The main objectives of the IMAGINE-B5G Open Calls are:

• to enable European-led innovation and fast track adoption; 
• to stimulate private sector investment across verticals; 
• to engage third-party stakeholders towards the conceptualization, development, experimentation, and validation of novel vertical applications in the current and the future B5G ecosystem.

IMAGINE-B5G targets to allocate at least 50% of the open-call budget to the SMEs, scaleups and start-ups.

The open calls will specifically target and prioritise projects involving SMEs, scaleups and start-ups.

The first open-call was published in June 2023 and the 15 selected projects started their work in November 2023. In the first open-call, third-parties were invited to present proposals: (i) to test and validate their novel vertical applications through pilots and trials on the IMAGINE-B5G facilities and (ii) to provide novel features through Hardware and Software extensions to the IMAGINE-B5G facilities thanks to the openness of the IMAGINE-B5G framework.

The second open-call will be published in March 2024 and will remain open for two months, with the expected start date of projects in October 2024.

 In Open-Call 2, projects will be given up to 12 months to carry out projects related to (i) novel vertical applications and (ii) platform extensions, with a maximum budget of up to €100.000 per project with one partner and up to €140.000 per project with two partners. Open-call 2 projects will benefit from a higher maturity level of the IMAGINE-B5G framework and platform.

Finally, the third open-call will be published in October 2024 and remain open for two months, with an expected start date of projects in April 2025. The third open call will only target novel services to be run on the IMAGINE-B5G facilities for up to 6 months and with a maximum budget of €60.000 per project. If there is any left-over budget from the previous open calls, this budget will be allocated in this call.