Industrial applied AI by advanced digitalization 2026

We want to fund project that develop new knowledge in advanced digitalisation for Swedish industry. The projects should promote innovation within and be relevant to one of the two thematic areas of the call. Read descriptions of these further down in the text, under the section Areas of focus.

The two focuses of the call are:

• Intelligent Edge – AI for real-time application in the sensor chain
• AI-based decision support

The project results must have good potential for impact and dissemination to provide competence-enhancing effects for more than just the participating parties.

The call for proposals is part of the Advanced digitalisation program, an effort from Vinnova in collaboration with industry, and mobilizes actors from different parts of society towards common objective.

Advanced digitalisation aims to strengthen Swedish research and make Sweden more attractive for research and innovation investments, and stimulate the development of advanced digital technology. The programme will be implemented with a long-term perspective and contribute to innovative, enabling technologies and the development of core competence areas that meet the needs of industry.

objective of the program is to:

• Contribute to the next generation of advanced, powerful and secure digital solutions – developed in Sweden.
• Strengthen Sweden's attractiveness when it comes to research and innovation investments.
• Contribute to raising the competence and implementation capacity of Swedish business in the area of advanced digitalisation.
• Ensure increased competitiveness for industry operating in Sweden.
• To constitute a collaboration platform and function as a knowledge hub for other Swedish initiatives in the field of digitalization.
• Contribute to society's digital transformation, sustainable development and the work to achieve Swedish environmental goals.

Contribute to a sustainable system transformation

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with promoting sustainable growth and system transformation, should your project also contribute to increased gender equality and climate change? We are based on the UN's global sustainability goals, defined in the 2030 Agenda. There we focus on two perspectives: gender equality and climate change.

This means that gender equality and climate change should be integrated into both how your project group is composed and in the intended outcome of your project.

Equal funding of innovations

An innovative force in a sustainable world

Making scientific publications and results available

This the call for proposals will also help to make results available to everyone. Therefore, all possible scientific publications should be open access. When results from research and innovation are made freely available, more people can contribute to solving societal challenges.

The call for proposals is aimed at consortia with at least two project partners, including stakeholders from industry. Other partners may be business, academia, research institutes, public activities, authorities or economic associations.

The projects must be driven by industry needs, and therefore at least one company must be part of the consortium. All participating parties can be companies.

In this call for proposals industry refers to the entire production chain – from the extraction of raw materials to finished products, as well as industrial service sectors and technology sectors that are needed for the production chain to function. This includes, for example, energy, logistics and transport, telecommunications, water/air/ventilation and recycling. The defense industry is also covered.

Each participant seeking funding must be a Swedish legal entity. In this respect, a Swedish legal entity is considered to be a foreign organization that has a branch or establishment in Sweden. The costs in the project must be attributable to activities of the branch or establishment.

We fund activities for research and innovation projects within one of the call's focus areas.

Examples of activities that are eligible for support:

• Investigate technical and design conditions.
• Develop prototypes or demonstration versions of products and services. This may include pilot work, testing and validation.
• Research and develop production methods.
• Plan and conduct studies and tests to verify an innovation.
• Investigate market conditions, for example identifying customers, customer needs, possible partners and competitors.

The duration of the projects should be between 12 and 24 months.

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals these types of costs are eligible:

• Personnel costs: Salary costs, including employer contributions and other salary-related costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from an external party. Costs for consulting services may not exceed 20 percent of a project party's budget. We can accept a higher percentage than 20 percent in case of special needs. You must then justify the need for consulting services in proposal. This justification is taken into account in our assessment.
• Other direct costs: For example, materials, supplies and travel necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead):Costs that are not incurred as a direct result of but can be related to the project, for example regular premises and cleaning. Indirect costs may constitute a maximum of 30 percent of personnel costs. Universities, university colleges and certain research organizations and government agencies have higher maximum limits depending on the type of activities.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, read Instructions for eligible costs.

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

For a cost to be eligible, it must be:

• necessary for the activities in the project
• recorded correctly and separately from the organization's other costs.

An organization may also not claim someone else's costs as its own.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exceptions apply, see Instructions for eligible costs

The state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organization. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much each participant can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

Vinnova's funding can amount to between 2 and 10 million SEK per project, and can amount to a maximum of 50 percent of the project's total eligible costs.

How much funding can a participant receive?

How much funding each participant can receive depends mainly on:

• Party size and activities
• What activities the party will carry out in the project.

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full details, please read funding bases and levels.

Support for companies conducting research and development

The nature of the projects is primarily expected to meet the Industrial researchsupport basis. Depending on the nature of the projects regarding project activities, funding may also in some cases be granted under the Experimental Development support basis.

