ICC is a competitive challenge. To take part in the ICC, cities must fill in and submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). Eligible applications will be reviewed by an expert team of evaluators who will score EOIs based on pre-defined evaluation criteria. Cities that are selected at EOI stage will be part of the ICC network, receive advisory services and be invited to ICC community and network meetings during the ICC journey. For more information on how to apply, please download our Guide for Applicants available on the platform. 

Applications to the ICC can only be made by completing and submitting the ICC Expression of Interest form online. To access the online platform you will need to register on the homepage at the EOI Homepage. You can also find a copy of the EOI form to download and prepare your application. However, all answers and annexes will need to be submitted through the online form. 

You will be able to save your application at every step of the way and come back to it at a later stage. You will need to log back into your user profile to return to your application. To do so, just click Log in and enter your user details. On your user dashboard click Go to EOI form. You can adjust your application until 28 April 2023 23:59 CET. 

The pre-screening option is for completed applications only and is available from 7 April 2023 to 21 April 2023. The objective of the pre-screening is to provide feedback on the ‘completeness’ of the EOI and on the eligibility of the applicant, not on the actual quality of the application and its content. If you would like to discuss specific areas of the sections of your application, you are welcome to email the Helpdesk at helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com and we will get back to you quickly. Don’t forget to consult the eligibility and selection criteria in the Guide for Applicants as well as the detailed instructions in the EOI form to get a good understanding of what we look for in each section. 

The programme will support all participating cities’ transition across three sectors of strategic importance, where cities have a high degree of local influence, namely: construction/built environment, energy/renewables, mobility/transport. In addition, cities are invited to select  three secondary sectors your city would like to focus on in the ICC. (Priority system, 1-3, with 1 being your favourite choice, and 3 your least preferred choice) : Tourism, Small/Local Retail, Agri-food, Textiles, Cultural and Creative Industries. 

Important notice: the most popular sectors among the latter will be given priority. This means that there is no guarantee that all sectors in the second group will be covered. The final selection will be announced later, based on the community’s preferences. 

You are welcome to upload up to 10 additional documents to your application, demonstrating your interest and ability to take part in the ICC. All annexes must be provided in English in order to ensure the evaluator of your EOI is able to understand them. In addition, please make sure you reference the Annex in the main body of the EOI so that the evaluator knows to use it in the appraisal process.  

You will receive a confirmation email once you have successfully submitted your EOI. However, this receipt will not be proof that the Expression of Interest is eligible for evaluation, but will confirm that the submission has been received. 

The ICC will cover travel and accommodation costs for the city teams to ICC events in accordance with the travel guidelines, as well as the costs of allocated experts during the challenge. The ICC will also cover travel costs for political representatives invited to Mayors events. Cities are expected to allocate resources to managing, implementing and following up on the different activities defined in the framework of the project.  

The time and level of effort for participating in the programme is indicative (please see subsection 3.5 of the Guide for Applicants), and can also be linked to the implementation of a broader set of activities or projects that are (in)directly linked to the ICC. The ICC should be seen as a driver of activities and efforts which were already being undertaken by your city.  :

The ICC will also cover travel and accommodation expenses for mentor city representatives.  

The Intelligent Cities Challenge has a total duration of 24 months, running from June 2023 to May 2025. Selected cities are expected to remain engaged in the ICC throughout this time. 

The ICC call for EOIs seeks to collect applications from EU cities who wish to become ICC EU core cities. ICC wishes to work with cities of intermediate size, with medium levels of maturity when it comes to the adoption of digital technologies for sustainable development, but which display a high level of potential to achieve transformative change in the short term.   

To be eligible, and as indicated in our Guide for Applicants (Section 2.3), a city must:  

• Be situated in the European Union (EU27); 

• Have over 50,000 inhabitants (exceptionally, this criterion does not apply to cities located in a small EU-27 country with less than 1.5 million inhabitants overall, such as in Malta, Luxembourg, or Cyprus); 

• Be a local public government entity responsible for or involved in the funding and/or implementation of a policy or programme of a city related to green or digital transformation, smart / intelligent cities, sustainable urban development, or related topics; and 

• Apply as a stand-alone applicant (consortia of cities are not eligible, unless from a Phase 1 (2020-2022) ICC city). 

