Notice

Competition brief: innovation in infrastructure systems round 2

Updated 16 March 2017

This notice was withdrawn on 21 September 2017

This competition is no longer open. Search current funding opportunities.

1. Dates and deadlines

Competition opens	Midday Monday 16 January 2017
Briefing event for applicants	Tuesday 24 January 2017
Brokerage events	Thursday 26 January 2017 in Liverpool Tuesday 31 January in Belfast Thursday 2 February in Edinburgh Tuesday 7 February in Cardiff
Registration deadline	Midday Wednesday 15 March 2017
Application deadline	Midday Wednesday 22 March 2017

2. The competition scope

The aim of this competition is to stimulate innovation in the infrastructure systems that provide critical services for our economy, environment and society.

We have 4 priority areas:

• ‘smart’ infrastructure
• energy systems (including nuclear fission and offshore wind)
• connected transport
• urban living

The UK has the potential to lead the world in future markets in these areas. The trend is for smart infrastructure, adding data layers, intelligence and innovative capability. With increasing economic, social and environmental pressures, we need solutions that make sure systems:

• are resilient to change and ‘shocks’ (such as natural disasters or disease epidemics)
• are fit for purpose in the future
• provide optimal value for investment

Smart and resilient infrastructure solutions are likely to be multidisciplinary. Businesses in energy, construction and transport will work together. Solutions will include new technologies from the following sectors:

• digital
• communications
• sensors
• electronics
• novel materials sectors

Business models will link services with new collaborative and integrated solutions.

We are looking to fund a portfolio of projects. These may include technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development.

Projects must show significant innovation in one of our priority areas (described further in the next section).

Proposals must also improve business growth, productivity and/or create export opportunities for at least one UK SME involved in the project.

3. Specific competition themes

Applicants decide on the best priority area for their innovation. Where proposals are judged out of scope for the chosen area but in scope for another, applicants will be contacted to agree to assessment in the alternative area.

Smart infrastructure

Innovations that develop smart, resilient and sustainable integrated infrastructure. We are looking for innovations that add ‘intelligence’ to infrastructure systems to:

• improve functionality, capacity, productivity, security or whole-life performance
• improve resilience and sustainability
• reduce the risk of failure
• reduce whole-life costs or environmental impacts (such as air pollution)

Applicants should be able to demonstrate how their proposed innovation will deliver one or more of the outcomes required in one of the priority areas of:

• energy systems
• nuclear fission
• offshore wind
• connected transport
• urban living

Energy systems

Innovations in the ability to flexibly match changing energy supply and demand profiles of the future.

These must create or demonstrate smart system solutions that integrate energy generation and demand at local, regional or national scales.

They might include time-shifting methods such as storage or advanced management and optimisation of multiple energy supply and/or demand sources to boost use and efficiency. This is not limited to electricity. Solutions that optimise across energy vectors are encouraged.

The outcome should be significant improvements in:

• value proposition
• energy affordability
• security
• reduced carbon emissions

Nuclear fission

Innovations that lead to major cost reductions, improved asset integrity and supply chain development for the current and future UK and global civil nuclear markets, including decommissioning.

Offshore wind

Innovations that, when in use, will result in substantial reductions in the cost of energy from offshore wind.

Connected transport

Innovations that:

• improve network capacity, efficiency and reduced operational cost, whilst:
  • balancing transport infrastructure peak demands
  • connecting different transport modes to provide better services, greater flexibility and reliability
  • reducing logistics problems
• offer products and services through greater system intelligence in existing transport networks
• future-proof transport infrastructure for advanced vehicle technologies (reduced network operational costs for local authorities and transport operators, and defragmented traffic management systems)

Solutions should involve a wide range of stakeholders. Proposals must clearly encourage change across complex transport systems.

Urban living

Innovations that address citizens’ challenges in cities and urban areas. Solutions should view urban areas holistically and help manage them in an integrated way. Citizen-centric outcomes (addressing the changing needs of citizens and communities) include:

• better health and wellbeing, see What works wellbeing
• increased productivity
• higher resilience to change and shocks (such as natural disasters, climate issues, security-related, economic, social or health-related incidents such as a disease epidemic)

Urban living solutions should integrate:

• ‘hard’ systems such as energy, transport, waste, water and communication
• ‘soft’ systems such as security, law and justice (for example, public order and safety), health, wellbeing, social care and education
• environmental systems such as parks and green spaces, rivers and canals

4. Projects that we won’t fund

In this competition we will not fund:

• energy innovation that solely develops a single-generation technology, except for offshore wind or nuclear fission
• energy end-use efficiency, for example, in buildings, domestic appliances, industrial processes or vehicles
• connected transport innovations that can only be applied to propulsion and on-board vehicle systems in single transport modes (for example, automotive, rail, air or marine vehicles or vessels). Although the initial activity may focus on a single mode of transport, there must be potential to connect infrastructure, people and goods with additional transport modes
• fossil fuels (exploration, appraisal, production, processing, transport, distribution, end use or carbon capture and storage)
• incremental innovations unlikely to significantly improve UK economic and SME growth
• urban living applications that do not integrate different city systems to produce one or more of the citizen-centric outcomes

While not excluded, the development of smartphone apps is not a primary interest for this competition.

