Dr. Ali Aslan Gümüsay will be part of the jury of the BMWi's innovation programme for business models and pioneering solutions (IGP)

26 March 2021, by CSS

Photo: gettyimages/mustafahacalaki

With the Innovation Programme for Business Models and Pioneer Solutions (IGP), the BMWi is expanding the focus of its innovation funding to include non-technical innovations that are close to the market. Although new technologies can play a major role in the innovation projects and networks supported by the IGP, they do not necessarily have to do so; what is more important is the novelty of the problem solution. In this way, the IGP opens up realisation opportunities for a wide range of new ideas in various future fields.

Three thematic call rounds each address specific areas.

1. The first funding call targeted digital and data-driven innovations.
2. The second call for proposals focused on innovations in the cultural and creative industries.
3. The current third funding call of the IGP pilot programme targets innovations in the field of education and information access with a high "social impact". The criterion "social impact", i.e. the potential benefit of the innovation for the common good, is taken into account for the evaluation of the ideas in this round. The focus is on entrepreneurial solutions; the concepts should at least be economically sustainable, for example thanks to corresponding sales potential.

With the three call topics, the programme addresses a broad spectrum of entrepreneurial activity. The target groups include start-ups, SMEs and micro-enterprises as well as self-employed persons or - in the third round of calls for proposals - non-profit enterprises addressed with special conditions according to the definition under tax law, such as non-profit limited liability companies (gGmbH) and non-profit entrepreneurial companies (gUG) that meet the size and independence requirements of the EU SME definition.

For the jury, the IGP relies on a good mix of experts who can shed light on innovation topics from different perspectives. The jury for the third round of the call for proposals for innovations in the field of education and information access with a high "social impact" also includes CSS member, Dr. Ali Aslan Gümüsay.

Find out more about the program here.

**the content on this page has been partially translated into German from the BMWi website**