Individual municipalities and city governments represent the core of the ICC target group; however, other forms of local governments such as city districts covering several neighbouring cities or municipalities may also apply to the ICC if they meet the eligibility criteria presented in this section.   

Cities are asked to enter ICC with cross departmental involvement and involvement of local stakeholders.   

If you have a doubt about whether your local government qualifies to apply to the ICC, write to our helpdesk at helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com. 

Only local government organisations (e.g. city departments) are eligible to apply (please see subsection 2.1 regarding the eligibility criteria for cities in the Guide for Applicants). Other organisations, such as development agencies, local chambers, SMEs or universities for instance, may support your ICC application and be part of the city team. These organisations can also submit letters of support for your application. They are not formal “applicants”. Neither the lead city applicant, nor other ICC partners will be receiving funding, so the partner-subcontractor distinction does not apply to the ICC. For more information on the eligibility criteria, please refer to the ICC Guide for Applicants, which you are able to download from the website. If you have a doubt regarding whether a certain type of local government is eligible to apply, please submit the question to the helpdesk at helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com. 

As indicated in our Guide for Applicants (Section 2.3), you must be a city with over 50,000 inhabitants to submit an EOI application. Exceptionally, this criterion does not apply to cities located in a small EU-27 country with less than 1.5 million inhabitants overall, such as in Malta, Luxembourg, or Cyprus. 

No, the process is different. As stated in subsection 4.4 of the Guide for Applicants, given that ICC cities have already submitted an application for the previous phase and participated in the ICC journey, they are asked to complete a lighter EOI application. ICC cities are asked to fill in a short EOI form regarding their interests and preferred strategic orientations for taking part in the ICC, considering also the thematic focus and new requirements of the new ICC phase. ICC cities from 2020-2022 edition are also asked to attach 1) a letter of Commitment from the City Mayor or Deputy Mayor and 2) a letter of commitment from a business intermediary or representative, as well as the Resumes of involved team members.  

It should be noted that ICC cities (2020-2022 edition) that participated as part of a city consortia are eligible to apply to the second phase of the ICC (please see subsection 2.1 of the Guide for Applicants for more information on this). This is not the case for new entrant cities. 

Once the ICC participant cities are chosen, the ICC puts together a team of experts which provide tailored support to the city through the ICC. This will typically combine in-person and multi-city support. The city team is free to suggest experts which may be taken into consideration. While the general rule of thumb is that the experts are people who speak the native city language, cities can also opt for experts outside their home country. They will be fluent in English too. The ICC mobilises experts with a good level of expertise in relation to the city’s sectors and priorities. At the end of the day, the ICC ensures that the city feels comfortable with its team of experts. An introduction process is organised once the experts are selected. 

All interactions in the context of the ICC will take place in English. The individuals who make up your city team must be fluent in English and must be able to produce deliverables and deliver presentations during conferences in English. However, all activities taking place locally can be done in the local language. Your assigned expert team will be fluent in your local language (unless you agreed differently) and have a good understanding of the national context. 

The ICC project relies on a vast network of experts for assisting cities throughout the Challenge. However, given the varieties of cities we will be working with, there may be some gaps where additional external experts are needed, beyond what our existing network covers. If you are interested to join as an expert, you can send an email to helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com. Please include in this email in what EU country/countries you have work experience and what your language skills are, so we can take this into account. You will then be included in the pool and will be informed if there are any opportunities for you to work with one of the selected cities. 

Information on the selection criteria for the team leader and city team members is available in the Guide for Applicants in section 3.5. The ICC is looking for people who are members of city departments and the city ecosystem (people partnering with the city and making the ICC a reality) such as businesses, universities, research organisations, chambers of commerce, local clusters. Local ecosystem members are key stakeholders that help drive the process forward. It is key for the city to indicate that there is a good level of coordination among different city departments in the local administration.   