5. Find out if you are eligible to apply

To be eligible you must:

• be a UK-based business of any size. See the guidance for applicants for circumstances where research and technology organisations (RTOs) may lead
• carry out most of your project in the UK
• work alone or in collaboration with others (business, research base and third sector)
• work in collaboration if your total project costs are more than £100,000. (For the project to be collaborative, at least 2 organisations must incur costs and claim the grant)
• include at least one UK-based SME

6. Funding and project details

We have allocated up to £15 million to fund innovation projects.

All projects must involve at least one SME.

Projects should last between 3 months and 3 years. We expect projects to range in total costs between £25,000 and £5 million. If your total project costs are outside this range, please contact us before 28 February 2017.

We expect to make available up to:

• £5 million for projects with eligible costs from £25,000 to £100,000 that last from 3 months to 1 year
• £10 million for projects with eligible costs from £100,000 to £5 million that last from 1 year to 3 years

Project costs of £25,000 to £100,000

If you are a UK SME and expect your total eligible project costs to be between £25,000 and £100,000, you may run the project on your own. You may also work with other businesses and/or research organisations.

Project costs of £100,000 to £5 million

If you expect your total eligible project costs to be more than £100,000, you must work with at least one other organisation. At least one partner must be a UK SME.

6.1 Project types

Your project may focus on technical feasibility, industrial research or experimental development.

For technical feasibility studies and industrial research, you could receive up to:

• 70% of your eligible project costs if you are a small business
• 60% if you are a medium-sized businesses
• 50% if you are a large business

For experimental development projects nearer to market, you could receive up to:

• 45% of your eligible project costs if you are a small business
• 35% if you are a medium-sized business
• 25% if you are a large business

If your individual work packages correspond to different research categories, add the costs of each package to find your total project cost.

For more information on the research categories, read the guidance for applicants, which will be available once the competition opens.

International partners are welcome to take part in a project but are not eligible for Innovate UK funding. To find out if your business fits the EU definition of an SME, see the European Commission’s definition.

7. How to apply

To apply:

• register online
• read the guidance for applicants for this competition
• watch briefing event recording from 24 January 2017
• attend one of the brokerage events
• complete and upload your online application form on our secure server

We will not accept late submissions. Your application is confidential.

External, independent experts assess the quality of your application. We will then select and build a portfolio of projects that:

• are high quality
• reflect a range as described in the scope
• address opportunities across a range of industrial sectors
• reflect the potential for short, medium and long-term return on investment for the company and the UK

Read the general guidance for applicants carefully before you apply. It will help your chances of submitting a quality application. Applications will have a greater chance of success if they start with a description of the challenge and the proposed solution.

8. Background and further information

Infrastructure systems are the backbone of economic stability, growth, competitiveness and productivity in modern society. They are vital for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

Market opportunity

There is £425 billion of planned public and private infrastructure investment in the UK according to the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan 2016–2021. Transport and energy account for £390 billion of this total. The market is expanding for systems ensuring smart and resilient infrastructure.

New infrastructure solutions can be capital-intensive. Public investment can prompt disruptive ideas and unlock private investment.

UK capability

The UK has a world-leading capability to provide infrastructure solutions in:

• planning
• engineering
• architecture
• energy
• intelligent mobility of people
• freight
• communications

This also includes legal, insurance, security and finance services.

In the digital economy, the UK has a strong base of creative start-ups providing new ‘disruptive’ solutions (new technologies that promote change). These are in high-growth areas including:

• open data
• the internet of things (everyday objects with network and data connectivity)
• robotics and autonomous systems

These capabilities are well supported by excellent academic research across the UK.

Timeliness and impact

The number of global urban residents is growing by almost 60 million every year. Environmental and societal change are prompting more adaptable infrastructure that is better integrated with social systems. Flooding, drought and capacity challenges are priority issues for the UK government’s aid strategy and Cross-government Prosperity Fund.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact the Knowledge Transfer Network.

For further background, see Innovate UK’s current Delivery Plan.

If you need more information, please contact the competition helpline on 0300 321 4357 or email us at support@innovateuk.gov.uk.