The State Fund for Development of Information Technologies has announced the next grant competition for the purpose of funding innovative scientific and technical ICT projects

The State Fund for Development of Information Technologies under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan has announced a small grants competition for the purpose of funding innovative scientific and technical ICT projects.    
 
The competition covers the following five priority areas:   
 
1.      Development of advanced software;
2.      Development of innovative ICT product samples;
3.      Development of the innovative infrastructure, including development and commercialization of new technologies;
4.      Establishment of modern technology-based information networks;
5.      Expansion of ICT services, including development of internet services;    
 
Physical persons who are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and legal entities which have passed state registration in the Republic of Azerbaijan can participate in the competition.  
 
Project requirements:
 
1.  Each project must fit into one of the priority areas set by the Fund;
2. Each project must be developed in accordance with "The regulations of the State Fund for Development of Information Technologies under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan" approved by Decree № 853 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated April 2, 2013, and with "The rules for organization and conduct of grant competitions" approved by the Supervisory Board of the Fund;
3. Each project must be represented by a responsible project leader;  
4. The project leader can participate only in one project (except for special cases) during the current competition;
 
Project acceptance rules:
 
Projects can only be submitted to the competition in electronic form via the E-grant section of the Fund’s official website (www.ictfund.gov.az).   
 
Evaluation criteria:
 
1. Clarity of the goals and objectives of the project;
2. The project’s contribution to the development of the ICT sector in the country;
3.  The project's commercialization potential;
4.  The clearly stated and justified idea of the project;
5.  The innovativeness and applicability of the project;
6.  The project’s attractiveness to local and foreign investors;
7. Successful participation of the manager or executor of the project in the previously implemented local or foreign ICT projects;  
8. Strict, objective and logical justification of the amount of grant funding required for the project;
9. Evaluation of economic calculations in the project;  
10. Socio-economic importance of the project for the country's future;  
11. Comprehensiveness of the results of the project and the possibility of its expansion;
12. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the project and the risks associated with project implementation;
 
The duration of the competition:
 
Acceptance of projects starts on 10 April 2017 and ends on 9 June 2017. The deadline for acceptance of projects is 9 June 2017, 18:00.
 
Contacts:
Address: Baku city, Inshaatchilar Avenue 4
Phone: (+99412) 5383787
Fax: (+99412) 5383789
Email: info@ictfund.gov.az

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