Only cities based in the EU are eligible to participate as core cities in the ICC. A limited number of non-EU cities will be involved as mentor cities in the ICC. Interested international cities in the mentor option should reach out to us directly to express interest (please contact the Helpdesk at helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com).

To the extent possible, letters of support should be signed by the City Mayor, or at least Deputy Mayor. Letters of support signed by a high-level responsible official within the municipality may also be accepted in case your city is unable to secure a letter signed by the mayor (e.g. upcoming elections, transition period). Overall, the more evidence a city presents of having institutional support and support from elected representatives for their application, the stronger the application will be. These mandatory letters can be submitted up until 9 June 2023 at 11:59 pm CET, following the formal submission of your application.   

A letter of support should also be included as part of the application from a business representative or intermediary (e.g. chamber of commerce). This will allow the ICC selection team to assess the degree of implication of the local stakeholder and ensure that the city will be working closely with local stakeholders throughout the challenge, particularly with the perspective of developing a Local Green Deal. These mandatory letters can be submitted up until 9 June 2023 at 11:59 pm CET, following the formal submission of your application.  

There is no specific format to follow for the letters of intent, you can structure this as you wish, as long as it shows the support from the mayor and the business representative. 

Applicants may use whichever CV format is preferred including Europass format.  

Mentor cities will be working with a number of cities in the ICC core city network. Mentor cities can be European or non-European. ICC mentee cities will work with mentor cities during different types of network meetings and these relationships will be developed on an organic and voluntary basis. At this point in time, applicants are not asked to identify which mentor they want to work with as this network is still in the process of being developed. 

If you are thinking of joining as a mentor city, please reach out to us directly through the Helpdesk indicating your interest. The Helpdesk can be contacted via helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com. The selection committee will inform you about the process and steps to be taken. 

You are able to sign up to an info session through our website by clicking on the tab “Register for the Info Sessions” on the Homepage of the website. You can also sign up for a session through your applicant page if you have registered. Please follow this link

• Download the Guide for Applicants from the homepage; 

• Contact the helpdesk by writing us directly on the email: helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com. You are able to submit your questions in 23 EU languages to our helpdesk. Rapid replies will be provided in English within 24 hours (except for weekends and holidays); 

• Sign up for an Info Session scheduled to help participants familiarise themselves with the ICC as well as the EOI process. We strongly encourage all interested applicants to take part in at least one of these webinar sessions. You can find the dates and register for an info session on the homepage. Recordings of the info sessions will be made available on the ICC website; 

• Read more about what was achieved during the first phase of the Challenge by looking through our ICC resources on the website.  

As stated in Section 2.3 of the Guide for applicants, the eligibility criteria requires cities to have a minimum of 50,000 inhabitants. The programme is, however, committed to including island cities and smaller countries into the programme, including cities from Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg. If your city is in a small country (less than 1.5 million inhabitants overall) or on an island (with exception of Ireland), the population eligibility criteria does not apply.  

However, it will be important that the city applicants have maturity when it comes to the adoption of technologies for sustainable development and display a high level of potential to achieve transformative change in the short term. 

The ICC call for EOIs is open to local public government entities from EU countries. Individual municipalities and city governments represent the core of the ICC target group; however, other forms of local governments such as city districts covering several neighbouring cities or municipalities may also apply to the ICC if they meet the eligibility criteria presented in this section.

Additionally, the applicant must be responsible for or involved in the funding and/or implementation of a policy or programme of a city related to green or digital transformation, smart/intelligent cities, sustainable urban development or related topics.

For more information on the eligibility criteria, please refer to section 2.3 of the Guide for Applicants. If you have a doubt about whether your local government qualifies to apply to the ICC, write to our Helpdesk (helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com).

Following several requests from cities, the deadline has been extended to 31 May 2023 at 11:59pm CET. 

Furthermore, please note that the two letters of intent from local leadership and a business intermediary or representative can be submitted  until 9 June 2023 at 11:59 pm CET, following the formal submission of your application.