Tay5G Challenge Fund 2

Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 - up to £600,000

Funding competition for innovative solutions using 5G

1. Tay Cities Deal Tay5G Challenge Fund 2

The Tay Cities Deal Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 is a UK-wide grant funding opportunity worth up to £600,000 supported by the Scottish Government. Funding is available for projects that demonstrate and validate innovative products and services for use, adoption or scaling up of 5G supported solutions. Tay5G is led by Dundee City Council and is part of Tay Cities Deal, a programme of regional strategic, social and economic development projects for Tay Cities Region (TCR), supported by the Scottish and UK Governments. TCR takes in the Councils areas of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross. Project leads and any partners must be UK registered organisations but need not be based in TCR. Read more about Tay Cities Deal (opens Tay Cities Deal website).

For more information on 5G and previous use case trials across Scotland please take a look at the Scotland 5G Centre.

Opportunity status: Open

Funder: Tay Cities Deal Tay5G

Funding type: Grant

Total fund: Up to £600,000

Award range: £60,000 - £250,000

Opening date: 8th April 2024

Initial closing date: 6th May 2024

Stage 1 Application: Expression of Interest (opens at Dundee City Council website).

You can submit questions to tay5g@dundeecity.gv.uk. Questions raised and responses will be shown below at section 18.

2. Tay5G Challenge Fund overview

Up to £600,000 is available through the Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 to support up to six applicants who can demonstrate impactful projects for products, services or solutions which can use 5G. Tay5G seeks to fund projects that explore 5G deployment, scaling up or adoption and use cases from all sectors and industries. Applicants might be interested to address the region’s focus areas listed below but this is not a requirement. Three areas that will attract favourable consideration are those where applications address use of the Slessor Gardens, Dundee outdoor testbed, the Scotland 5G Centre testbed in Perthshire, the Abertay University indoor testbed or the opportunities arising from the new Perth Museum.

Applicants from across the UK are welcome.

Focus sectors for the Tay Cities region are:

Agriculture, Food and Drink
Digital & Creative
Energy & Renewables
Life Sciences
Manufacturing/Advanced Manufacturing
Mobility / Transportation
Smart Cities IoT
Tourism
Justice Technology

Tay Cities Region Testbeds
For more information on Tay Cities Region testbeds - Slessor Gardens, Scotland 5G Centre and Abertay University please go to the Tay5G Guide to 5G.

Perth Museum – www.perthmuseum.co.uk – opened in March 2024 . It is managed by Culture Perth and Kinross, an independent charity, and the core funder is Perth & Kinross Council. There is investment of £27 million in the regeneration of [j2] Perth city centre including by Tay Cities Deal. Perth Museum has seen the transformation of the former Perth City Hall and is the new home of the historic Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone. It was used for centuries to crown Scottish Kings and is still used for UK Coronations, most recently that of King Charles III. Perth Museum will explore the part the city and wider area has played in shaping Scotland’s ancient roots and the creation of modern Scotland. It is expected to attract xxx thousand visitors each year. For example, there is potential to trial areas enabled by 5G such as visitor tracking using Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and immersive experiences (VR, AR, XR) within and as a key component of the museum. Proposed trial solutions should be made available for public engagement for a minimum of X months and reflect local and regional history and the museums areas of focus. Proposals should also [consider using/incorporate provision and budget for] a stand-alone, private 5G network. Proposals might also address innovative solutions that can not only track where visitors go within the Museum but also follow movements elsewhere after visiting and how 5G public networks can help with this.

Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 is a competitive two-stage process. At Stage 1, applicants are asked to complete a short Expression of Interest (EoI) outlining the proposed project. Successful applicants will be invited to Stage 2 to complete a full application. Submission of an EoI does NOT require a technical project plan. The technical requirements of your project can be refined prior to completion of Stage 2.

Projects must include activities in Tay Cities Region and intention to engage with the TCR going forward.

Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 can provide grant funding in the range of 40% to 100% of eligible costs depending on organisation size and status. Successful applicants are asked to provide match funding in cash or in-kind such as staff time, expertise, resources and facilities.

Projects must include activities in Tay Cities Region and intention to engage with the TCR going forward.

3. Timetable Challenge Fund 2

Opens: 8th April 2024
Stage 1 Expression of interest Closing Date – 6th May 2024

Applicants notified of Stage 1 outcome - date to be confirmed

Stage 2 Full Applications closing date - date to be confirmed

Applicants notified of Stage 2 outcome - date to be confirmed

Projects begin – July/August 2024 - date to be confirmed

Project funding claims complete - 31st March 2025

4. Webinar: We will be hosting a webinar on 30th April 2024 at 11am. This will be an opportunity for applicants to ask questions or discuss aspects of the fund or their application. The session will be held on Microsoft Teams. Please sign up at Eventbrite.

5. Background to Tay5G

Tay5G is a project that is part of Tay Cities Deal (TCD), a programme of projects to deliver strategic, economic development that is funded by the Scottish and UK Governments.

The Tay Cities Deal brings together public, private and voluntary organisations in the Scottish council areas of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross to deliver a smarter and fairer region. Through initiatives like the Challenge Fund, Tay5G helps businesses, individuals, public sector and the third sector to engage with 5G technology. Tay5G promotes the exploration of the potential of 5G connectivity, unlocks access to word-class research and development expertise, state-of-the-art R&D resources and a diverse network of talent to develop impactful projects.

The rollout of 5G networks is of national and regional strategic importance to the Scottish Government. Tay5G is committed to ensuring that digital is at the heart of inclusive economic growth, public services reform and creating the future workforce. 

Tay5G aims to deliver a range of outcomes, including productivity growth, digital skills, and connectivity improvement and promote the region and Scotland’s innovation credentials. The key outcomes include:

Demonstration of which use cases and applications work
Disseminating evidence and lessons learnt during project delivery which will reduce costs/barriers to 5G deployment – and identify barriers
Increased and/or accelerated 5G R&D Investment in TCR
Increased commercial certainty about 5G opportunities in the TCR and beyond
Increased participation/collaboration with 5G ecosystems across SMEs, academia, larger companies, public and third sector
Enhanced perception of 5G in the TCR, greater awareness of 5G capability
Creating new opportunities for local businesses, including SMEs, to develop new
applications and services they can market at home and overseas

Projects supported by the Tay5G Challenge Fund are required to contribute to these outcomes.

6. The Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 - Some Specifics

Tay5G Challenge Fund is an opportunity for public, private, academic or third sector organisations from anywhere in the UK with an innovative product, process or service which can use 5G, to explore its potential. High-level stipulations to successfully secure funding are as follows:

The 5G element

The product, process or service being trialled must benefit from one or more of the below 5G characteristics:

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)
Ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC).
Massive machine-type communications (mMTC)

Location of the funded projects

Projects must include activities in Tay Cities Region but it is acknowledged that some remote work may be required.

Use of Tay Cities Region testbeds

Applications may wish to incorporate the use of one of the 5G test beds in the Tay Cities Region.

Slessor Gardens Outdoor Testbed, Dundee – managed by Dundee City Council/AWTG
Scotland 5G Centre Indoor and Outdoor Testbeds, Perthshire
Abertay University - indoor testbed

If you are considering use of any of these testbeds please email tay5g@dundeecity.gov.uk.

Expression of Interest Questions

The Expression of Interest must be completed at the Dundee City Council website.

To help you plan your response, these are the questions. There are also various assurances to be confirmed by tick-box.
All of the following are required except those shown as optional.

Contact Information about applicant and any partners. This also asks you to indicate the applicant's turnover in the last financial year. If you are pre-revenue, please state. This will not affect your application.

