Opportunities in the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking (KDT-JU)
The Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking (KDT JU) is an EU-driven, public-private partnership, funding innovation in electronic components and systems.
KDT is the successor to the successful ECSEL (electronics components and systems for European Leadership) programme which ran from 2014 to 2020. KDT represents a European Commission investment of €1.8 billion which is expected to be matched with National funding from the Participating States.
Launched in 2021, the programme was originally planned to run for seven years. With the advent of the European Chips Act, KDT is expected to expand and become the Chips Joint Undertaking later this year.
Behind the scenes, there are three industry Associations that make up the Private Members Board of the Joint Undertaking. These are AENEAS, EPoSS and Inside. Collectively, these three associations draft the electronic components and systems strategic research and innovation agenda (ECS-SRIA) which forms the main focus of the annual calls for proposals.
The SRIA contains chapters on foundational technology layers, cross-sectional technologies and key ECS application areas as well as a long-term vision chapter focusing on what needs to be addressed now at low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to feed the innovation pipeline.
This year KDT is launching three parallel calls for proposals.
- Call 2023-1calls for innovation actions (IAs) and is a two-stage call
- Call 2023-2 calls for research & innovation actions (RIAs) and is a two-stage call
- Call 2023-3 calls for one IA and two Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) and is a single stage call
The following table shows the topics in each of the three calls and the corresponding EU funding for each topic:
For Calls 2023-1 and 2023-2
· Project outline phase deadline: 17:00 Brussels time on 03 May 2023
· Full Project Proposal deadline: 17:00 Brussels time on 19 September 2023
For Call 2023-3
· Full Project Proposal deadline: 17:00 Brussels time on 3 May 2023
Participants in successful proposals can avail of a combination of EU and National funding. National funding is subject to National rules in each country and participants are advised to contact their National Representative in advance of joining a proposal.
In Ireland:
· Companies that are eligible to receive R&D funding from one of the following agencies will be considered for funding; Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta.
· The relevant national funding agency should be satisfied that a company seeking national funding has the potential to derive a benefit, proportionate to the national funding being sought, through the exploitation of the results of the proposed project or otherwise. Companies applying for National R&D support will need to be EBITDA positive for nine consecutive months prior to any approval.
· Companies that are classified as ‘High Potential Start-Up’ (HPSU) are not normally eligible.
· Irish third-level research performing organisations will also be considered for national funding. However, they will only be eligible if they are actively supporting an Irish-based company that meets the national eligibility criteria in the consortium.
· All participants are advised to contact the national representative (Stephen O’Reilly) before committing to participate in any proposal.
All call documents are available here on the KDT website.