Topics and perspectives
The three perspectives set out in the funding guidelines were expected to be addressed to a meaningful extent when systems and technologies were developed. Projects were expected to take a systemic approach that went well beyond technology development. Management and benchmarking systems had to be embedded as integral components of the transition to a circular economy.
Business models and intelligent services
The programme sought to enable new business models that went beyond improving existing approaches and increased the commercial benefits of circular value creation. Guiding questions included:
How can innovative and competitive business models support the transition?
How can product-service systems, including maintenance and upgrade services, extend product life?
How can the product-specific benefits of R-strategies be identified and quantified?
How can SMEs in particular become involved in data ecosystems at an early stage?
Which incentives and business models enable shared data use while protecting intellectual property?
What are the key conditions for scaling a business model?
Systemic aspects
Value-creation systems, or relevant parts of them, were to be considered as complete ecosystems. This made it possible to examine effects beyond an individual company or business area. Guiding questions included:
How can new value-creation cycles, architectures and products be established?
How can transparency for all stakeholders be increased throughout a product’s use cycle?
How can circular approaches be made more effective and extended across countries and sectors?
How can benefits for individuals, society and the environment be supported?
How can the additional value created by data be balanced against the energy required to process it?
How can data ecosystems be expanded according to genuine need, natural resources be conserved, and the practical effects of circular approaches be assessed?
People in value creation processes
People in all participating organisations were considered crucial to successful innovation and transformation and had to form an integral part of every proposal. Guiding questions included: