In this part, the European Commission is looking for projects and solutions that can solve current and future global challenges. This is therefore all about how Research and Innovation can improve our society.
Horizon Europe is a huge innovation funding programme. The subprogrammes have lot's of generic aspects in common, and best practises to take into account.
When applying for a project, you need to take into account the administrative & financial framework, with rules for application and project implementation.
In this part, the European Commission is looking for projects and solutions that can solve current and future global challenges. This is therefore all about how Research and Innovation can improve our society. It is divided in 6 clusters (domains) which in turn are split up in destinations (areas) which again are divided in sections and calls for proposals.
Autoship is, as the name suggests, an acronym for autonomous ship. Just like with self-driving cars, the possibilities of an unmanned boat seem endless. It can create more efficient freight transport, around the clock deliveries and these are just a few of the examples. The project has two societal challenges.
At first, De Vlaamse Waterweg was a bit hesitant as their experience with FP7 or Horizon 2020 projects was limited and they had not been very successful up until then. The fact that they were already doing basic research on the topic of autonomous boats, and the administrative help of NCP FLanders helped De Vlaamse waterweg to cross the line and get involved.