Public Description
A high-level description of your solution, the project and the expected outcomes (Max 400 words)

2. Solution Description
Provide a brief description of your product, process or service that will be demonstrated or validated during this project (Max 150 words)

3. Optional - Indicate if this Proposal is for Perth Museum, Slessor Gardens Dundee Testbed or Scotland 5G Centre Tay Cities Region testbed. (Please note there is also a testbed at Abertay University, Dundee.

4. Optional - Activities in Tay Cities Regions for this proposal would take place in: Angus / Dundee/ Fife/ Perth & Kinross/Don't Know

5. Describe the project's delivery aims (what will you deliver?)
Provide a brief overview of what do you plan to do during this project (Max 200 words)

6. Outline the project's measurable outcomes/impacts
Based on the successful execution of the project, what will the impact be on the status of your solution, your organisation, the Tay region or the broader industry sector. Whom will it benefit and how? (Max 150 words)

7. How will you share knowledge gained during and after the project?
It is key to Tay5G that the barriers, successes and other lessons learned from projects are shared widely to increase industry participation and commercial certainty in 5G solutions (Max 150 words)

8. Explain the roles of the consortium partners (if any)
Who is doing what? What resources and expertise does each partner contribute to the project? (Max 150 words)

9. What stage have you reached for the product, process or service?
Tick as many as relevant. If you choose other, please describe in 30 words

Concept / Basic Principles formulated / Testing/demonstration in laboratory environment / Testing/demonstration in commercial environment / Testing/demonstration in other applied environment / Deployment in commercial environment / Deployment in other applied environment / Builds on/develops existing commercial product, process or service / Other

10. Optional - Any Other Information - Max 150 words

11. Indicative Costs – (Max 150 words)

7. Who can apply/entry requirements

Tay5G Challenge Fund 2 is open to all UK registered organisations.

Applicants are welcome to form consortia which may include organisations from the public, private, third or research sectors.  However, any grant funding agreement will be entered into with the lead applicant only who will be responsible for passing through the grant funding conditions to their project partners.

Applicants and consortia must have adequate resources to complete projects.

8. Potential Grant Rates

Examples of potential grant rates for eligible project costs are as follows:

up to 100% to organisations eligible for Minimal Financial Assistance.
up to 60% for medium sized organisations
up to 50% for large organisations

Dundee City Council reserves the right to review all circumstances including UK Subsidy Control to inform any appropriate grant rate.

Favourable consideration will be given to applications providing match of 40% of project costs – OR??
Applications must provide cash or in-kind match of 40% of project costs.

The United Kingdom Government definition of SMEs encompasses:

Micro - less than 10 employees and an annual turnover under €2 million
Small - less than 50 employees and an annual turnover under €10 million
Medium-sized - less than 250 employees and an annual turnover under €5 million

9. Eligible Expenditure

Grant recipients must ensure that the costs they wish to claim for can be capitalised and/or treated as capital expenditure in line with Research and Development provisions within accounting standards known as ESA10 (European System of Accounts. An example of ESA10 can be seen at this Lex Europa information page.

Eligible expenditure includes staff/labour at PAYE rates or a maximum daily rate for non-PAYE staff; sub-contractors; hire or purchase of equipment; use of facilities or venues; travel & subsistence; and dissemination. Successful applicants are asked to provide match funding in cash or in kind such as staff time, expertise, resources and facilities. General overheads cannot be included but consideration might be given to quantifiable use of facilities/resources such as laboratory space. General overheads can be used as a cost match.

10. Subsidy Control

Grantees should be aware that projects must comply with applicable Subsidy Control obligations. In summary, Subsidy Control lays down conditions for and limits the amount and basis for public funding/subsidy of private sector activities.

Subsidy Control means the United Kingdom’s international commitments on subsidy control arising from, amongst others, the Subsidy Control Act 2022, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, World Trade Organisation Membership and commitments arising from international treaties and agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party.

The United Kingdom Department of Business and Trade has published guidance which can be found at the UK Government website.

