Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
Digital Europe Programme is the first EU programme that aims to accelerate the recovery and drive the digital transformation of Europe.
Worth €7.6 billion (in current prices), the Programme is a part of the next long-term EU budget, (the Multiannual Financial Framework), and it covers 2021 to 2027. It will provide funding for projects in five crucial areas: supercomputing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced digital skills, and ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society.
The Programme is fine-tuned to fill the gap between the research of digital technologies and their deployment, and to bring the results of research to the market – for the benefit of Europe’s citizens and businesses, and in particular SMEs. Investments under the Digital Europe programme supports the Union’s twin objectives of a green transition and digital transformation and strengthens the Union’s resilience and strategic autonomy.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The initiative aims to propose and make available one open-source large language foundation model as an infrastructure designed to be largely used by public or private users, and in particular by European SMEs, for further fine tuning. With this objective, the initiative will support the scaling up of an existing European foundation model and will release it under an open licence to maximize the impact on European Industry.
Detailed Call Description
European large language foundation model: this action will co-fund activities involving a number of developers, to scale-up a well selected, open-source foundation model to be made available to EU private and public services users and to the AI developer community, ensuring coverage of all the official languages of the Member States as well as the most socially and economically relevant ones, thereby maximizing the impact within the bounds of the technology. This model will be eventually applicable to broader types of uses and applications.
Attention should be paid to the performance, transparency and security of the deployable model, through appropriate testing procedures, in compliance with the future AI Act.
Computing resources for the pre-training of the model should be sourced from high-performance computing facilities, such as those provided by EuroHPC.
Once developed, the model should be deployed and made available through the AI-on-Demand platform and the Alliance for Language Technologies action and/or other.
The action should coordinate and build on related actions under Horizon Europe and Digital Europe Programme such as TrustLLM, HPLT, AI-on Demand and the Alliance for Language Technologies action. Through this coordination the action should foster a coordination framework for the different stakeholders (e.g., Member States and industry) around relevant European, national, and private initiatives developing foundation models, ensuring complementarity and synergies with communities supported by the Alliance for Language Technologies action.
Call Total Budget
Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan
50% and 75% (for SMEs)
Maximum grant amount per project: €25.000.000
Thematic Categories
- New Entrepreneurship
- Other Thematic Category
- Public Administration
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Educational Institutions
- Large Enterprises
- Legal Entities
- Other Beneficiaries
- Private Bodies
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Eligibility For Participation Notes
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
- be legal entities (public or private bodies)
- be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
- EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
- non-EU countries:
- EEA countries (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein)
- other countries associated to the Digital Europe Programme (list of participating countries)
Targeted stakeholders: The consortium that will carry this action should be composed by entities with experience in developing foundation models: private companies, including SMEs and start-ups, research and technology organisations, higher education entities and EDIC, or a combination of these.
Consortium composition: minimum 4 independent applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) from 3 different eligible countries.
Call Opening Date
Call Closing Date
National Contact Point(s)
Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy
Directorate of Research and Innovation
Eleana Gabriel
Telephone: +357 22 691918
Email: egabriel@dmrid.gov.cy
EU Contact Point
For help related to this call, please visit the following link: Write to us | European Union (europa.eu)