Task 1.1 Strategic management

The strategic management activities aim at defining, planning, applying, coordinating, leading and facilitating human, financial and technological resources to execute the Description of Work on time, with the required quality, within budget.

For this, the Project Coordinator will establish with the consortium, the necessary documents for the proper execution of the project:

- Ensure NDA signature by all partners for proper securitization of the exchanges before the project start,

- Ensure Grant Agreement finalisation and validation

- Prepare and finalise a Management Plan including local and proximity Management,

- Validate a Development Plan of each application prepared by each Work Package Leader,

- Compile through a stand-alone document the project Risks at all levels and each field (technical, organisation, disagreement...).

- Prepare and ensure signature by each partner of a Project Consortium Agreement (PCA) for the project, to ensure confidentiality, protection of IPs, rules for publications and collaboration between partners during the entire project duration, the Project Coordinator and the General Assembly (that is defined hereunder), will be in charge of ensuring the adherence to rules established in the Grant Agreement and the Project Consortium Agreement.

This includes continuous assessment and quality check of the project execution versus project targets to achieve the following objectives:

Project Coordination:

- Ensure an efficient work between the partners and the work packages Leaders through an interactive and reinforced cooperation with an informal and flexible communication and interaction between WPs

- Ensure that project advancement is corresponding to the Description of Work

- Revise annual scientific objectives, policy and strategic orientations of the project in accordance with the rules of the Grant Agreement and the project work program

- Ensure an efficient communication about the project activities and results with appropriate and well controlled dissemination

- Ensure appropriate boards meetings to address major milestones and associated risk, or specific communication of the consortium members on important matter concerning the project execution

- Discuss and contribute to project amendments when necessary

- Elaborate plans for the exploitation of the results.

Project execution:

- Report and ensure on project on time results, deliverables, and milestones

- Monitor partners expenses and resources

- Report and ensure on administrative, legal and financial operations, including decision on the distribution of the EC pre-financing and interim payment(s);

- Preparation of intermediate and yearly progress reports to KDT,

- Comply to KDT rules.

- Communication and interface with KDT during the project execution,

- Ensure proper decisions at specific milestones or events (like partner withdrawal...)

- Monitor risks and project deviations and ensure mitigation actions as well as their follow-up

- Mitigation strategies in case of critical issues (technical or human) affecting essential components of project implementation

- Monitor the respect of the Intellectual Property Rights and manage the Innovation and potential patents.

General Assembly:

It is the ultimate decision-making level within the project that makes sure to represent the interest of all partners. It is composed of one high level representative from each partner organisation and chaired by the Project Coordinator to ensure optimised coherence with the main decision-making bodies and to minimise the occurrence of bottlenecks.

A risk table will be submitted within this proposal, associating a risk with its probability of occurrence and a contingency plan. Each risk will be associated with a Milestone with a precise delivery date and a responsible partner. The Project Coordinator, on behalf of the Executive Board, will follow-up each risk and shall decide with the concerned WPLs whether the contingency plan should be launched or not.

Executive board (EB)

The Executive board will be consolidated at project Kick Off Meeting and composed of the project coordinator and WP leaders and Deputies, and Tasks leaders.

It represents the functional decision level within the project management organisation. This board will meet at each General Assembly, preparation meetings for the KDT JU reviews, key milestones reviews and/or design reviews to:

- Advise modification of process development objectives and propose to reorient parts of the project.

- Take appropriate decisions when risks materialise, after discussion with the involved partners

- Define proper amendment proposal when project objectives cannot be fully reached (partner departure, resources redistribution, delays managementÉ)

- Meet at each major milestones and associated risks, or new risks materialising to define appropriate corrective or mitigation actions

- Properly implement and execute the decisions taken in the General Assembly.

- Monitor the effective and efficient implementation of the project

- Initiate and supervises all operational aspects including technical (deliverables, milestones), financial (audit certificate, cost statements), legal (Grant Agreement, Consortium Agreement, IP rules) and communication (workflow, reporting);

- Collect information and inform the General Assembly on the progress of the project, and request for gaps explanation.

- Propose adjustment of the budget allocation and / or adjustment of research objectives to the General Assembly if required

- Monitor KPI of the project as well as its own environmental impact.

- Stakeholders management: The internal evolution of each partner and or sub-contractor organisation (industries / laboratories) may have a significant impact on the project progress and success The Project Coordinator and the Executive Board should then:

- Define an applicable procedure to deal with the departure of a partner from the project: ensure that all the data and deliverables produced during the collaboration prior the removal have been well delivered, ensure the final cost statement correctness, and the calculation of due funding.

- Define the procedure for the integration of new partners (challenge the potential applicants) or when requiring external reviews for project performance evaluation.

Design and Use cases Board (DUB)

The design and Use cases board will be consolidated at project Kick Off. It will be composed of WP2, 3 & 4 leaders and Deputies, and use case leaders.

The main objective of this board will be to monitor the proper execution regarding the development of the project use cases. It will also look at the achievement of objective as well as the environmental impact reduction brought by the use case. This board will meet at least once a year and on demand for specific purpose.