11. Stage of Development of Proposal

In the Expression of Interest you will be asked what stage (technology readiness level) you have reached for the product, process or service as follows and you can select more than one:

Concept/Basic Principles formulated
Testing/demonstration in laboratory environment
Testing/demonstration in commercial environment
Testing/demonstration in other applied environment
Deployment in commercial environment
Deployment in other applied environment
Builds on/develops existing commercial product, process or service
Other

12. How to apply/Competition and award/ Duration of Award & Funding Model

The Tay5G Challenge Fund is a competitive funding opportunity and involves a two-stage application process. The project lead is responsible for completing the application process but it is anticipated that members of a consortium will contribute to applications. Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to Tay5G Challenge Fund 2.

Two-Stage Process

Stage 1

Please submit a short Expression of Interest (EoI) outlining your proposed project (opens at Dundee City Council website).

Submission of an EoI does NOT require a technical project plan. The technical requirements of your project will be refined as part of Stage 2.

To complete Stage 1 please go to [DCC weblink] (opens at the Dundee City Council website).

Stage 2

Successful applicants will be invited to complete a full application that will be provided.
Stage 2 is when you will have the opportunity to refine your detailed project plan and budget (grant funding request).

Applicants must only use the forms/templates provided. We strongly advise submitting well in advance of the deadline (i.e. days before) as there is always a risk that IT issues prevent you submitting promptly (e.g. issues sending large files).

Duration of Award
Due to the conditions of Tay Cities Deal Funding, projects awarded are generally required to complete outputs and spend by March 2025. All funded projects need to have conducted all activities entailing cost in order that funding claims are completed by February/March 2025. Non-grant funded activities may be able to continue beyond this date.

Funding Model
Applicants should note that claims for grant are made in arrears so they must be able to cashflow their project activities. Claims are submitted quarterly by projects to Dundee City Council. These are processed and submitted through the Tay Cities Deal Programme Management Office to the Scottish Government for drawdown of funds.

Deadlines

Dundee City Council must receive your Expression of Interest by [Date to be added] 2024] at 4.00pm UK time.

For Applicants invited to submit a Full Application, the deadline is [Date to be added] 2024 at 4pm.

You will not be able to submit applications after these times.

Publication of outcomes

To comply with government practice on openness and transparency of publicly funded activities, Dundee City Council may publish information relating to funded projects. Applicants will need to provide a short description of their proposal in a way that will be understood by the general public. We will not ask for this to include any commercially confidential information, e.g. intellectual property or patent details.

13. Who is managing this challenge?

This challenge is managed by Dundee City Council and is governed by the Tay5G Board that consists of a range of regional stakeholders including all Tay Cities Deal Councils (Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross), all regional universities of Abertay, Dundee and St. Andrews and relevant national organisations.

14. How we will assess your application

The Expression of Interest and Full Application Forms contain specific fields. Applicants must complete each required field and submit fully completed forms. Incomplete forms may be considered ineligible and not assessed.

Dundee City Council reserves the right to request additional clarifications and corrections following the submission deadlines.

Full application forms must not be altered, converted or submitted as a different file type. Additional information submitted at the request of DCC must meet any timing, format and length requirements specified.

In evaluating your responses we value brevity and the maximum word limit is fixed, but please give sufficient evidence to support your application. Tables will not be included in this word limit but should be only used where necessary. Additional diagrams and annexes should not be provided unless requested. Hyperlinks referencing further information may be included to inform more detailed understanding post-selection, but will be disregarded during the assessment of applications.

Dundee City Council and the Tay5G Board will make the final funding decision for applications.

Assessment

1 – Sift
Initial eligibility checks will be undertaken on all applications against the scope, funding and eligibility requirements in the application guidance. If an application passes the sift it will progress to evaluation.

2 – Application Assessment
An assessment panel will review, score and moderate all Stage 1 applications.

