The European GNSS Agency (GSA) yesterday (October 27, 2015) announced the evaluation results of its second Horizon 2020 call for Galileo applications. Some 13 projects made the main list to be funded, receiving grants totaling nearly €24.9 million (US$27.5 million).
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) yesterday (October 27, 2015) announced the evaluation results of its second Horizon 2020 call for Galileo applications. Some 13 projects made the main list to be funded, receiving grants totaling nearly €24.9 million (US$27.5 million).
In its second round, Horizon 2020, which represents the European Union’s framework program for research and innovation, focused on “innovation actions” and received 91 total submissions. Funding went to those proposals that best showed “a significant focus toward impacting global markets with strong innovation and the incorporation of new knowledge,” according to the GSA. The teams associated with the 13 selected proposals comprise 95 different participants that will receive funding this round.
Of the 91 submissions, 45 fell under the category of European GNSS (E-GNSS) applications, 31 under the topic of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Based European GNSS applications, and 15 under the topic of “releasing the potential of European GNSS applications through international cooperation.” E-GNSS applications received the lion’s share of funds: eight projects covering transport, surveying, location-based services (LBS), agriculture, emergency services, and other professional applications were recommended to receive nearly €20.4 million.
Three SME-based E-GNSS projects were approved for €2.9 million in funding, addressing applications in niche markets and business models, mass market LBS products, market testing, and so on. Two projects were awarded €2.7 million to develop innovative international applications highlighting E-GNSS services.
The three projects recommended for the most EU funding were a “Second Generation Beacon for GALILEO/EGNOS EGNSS Search And Rescue applications,” led by Orolia SAS, €3.47 million; “Satellite Technology for Advanced Railway Signaling,” lead by UNIFE, the Union of European Rail Industries, €3.25 million; and a “Low Cost GNSS and Computer Vision Fusion for Accurate Lane Level Navigation and Enhanced Automatic Map Generation” project headed by Vicomtech, €2.64 million.
In addition to those projects on the main list for funding, an additional 14 projects are on a “reserve list.” A full listing of the projects and recommended funding can be found on the GSA website here.
