Applications Invited for DBT & Vinnova - Artificial Intelligence for advancing healthcare across India and Sweden Program 2020

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About the Organization:

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialization in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. The department has made significant achievements in the growth and application of biotechnology in the broad areas of agriculture, health care, animal sciences, environment, and industry. Their vision is attaining new heights in biotechnology research, shaping biotechnology into a premier precision tool of the future for creation of wealth and ensuring social justice – specially for the welfare of the poor.

Artificial Intelligence for advancing healthcare across India and Sweden

Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and Vinnova (The Agency for Innovation Systems), Government of Sweden, is announcing grant funding to implement projects aimed at producing new solutions which, aided by artificial intelligence (AI), have significant potential to improve public health, nursing or care in Sweden and India. Projects may focus on such things as disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, improved medicines and vaccines, nursing or processes. Projects should be able to add economic value either by:

• bringing about new products and services, which can be commercialised, or
• by other means such as improved healthcare or streamlining of nursing or care.

For this reason, the solution should be scalable and implementable during the lifetime of the project. The project duration may be up to three years and should start no later than 26st of February 2021.

This call addresses groupings of at least two project partners of differing expertise; AI plus healthcare, nursing or care. The grants must be jointly applied for by Indian and Swedish partners. Applicants are welcome from all sectors. This might include companies, universities, county councils and municipalities. At least one requirement owner should be included as a project partner in the group.

Purpose of the Call

DBT and Vinnova through the Digital healthcare call aims to ensure sustainable and equitable spread of technology in advancing healthcare access and affordability across India and Sweden.

The call seeks to provide scalable and implementable innovative, sustainable and flexible public health solutions across both the countries using AI-based technologies as a tool.

DBT and Vinnova want to drive advancements in healthcare, nursing and care and thereby contribute to sustainable development, improved public health and good, equal care. Aided by AI, the aim is to benefit Swedish and Indian residents and businesses by creating solutions that facilitate disease prevention, earlier and safer diagnoses, better treatments, improved medicines and vaccines as well as more effective processes. The primary aim is not to develop new methods within AI, but to use AI to measure needs within healthcare.

One aspect is that both women and men share the grant in an equal way, participate in and have influence over the project. Another important aspect is to analyse and determine if there are gender equality aspects that are relevant within the problem area and utilization of the solution.

Who can Apply?

• This call addresses Indian and Swedish consortium partners of differing expertise; artificial intelligence plus healthcare, nursing or care. The project parties should be legal entities and independent of each other with base operations in respective countries. Applicants might include start-ups, companies, incubators, universities, research institutes, hospitals, county councils, state municipalities, primary or tertiary care centres.
• At least one requirement owner must be included as a project collaborator in the group. In this call, a requirement owner means someone who needs the solution which the project intends to develop. The requirement owner is responsible for the solution corresponding to a genuine need and that the solution can be implemented within the allotted duration of the project. Users, customers, patients, the public sector, medicine or vaccine developers or manufacturers are examples of possible requirement owners.

Criteria Governing Funding

What will be funded?

• Funding may be sought for projects which, aided by AI methods, produce a solution of great potential to improve public health, nursing or care in India or Sweden. The product, process or service must be innovative and with the potential to create impact.
• The joint project may focus on such things as disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, nursing, healthcare access, automation or improved efficient processes in medicine and vaccine discovery and manufacturing (smart drug manufacturing).
• The project should be able to add economic value, either by bringing about new products and services, which can be commercialised or other things such as improved healthcare or streamlining of access, electronic health record (EHR) interoperability, more cost-efficient production of drugs through smart manufacturing. The solution should be scalable, and feasibility shown or implemented during the lifetime of the project.
• Early-stage projects are not suitable for this call for proposals. For example, projects which measure or search for data, or which cannot deliver something new during the allotted project duration.
• Innovation over existing solutions must be clearly defined. The need for partnership between Sweden and India must also be articulated with clarity. That is, why the same solution cannot be delivered independently by the Indian or Swedish group.

Eligible costs

• The funding is in the form of grants. Grants to organisations which are conducting economic activity are restricted by rules on state support. These rules govern such things as the type of costs and what proportion of them may be covered by a grant.

Size of grants: Indian collaborators would be funded by DBT or BIRAC and Swedish partners by Vinnova.

Timelines

• Grant submission: 15 Feb–28 Aug 2020 (please note time)
• Grant application evaluation: Sep–Oct 2020
• Joint review: Nov–Dec 2020
• Communication of funded projects: No later than 15th of Dec 2020
• Award of grant: Jan 2021
• Project start: 15th Dec 2020–26th Feb 2021

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