3 – Decision
Based on the above review, Dundee City Council will decide which projects to invite to submit a full application. Dundee City Council will take a portfolio approach, based on assessment, in determining which projects to recommend for funding, ensuring a variety of successful applications within the funding envelope.

4 - Outcome of the competition
The outcome of the competition will be shared with all applicants.

15. Contact details

Get help with your application - if you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

please email tay5g@dundeecity.gov.uk.

16. Grant funding agreements

Successful applicants will be required to enter into a Grant Funding Agreement with Dundee City Council.

Tay5G will assess value for money throughout the application process. We reserve the right to undertake a detailed financial appraisal of proposed spend to assess whether the proposal will deliver value for money, in particular through scrutiny of the bidder’s Cash Flow Profile submission.

17. Important Information/Notices

This information is published in text format online for organisations wishing to make an application to the competition. If you require access to this information in another format (e.g. Braille, large font or audio) please email tay5g@dundeecity.gv.uk or call Dundee City Council Customer Services on 01382 434000 referencing City Development Business Growth Team.

Financial & technical appraisal

We reserve the right to undertake a detailed financial and technical appraisal of each applicant and their proposal and for this process to continue up to the award of any grant funding. Any such appraisal will be conducted in line with government policy at the time of assessment. Further appraisal may continue if required through the duration of the grant funding period.

Fair Work First

Any organisation awarded funding and any partners or sub-contractors must:

adhere to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First Guidance and provide evidence of this as requested by Dundee City Council.

confirm adherence as follows in line with the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First Guidance i.e.

You are a Real Living Wage employer, and will pay the Real Living Wage or higher
Your organisation has no inappropriate use of zero-hour contracts
You are / will take action to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace
You will ensure a safe and healthy working environment, where staff wellbeing is actively supported by
promoting a good work/life balance
You are committed to providing appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice
Supporting evidence will be provided

No warranty etc

No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is or will be given by Dundee City Council or any of its agents or advisers with respect to the information contained in the competition material, including with respect to its accuracy or completeness.

Privacy Statement

Dundee City Council will process all data in accordance with https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/service-area/city-development/privacy-statement-business-grants

FOISA (Freedom of Information)

If you want the information that you provide to be treated confidentially, please be aware that, in accordance with FOISA, public sector organisations are required to comply with a statutory code of practice which deals, among other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this, it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you wish that information to be treated confidentially. If we receive a request for disclosure of that information, we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. [j2]

Costs and expenses

All applicants are solely responsible for all their costs and expenses incurred in connection with this selection process at all stages. Under no circumstances will Dundee City Council or Tay Cities Deal be liable for any costs or expenses borne by or on behalf of the applicant or any party associated with this selection process.

We reserve the right to cancel the competition at any point. We will accept no liability for any losses caused by any cancellation of this competition nor any decision not to award funding as a result of the competition.

DCC right to amend or withdraw competition

At any time we reserve the right to amend, add to or withdraw all or any part of the competition material at any time during the competition. Any such amendments, additions, or removals will be notified identified in the documentation on the competition webpage.

Language

Answers must be in English. Applicants should note that where any supplementary documents are not published in English, certified translations into English must be provided with the proposal (if applicable).

DCC right to discuss proposals

We reserve the right to discuss, for the purpose of clarification, any aspect of a proposal with the relevant applicant prior to the award of grant funding.

18. Questions & Responses

If an applicant organisation is pre-revenue, will this affect the application?

Answer: This will not affect your application. Please indicate Pre-Revenue at the relevant section.

2. Would a NB-IOT (Narrowband Internet of Things) based project qualify?

Answer: This is a 5G challenge that requires the application of 5G in order to be eligible, NBIoT while a complementary technology, on its own doesn’t fit into that category. The next generation of mobile network technology/Advanced Wireless element of any application needs to underpin the solution using characteristics of 5G capability (eMBB, URLLC, mMTC) i.e. what 5G enables that existing connectivity does not.