About inDemand

What is inDemand about?

inDemand (inDemand: Demand driven co-creation for public entities) is a new model where Healthcare organizations and companies co-create Digital Health solutions, in 3 pilot regions: Murcia Region (Spain), Paris Region (France) and Oulu Region (Finland). inDemand aims to support eHealth projects that meet the challenges identified by the healthcare organisations through co-creation activities with healthcare organisations and business support services.

How does it work?

inDemand will launch 4 challenges per call, and there will be 2 calls in each of the 3 inDemand regions. Overall, 24 challenges will be open for solution proposals.The best company for each challenge will be awarded and will start co-creating with the healthcare organisation at the same time that receives business support services from experts.

• Call 1: first half of 2018.
• Call 2: 2019

Each call will be open for 3 months so that you have enough time to prepare your proposal.

Follow us and stay tuned to launching dates.

Does it include public procurement?

Not necessarily. At the end of the project, the healthcare organisation will decide whether to enter in negotiations with each awarded company to purchase the solution from the Solvers on a case by case basis –and always respecting the national and European public procurement laws-. Regardless of the decision of the public entity, each Solver can proceed to commercialize its solution targeting other potential customers under the conditions agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding.

What are the advantages of this approach then?

inDemand main objective is that SMEs develop digital solutions with  higher success rate -in terms of their application in practice/market uptake- because they have been demanded by the client and developed side by side with them. To increase the chances of success even more, awarded companies will participate in a business support program.

Do I have to pay to participate?

No, you don’t. It is a free of charge programme funded by the European Commission. Furthemore, if selected, you will obtain a grant up to a maximum of 30.000€ in this first call, the possibility to co-create with healthcare organisations and a business support program.

What happens with IPR?

Good news: each Solver owns the attached IPRs generated during the co-creation process.

Each Solver is responsible for the management and protection of its IPRs and bears the costs associated with this. The Solvers funded within inDemand project will be the unique owners of the technologies created within the framework of their sub-granted projects.

Second inDemand Open Call

What are the challenges to tackle?

The 4 challenges to be addressed in Oulu are:

• Challenge 1: A solution supporting resource planning for more efficient implementation of rooms
• Challenge 2: Remote controlled mobile solution for hospital clients (case: children’s asthma examination)
• Challenge 3: Electronic guidance and advice pass (case: breastfeeding guidance)
• Challenge 4:  Electronic services before and after an outpatient clinic appointment (case: paediatric and adolescent diabetes care pathway)

How much funding can I receive?

The maximum grant for this InDemand first call is 60% of all eligible costs with a maximum amount of 30.000 € per beneficiary.

More information about the funding scheme in the Guide for participants.

When will I receive the funds?

First payment: Once the signature of the Sub-Grant Agreement is completed and the Funder has sent one copy back to the Solver, an advanced payment of the 30% of the grant will be bank transferred from the Funder to the Solver..

Second payment: The second and final payment will be made after deliverance of the final report and subject to the inDM validation after Co-creation.

Who can apply?

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Legally established as a business and based in an EU member state or H2020 associated country.
• Small and Medium Enterprise compliant with the EU definition of SMEs. Consortiums are not allowed to apply
• Address one of the specific challenges with an e-health solution of a minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7.
• Be in a situation to receive public funding (Commission Regulation  (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty).
• Have not received other public funds for the very same project activities.
• Sub-granted SMEs from inDemand 1st Call will not be allowed to apply to the 2nd Call.

Can I participate in Consortium?

Consortiums are not currently allowed to apply.

What do I need to submit my application?

Applications will consist of the following items:

• The Proposal has to follow the templates of the Application Form provided for this purpose. Max. 12 pages per project application.
• Declaration of honor duly signed. The beneficiaries must certify that all information provided is correct. They must also be completely committed to participate in the project that they are submitting and comply with the eligibility criteria. The declaration of honour states also that this very same project proposal does not receive funds elsewhere.

In which languages can I submit the application?

Application must be submitted in English, containing all requested elements specified in the Guide for Applicants. Uncomplete proposals will not be taken into consideration.

Do I have to be fluent in any of the local languages?

Yes. The working language will be the local one. So, if you are selected for one of the Oulu challenges, your involved personnel during the co-creation process has to speak and understand Finish.