Industrial research can be simply described as seeking new knowledge through planned research or critical analysis to develop or significantly improve products, processes or services.

Experimental development can be simply described as combining, shaping and using existing knowledge to develop new or improved products, processes or services.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The size of the organization and type of activity determines how large a proportion of the costs we can finance, i.e. the maximum level of support.

Situations where we finance a higher proportion

If the project is covered by any of these bonus bases, we can finance a higher proportion of the costs.

• Actual cooperation: Some level of cooperation between small and larger companies, between companies in two different European countries or between research organisations and companies
• Dissemination of results: Extensive dissemination through, for example, conferences or open databases.
• Other bonus basis

Support for non-economic activities

In this the call for proposals we [also] provide support to organisations that do not engage in economic activities. This means that the organisation does not offer a service or product on a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organisations.

We can finance up to 100 percent of such an organization's costs.

How is it determined whether an organization is engaged in economic activities?

An organization that offers any kind of service or product on a market is considered to be conducting economic activities and cannot be granted this form of support. It does not matter how the organization is financed: whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

If you are unsure whether an organization in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, the organization is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

In order for us to assess your proposal, it must meet certain formal eligibility requirements. If the requirements are not met, we will reject proposal immediately.

Eligibility requirements for project parties

• All project partners must be legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden.
• At least 2 project partners must participate in the project. This includes the coordinating party.
• At least 1 of the project partners must be a Swedish company.

Eligibility requirements for the project

• The project manager must be employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• The project may not begin before proposal is submitted.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• Proposal must follow the instructions given in section 9.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.

Applications that meet our eligibility requirements will proceed to assessment. In the assessment, we look at how much potential your idea has, how realistic it is and who will implement the project.

What do we assess?

When assessing applications, we look at three main criteria:

• Potential: We analyze what effects and what value we can expect from the project.
• Actors: We assess the participants' competence and ability to implement the project and achieve the desired results and effects.
• Feasibility: We assess how realistic and credible the project plan is, both for implementing the project and for achieving desired results.

Eftersom Vinnova is tasked with contributing to increased gender equality and climate change, and we always follow up and assess these perspectives.

Potential

• The project's potential to develop solutions, knowledge and expertise within the chosen focus that can promote advanced digitalisation in line with the program's objective.
• The project's potential impact and impact on Swedish industry.
• How well perspectives on sex, gender and climate change have been integrated into the project proposal, and what significance these have for the project's results.

Actors

• The project partners' competence, credibility and ability to implement the project.
• The consortium's anchoring in Swedish industry within the chosen field.
• The ability of the project partners to disseminate, utilize, commercialize and further develop the results and knowledge generated in the project, both within their own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well the financial contribution, participation, power and influence are distributed in an equal manner in the project team.
• How well the need for consulting services is justified. This only applies if a project party's budget contains more than 20 percent consulting costs.

Feasibility

• The realism of the project plan in relation to set objective, methods, activities and budget.
• The participation and relevance of the specified project partners in the project's various work packages and activities.
• How well the project design contributes to the utilization and dissemination of the results in Swedish industry, both within the own organizations and outside the consortium.
• How well risks are described and managed in the project's implementation.

How do we assess?

Once we receive the applications, we review them. We screen out any applications that are incomplete or do not meet our eligibility requirements.

Applications that are correct and complete are distributed among different appointed evaluator and assessed in competition with each other. The evaluators are appointed by us based on their expertise in the field. Each proposal is assessed by at least three evaluator.

Once the evaluators have reviewed the applications, we will have an assessment meeting where the evaluators will recommend which applications should be granted. We will also call for an interview if necessary before making a decision.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before deciding on funding, we also conduct a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those receiving funding. We use information we obtain from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet.

In order for us to grant funding the following applies:

• Organizations seeking funding for personnel costs must be registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency.
• Organizations must not be insolvent, undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring, nor must they have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• Organizations may not cover project costs in this the call for proposals with public funding or own funds intended for other project.
• Limited liability companies must not have used up half or more of their share capital.
• If requested, SMEs must be able to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project according to their budget in proposal. Financial capacity refers to a registered turnover or available capital that corresponds to the company's entire budgeted own funding of the project.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. Since applications are assessed competitively, you may be rejected even though you meet all eligibility requirements and criteria.

In the decision, we state how much of the costs we will cover for each organization.

You cannot appeal our decision, but you are welcome to apply to us again at another time.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms include, among other things:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us regularly during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must agree on your mutual rights and obligations in the project in an agreement. It can take time to get a project agreement in place, so it is a good idea to get this in place before the project starts.

