructure are increasing, and an expected consequence is increased data streams and continued exponential development of network traffic. To reduce the risk of delays, and keep data close to the user, there is a need to greatly increase execution capacity, for example through distributed networks. In distributed networks, computing and storage capacity can interact with cloud environments. Two other important areas of development are computing capacity and storage technology.

Stability and the use of open standards are other relevant aspects. Industrial environments are becoming increasingly automated and dependent on digital tools. This requires robust communication networks that can withstand stress and disruption without affecting functionality. Open standards guarantee interoperability and applicability. Regulatory and intellectual property issues are also important perspectives.

This call for proposals focuses on collaborative projects within digital infrastructure and communication. The proposed projects should be relevant to one or more of these areas:

Focus: Use of 5G in public and private 5G networks

To drive digitalisation of business, access to 5G networks and services is needed, both through dedicated resources in public networks and own private 5G networks. This ensures:

• Robustness
• Security
• Low latency
• Time reference
• Energy efficiency
• Flexibility
• Handling large amounts of data (big data)
• Data flows.
• Features offered by 5G modems
• The level of competence with regard to the possibilities of technology and technology choices.

Focus: Exploratory research and innovation around 6G

This focus is for 6G-related research and innovation projects. They may also address sub-issues such as cognitive networks that automatically adapt to changing conditions and usage, for example:

• Networks with integrated, distributed or centralized computing resources.
• Resilient networks with handling of disruptions and protection against intrusion or manipulation.
• Seamless connectivity between different technologies and devices.
• Ultra-dense networks or resource-efficient networks.

Focus: Applications

This focus is aimed at project within applications and digital systems. They can address, for example:

• Digital ecosystems with end-to-end functionality.
• Low latency applications.
• Open standards for protocols and data representation in communications, but also from industry organizations
  real-time cloud services.
• Legal and privacy aspects related to handling large amounts of data.
• Connected simple to adaptive learning sensors.
• Human-machine interfaces including next-generation internet, such as tactile internet or internet and senses.
• Application-specific 5G modems with integration into devices.

Focus: Resilient digital infrastructure

In the resilient digital infrastructure focus, we are looking for solutions for systems that can withstand disruptions and impacts:

• Both locally, privately and via cloud services.
• Security in interaction between private and public communication systems.

Focus: Satellite communications

Within this focus, we finance project that strengthen the ability of Swedish actors to develop and use solutions between ground and space-based systems using satellite communication. This may also include challenges in positioning and synchronization. The projects will focus on applications that are based on industry needs and that are based on standardized solutions.

For example, this could mean:

• Test, validate and further develop research results in close collaboration with industry and its needs.
• Strengthen the industry's ability to evaluate and further develop solutions within satellite communications and its applications.
• To develop and evaluate digital solutions for integration and optimization of, for example, antennas, radio and baseband in standardized satellite communication systems.

Expected effects

We envision that the project that are financed will contribute to development and concrete benefits within one or more of the five technical sub-areas. By focusing on the area that is most central to the project's objective, the efforts can create clear effects and strengthen Sweden's position in the area. In the longer term, the projects are expected to contribute to increased innovative capacity, sustainable growth and a competitive Swedish industry by enabling new solutions, strengthened competence and more efficient use of resources.