How do I submit my application?

All SMEs interested in participating in the Call must prepare the application form & templates available on the website www.indemandhealth.eu and then submit the information via the corresponding GQuestionnaire for each region. Once your proposal is submitted and validated a confirmation email will be sent to acknowledge the application submission.

Check Oulu GQuestionnaire.

Is there an exclusion criteria?

Applications which contravenes ethical principles or any applicable legislation, or which does not fulfil the conditions set out in Decision No 2013/743/EU, in the work programme, in the Call may be excluded from the evaluation, selection and award procedures at any time.

I’m not based in the piloting region, can I apply?

Companies based in eligible countries (EU member states and H2020 associated countries) can apply to any region as the project is European. The inDemand co-creation program is non-residential; some collaboration with teams will be done remotely.

Besides, let’s say you are based in Spain, for instance. You do not necessarily have to apply to Murcia challenges if you find Oulu more interesting.

But careful! During co-creation working language is the local one.

Can I apply to several challenges?

Yes, SMEs can apply to several challenges. However, it is important to note that you can only be awarded for one challenge during the project lifetime.

Can I submit more than one application to the same challenge?

In case two or more applications are submitted to a given challenge by the same Applicant, only the last one will be taken into consideration.

I’ve made a mistake when applying. How should I correct it?

No changes to the Application documentation are allowed once the Application is submitted. However, Applicants may dispose on 7-calendar day term to correct or provide documents to complete their initial application via a dedicated email: indemandcall@indemandhealth.eu.

What is the evaluation criteria?

Evaluators will score and rank each proposal according to a grid consisting of a quantitative score for each evaluation criteria.

• Solution Excellence:  Fit with inDemand particular challenge
• Potential Impact
• Workplan viability
• Team experience
• Business sustainability

More information about the rating of applications in the Guide for participants.

How will inDemand perform the evaluation process?

The Call evaluation process is structured as follows:

1. Eligibility Check. A first review will be performed by the Funder, prior to send it to the Committee for evaluation who will check the eligibility criteria.
2. Proposal evaluation. A Selection Committee will evaluate all eligible proposals. Members of a Selection Committee will evaluate and mark each of the submitted proposals in its Region by filling the Evaluation Template. They are not allowed to contact the applicants at any stage of the evaluation.  
3. Proposal selection. The inDemand team will undertake all possible efforts to complete the call evaluation process within a maximum time of one month after the deadline for submitting applications. A list of beneficiary SMEs per Challenges will be published in the project website as well as in the regional Official Bulletin.

Who evaluates the proposals?

Each Partner region will nominate a Selection Committee composed by 6 members. It will be integrated by:

• 2 members from the regional Challenger,
• 2 members from the regional Funder and
• 1 member from the regional Supporter.
• One additional external member will be recruited from the Advisory Board of the project.  Both a chairperson and a secretary of the Committee will be nominated.

All members of the Selection Committee, including chairperson and secretary, will have to sign a confidentiality and conflict of interest declaration prior to joining the Committee.

How long will the Call be open?

Oulu call will be open for 3 months, until 28/05/2018 17:00 CET.

How and when do I know if my company is selected?

Selected companies will be contacted the 15th of June 2018. The Funder will individually notify any applicant by email about the result of the evaluation and the fact of being awarded or rejected from the grant.

What should I do if I am selected?

Selected Solvers will be requested to sign a Sub-Grant Agreement 15 days after the communication. The main objective of the Sub-Grant Agreement is to validate financial and technical operational capacity from the SMEs teams, and to establish some minimum ground rules for receiving support from the inDemand project.

More information about the sub-grant agreement in the Guide for participants.

Co-creation and Business Support

How long does co-creation take?

The whole co-creation programme will last 7 months and combines a three fold approach: the grant, co-creation services and business support services.

Oulu expected starting date: 15 June 2018.

What does co-creation entail?

