The Vidzeme Planning Region informs that the PoliRuralPlus project consortium has launched the third international open call — “Develop Call.” This call seeks potential developers of practical, technology-based digital innovation solutions aimed at addressing rural and urban development challenges across nine pilot regions of the project throughout Europe, including the Vidzeme Planning Region.
In the Vidzeme Planning Region, it is necessary to develop an information and communication technology (ICT) solution/tool to ensure systematic impact monitoring of the Development Programme of the Vidzeme Planning Region. The solution must be designed as an impact monitoring tool that is user-friendly and integrable into the daily project and development process monitoring within the Vidzeme Planning Region.
The ICT solution/tool must include a dedicated module for the Vidzeme Planning Region, aggregating information about ongoing projects, linking their activities to the Development Programme (DP) objectives and action directions, as well as assessing their impact on results achievement.
The tool must also include a public data visualization section that analyses the development of regional-level processes, based on the DP, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and other priorities, objectives, and tasks. It must integrate data from various other sources — municipalities, statistical databases, and planning documents. Artificial intelligence solutions may be used for data integration to ensure systematic and real-time data delivery.
Additionally, a management dashboard must be developed to display changes in macro-level indicators. It is acceptable that the tool provides external stakeholders the possibility to create profiles and conduct their own process monitoring, linking these activities to the Vidzeme Planning Region’s DP and SDG framework. This will promote transparent and inclusive monitoring of the overall regional development process.
Additional information on the problems identified by the Vidzeme Planning Region and challenges of other PoliRuralPlus pilot territories can be found here: https://www.poliruralplus.eu/open-calls/develop-call/
It should be reminded that the Vidzeme Planning Region, as a pilot territory, was included in previous rounds of the international open call.
In the first announced round — “Outreach Call” — the Latvian company InnoMatrix addressed the tasks set by the Vidzeme Planning Region. The company conducted an in-depth study of regional economic development monitoring mechanisms already applied elsewhere, identifying their advantages and shortcomings. The study examined examples that would help build an effective regional development monitoring system framework for the Vidzeme Region.
In the second round — “Mobilise Call” — the Latvian company NovoFutura won the rights to implement the Vidzeme Planning Region’s task and will work this year on organizing hackathons. Through these hackathons, an ICT solution prototype is planned to be developed for monitoring the Vidzeme Planning Region’s development.
Basic information about the third open call “Develop Call
Objective: Support the development and implementation of new digital solutions that foster rural-urban cooperation using modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and data-driven decision-making tools.
Available funding: From EUR 30,000 up to EUR 100,000 per project*
Application deadline: 31 July 2025, 17:00 (CEST)
Results announcement: August 2025
Project duration: October 2025 – June 2026
Applicants: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups from the technology sector, NGOs, universities and research centers, public institutions and development agencies, interdisciplinary consortia (up to 3 partners) from European Union Member States and Horizon Europe associated countries.
*One applicant may participate in multiple calls but the total funding received must not exceed EUR 60,000. Payments are made after successful project implementation in accordance with the originally submitted project budget. Payments are coordinated by the project representative in the Czech Republic; the Vidzeme Planning Region is not a payment intermediary.
Additional information about the call and application procedure
Detailed conditions, application guidelines, and form downloads are available at: https://www.poliruralplus.eu/open-calls/develop-call/
Applications can be submitted online until 31 July 2025, 17:00 (CEST).
For additional information or support during the application process, please contact the call organizers by email: opencalls@poliruralplus.eu
