become a mirror region

A Mirror Region is an organization or stakeholder that will replicate the HealthChain methodology in their region. Up to 5 Mirror Regions will be selected and invited to join the HealthChain project consortium.

We are looking for ecosystem stakeholders, legal entities (public or private bodies) such as Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), Cluster organizations, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs), etc. who can launch an open call using Financial Support to Third Parties in their region and have a link with a healthcare organization that can propose an unmet need that requires an innovative solution.

Geographically to be eligible, the applicants must: 

• Be established in one of the European Union member states (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs).
• Be from a region that is not already represented in the HealthChain consortium i.e., Murcia (Spain), Centro (Portugal), Western Slovenia (Slovenia), Primorsko-Goranska (Croatia) and East Netherlands (Netherlands).

No. The healthcare organization can become the partner involved in the HealthChain consortium as Mirror Region, instead of the ecosystem supporter, as long as it has the ability to launch an open call using Financial Support to Third Parties. Yet, in their proposal they should demonstrate the links with a regional ecosystem supporter, who is able to provide business support to the awarded FSTP SME (solver of the unmet need proposed by the healthcare organization).

SMEs that can apply and pilot the solution must be from one of the five (5) regions that are already represented in the Consortium or from one of the Mirror Regions (new 5 regions) that will join the HealthChain consortium after this expression of interest.

The new beneficiary will lead the activities in the region, including launching the call, selecting the SME and following up the activities under the guidelines and support of the HealthChain partners. HealthChain partners will provide the documentation needed for launching the call and evaluation of the call.

Your organization should have an existing connection or partnership with a healthcare entity. This healthcare organization should be willing to co-create a solution with an SME and can propose an unmet need related to the digitalization of healthcare that aligns with the Smart Specialization Priorities (S3) of the region.

To express interest please submit the following information before the deadline:

• Fill out the online form on the HealthChain website. You can download a Word version of the questionnaire so that you can prepare your answers before submitting them online.
• Endorsement letter from the Member State authority responsible for the regional Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3), to lopez@ticbiomed.net using the template available on the HealthChain website (link above).

Please note that we will accept expressions of interest even if the endorsement letter is not ready by the deadline, however, if your proposal is selected to become a Mirror Region, you can only sign the contract with HealthChain if the endorsement letter is provided before signature of the contract.

Less developed and in transition regions will be prioritized over more developed. A list of the less developed regions can be found here.

Mirror Regions will be selected based on criteria including relevance, quality, and impact. These criteria assess the clarity and feasibility of proposals, technical quality, and the long-term impact of the solutions on target groups and the general public.

A total of 5 Mirror Regions will be selected and become partners of the HealthChain consortium.

The selected Mirror Regions that will become partners, will receive a budget of up to 96.300 euros, funded 70%. The breakdown will be 38.000 for personnel costs, 2.000 for one trip to the face-to-face training session and will also receive 50.000 euros under FSTP (Financial Support to Third Parties). For a full breakdown of the budget and co-funding per budget category check the documentation on the HealthChain website.

Yes, multiple organizations from the same region can apply to become a Mirror Region. However, the endorsement letter from the Member State authority is required, and only one Mirror Region will be selected per region. Even if we receive several proposals from the same region, we will only onboard one of them to represent that region (e.g.,5 proposals from Napoli, we will only award the best one from Napoli).

The Expression of Interest is open until November 30, 2023, at 17:00 CET. Results will be communicated in December 2023, with the Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement signature in January-February 2024.

Yes, it can. But in the FSTP call it must be stated that only 50.000 EUR will be funded by the project while the rest will be from own funding.

In the proposal form, you must identify the healthcare organization and specify the unmet need (at least the idea behind it) even if it’s not well developed at this stage. If you are awarded, you will have to further develop it before the call.