The planned steps for co-creation are following:

• Co-creation kick-off. The Challenger arranges a reasonable number of meetings between the awarded Solvers team and Challengers technological department to set the basis to co-create the solution.
• Co-creation framework definition. After this exchange Solver shares an updated version of its initially proposed work plan. This document is discussed and agreed with the public entity, and will include the following information: team, calendar, milestones, deliverables, description of the interactions.
• Co-creation implementation. The Solver interacts with the challenger, more specifically, with the intrapreneur team who proposed the challenge, and the Challenger technological department to co-create the solution further. If considered as needed, the challenger identifies the people as key users who are going to participate closely in co-creation with the company. The Sme will be able to test the solution developed in a real healthcare environment.
• Co-creation follow-up.  When a milestone is reached, a joint assessment takes place and corrective measure, if necessary, are put in place.
• Co-creation reporting. At the project deadline, the private company delivers the agreed deliverables to Challenger and funder. A summary report together with a recommendations regarding next steps is submitted to Management of the public entity. It also exchanges the relevant information with the Funder and the rest of the consortium.

What are the business support services provided by inDemand?

The co-creation and business support period will be between, 9 June 2018 to 9 January 2018.

• Kick off meeting: 19 June 2018 (estimated)
• Business Modelling support
  • Group training
  • Personalized coaching
• Private funding access
  • Personalized coaching
  • Matchmaking with private investors
• Go to Market and Commercialization support
  • Personalized coaching
  • Matchmaking with new potential customers

Which are the milestones to accomplish?

Applicants must clearly indicate in their proposal, the expected achievements from participation in the inDemand co-creation Programme. During the Sub-Grant Agreement definition, the milestones that each team is committing to will be established

What is an inDemand Mentor?

An inDemand Mentor (inDM) will be assigned and will mentor and guide the team through the whole co-creation Programme. inDM belongs to one of the inDemand Partner entities, and will be carefully monitoring the project status. As a first step, he/she will be discussing with the teams and making recommendations so as to align the services with the specific needs of a given team, helping to setup the best possible service package for each team to deliver its objectives.

 

Answers to questions by companies at ‘Room Challenge’ event

Which are the most important objectives regarding the solution?

The objective is to find a solution providing easy access for the hospital personnel to the occupancy rates, hence occupancy rate can be better managed. In practice, occupancy rate can be boosted as high as possible with the solution and thus examination rooms are also more readily available. The solution prevents unnecessary reservations of facilities, if the solution provides information about vacant and upcoming vacant rooms.

 

Which are the most important properties the system should have?

The solution should provide real-time information, because the appointment may take longer or shorter than originally scheduled. Occupancy rate is to be accessible on centralised basis, for instance, on the common terminal in the hospital unit. Also centralised information management is a requirement, however, a read-only version of the solution is adequate on the monitoring terminals in the consultation rooms. Several facilities may be reserved while making an appointment in accordance with the preferred resources by using the solution. In some of the hospital out-patient clinics, rooms may be reserved even for the same appointment – both for the child and parent.

 

Is it possible to provide a more detailed description of implementation? Paragraph Main objective refers to the use case of rooms which will be vacated once the patient and personnel proceed to the operation procedure. Are you looking for a solution for this particular use case, or a solution to cover a larger scope of scheduling of facilities and other resources?

The challenge of solution development lies in particular in the resource monitoring of clinic facilities as the schedules change so often. However, the same solution should be facilitated also for coordinating any other use of spaces, for instance operating theatres. As regards functionality, the solution should clearly indicate vacancy (e.g. green signal light), or the room occupied by personnel only (e.g. yellow signal light) or the room being used for a consultation or a procedure is taking place and the room occupied by both a patient and personnel (e.g. red signal light).

 

Should the solution be for real-time monitoring needs only or available also for advance scheduling? If only for monitoring, how should sufficiency of facilities for the right procedures be controlled if there is no advance scheduling?

There is need for both. Advance scheduling shall be an option; however, the solution also has to allow for monitoring and responding to changes.

 

Does Oulu University Hospital know the supplier / suppliers for the sensors and sign-in technologies to be implemented in monitoring the facilities?

Oulu University Hospital does not have definite information about sensor or sign-in technologies available.

 

[Challenge 2: Remote controlled mobile solution for hospital clients (case: children’s asthma examination)] When solution needs CE-marking? 

-CE- marking is not needed in testing phase, although all necessary documentary for application process should be made during the testing phase.

-Documentary/application process should be carried out under VALVIRA’s (Finnish National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health) supervision. Company can contact VALVIRA and describe the proposed solution.

 

Do you have more questions? Please, send us your query via this contact form. We will try to reply as soon as possible.

 

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