See our general terms and conditions and get help understanding and fulfilling them

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project shall, upon invitation from the program manager, participate in relevant events within the Advanced digitalisation program and thus contribute to the dissemination of knowledge within Swedish industry in accordance with the program's aim.
• In information about the project and in each publication of project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out with support from Vinnova within the Advanced digitalisationprogram. Publication refers to, for example, publication, regardless of medium, and oral presentations. In English, the name Vinnova is rendered as Sweden's Innovation Agency.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In such cases, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you have received more money than you are entitled to or if you do not follow our term, you may be required to repay.

To apply for funding you fill out a proposal in our e-service. In proposal you answer questions about the project, participating project partners, and budget.

You also attach these attachments to proposal:

• Project description

May comprise a maximum of 10 portrait A4 pages with single-column 12-point text. The project description should follow the template found further down on this website.

• Project summary

Attached in a separate appendix. May comprise a maximum of 1 portrait A4 page. The project summary should be able to be shared with the program's external program board and should therefore not contain confidential or other sensitive information. The appendix is not part of the assessment process. The project summary should follow the template found further down on this website.

• CV attachment

The CV for the project manager and all key personnel. The appendix is expected to include at least one CV per participant. Varje CV may be a maximum of 1 A4 page with 12 point text. The CV appendix should follow the template found further down this website.

How long does proposaltake?

Keep in mind that it takes time to make a proposal. Filling out templates can take several days, as it is based on the analyses you will do.

In our e-service you can start filling in the details and then continue at a later time. You can also distribute permissions to others who you want to contribute to proposal. When proposal is complete, mark it complete.

You can unlock proposal and make changes at any time, right up until the last application date. If you unlock proposal, you must then clear it again for it to be registered when the call for proposals closes.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as to the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only make additions if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by Vinnova employees and the evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep certain types of information confidential if disclosure could be expected to cause financial harm to the individual. This applies to information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

How we handle public documents and confidentiality

Underlying needs

AI-based decision support has the potential to revolutionize operational and strategic industrial decision-making processes. Technology that enables faster, more informed and sometimes fully autonomous decisions can optimize both industrial processes and product development.

To achieve this, AI solutions are needed that are reliable, explainable, and robust, and that work in time- and security-critical environments with strict integrity requirements. The need includes research and development of new methods for reliable decision support, as well as further development and application of existing technology.

Challenges and opportunities with AI-based decision support span a wide range of industry sectors. The challenges can be divided into the development of technology for better decision support and usability perspectives (where the technology is already available).

Some examples of the need for technology development are:

• Integrating historical data and expert knowledge into AI systems to strengthen decision-making, for example through systems of AI agents such as LLM.
• Faster and more informed decisions, for example using scenario simulation with LLM agent-based systems.
• Independent decision support that is robust against information influence, adapted to human values and can support both manual and automated decisions.
• AI-based analysis of maintenance data from, for example, sensors to identify deviations, detect trends, predict failures and enable proactive planning.
• Oberoende AI-stödd external monitoring and evaluation of new technical platforms to strengthen strategic decisions and innovative capacity.
• Digital twins for training, simulation and prediction of complex scenarios from individual systems to systems-of-systems, to support decision-making.
• Training AI models on data from multiple simulators without sharing raw data (Live, Virtual, Constructive integration). This strengthens data integrity and enables robust decision support in sensitive or distributed environments.
• User-friendly tools for developing and training AI agents via reinforcement learning, adapted for operational decision-making environments.

Some examples of usability needs are:

• Automated recommendations as decision support for operators and decision makers.
• Interactive and user-friendly interfaces for human–AI interaction for decision support in practical applications.
• Interfaces for shared decision-making between humans and AI that enable effective collaboration as AI systems increase in capacity.
• Training and education support through AI-driven simulation.
• Visualization using AI for decision support, based on the fusion of data from sensors, platforms and systems-of-systems for improved situational awareness and decision support.
• AI-based co-pilot systems that promote collaboration between humans and AI in complex decisions and contribute to adaptation to the needs and context of users, such as operators.

Expected effects

We envision that project that are granted will contribute to::

• Increased quality and efficiency in industrial processes, business processes and product development.
• Enhanced operational capability through faster and more informed decisions in dynamic and complex environments.
• Increased robustness and security in critical systems, even during disruptions, cyberattacks or information compromise.
• More effective education and training of personnel through AI-powered simulation environments.
• High transparency and reliability in AI-supported decision-making, in accordance with Swedish values, ethics and eligibility requirements for security.