The main purpose of the ICT4GROWTH action is to support investment projects in the design, development and commercialization of innovative products and value-added services, related to or based on Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).
An important innovation of the action is that the final amount of aid will be linked to countable targets, such as employment increase and export activity. The realisation of investments will be made in two distinct phases: the first phase of investment will be supporting the Research, Planning and Development of new products / services (R&D stage), the second phase will be supporting the commercialization of new products / services (commercialization stage).
General principles of ICT4GROWTH are:
- Emphasis on creating new entrepreneurship and big investments
- Emphasis on knowledge economy
- Covering multiple needs:
- Enhancing digital entrepreneurship - creating competitive advantage
- Support to entrepreneuship in early stages
- Encourage the implementation of innovative ideas with business risk and great extroversion
- Focus on the possibility of commercial exploitation
- Support for bigger projects with larger impact on labor markets
- Use new, high quality human resources
- Emphasis on the ability to "export" solutions to markets abroad.
The investments to be financed will be divided into 2 categories, according to their level:
- Class I: from €300,000 to €5,000,000
- Class ΙΙ: from €5,000,000 to €20,000,000
Eligible entities in this action are sole-proprietor-businesses, existing and newly established private companies or partnerships, regardless of legal form, operating legally on Greek territory.
Indicative eligible business sectors under ICT4GROWTH are:
- Energy and Green Growth
- Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- Tourism, Culture and Entertainment
- Health and Welfare
- Electronic Communications
- Transport
- New global Internet market
