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REGULATIONS
Think for Social
Your idea. Everybody's gain.
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1. What is it?
Think for Social is an initiative promoted by the Fondazione Vodafone Italia in collaboration
with PoliHub, the technical incubator unit of Milan Polytechnic managed by the Fondazione
Politecnico di Milano.
Think for Social aims to identify and support the best projects for social development that
exploit the potential of new technologies to provide effective and sustainable answers to
social needs.
The best projects – a maximum of 10 – will receive a seed grant o f up to €30,000 to be used
to develop the project in a practical way and will be eligible for an acceleration programme coordinated by PoliHub.
The projects must d e monstrate that they can generate impact in sectors of Italian society,
preferably in the following environments:
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Health and well-being: projects and services aimed at individuals that promote health
and wellbeing, improvement in the quality of life in vulnerable groups (the elderly, disabled
persons, etc.), development and support of e-Health and "active ageing", etc.;
Culture and education: training projects, smart cultural heritage, conservation and
promotion of cultural heritage, sustainable tourism, etc.;
Agriculture, diet and environment: innovation and sustainability in food processing
and products (processing techniques, conservation and consumption trends), promotion
e protection of biodiversity, sustainable use of environmental resources, etc.
Projects not related to the above environments will be considered provided they have a high
potential for social impact ("killing ideas").
2. Who can participate?
The following categories are eligible to participate:
1) NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
a) religious or secular non-profit organizations such as:
i)
organizations on regional registers of voluntary bodies;
ii) organizations on the national register of NGOs;
iii) organizations on the register of non-profit-making bodies;
iv) social cooperatives registered with regional authorities;
v) non-profit organizations a n d social enterprises registered with the trade register;
vi) non-profit organizations and social enterprises registered with the Italian tax office;
vii) innovative start-ups with social objectives as defined under Decree Law 179/2012,
converted to Law 221/2012;
Such bodies may participate either individually or as temporary associations of companies (ATI)
that have already been formed or to be formed within 30 days of assignment of financing;
b) Teams of persons (up to 5), all of whom must be legal adults, who undertake to establish one of
the legally admissible forms listed in point 1) a).
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2) STUDENTS
a) university students working in a project team (maximum 5 students per team); such students
must provide a copy of certification of enrolment to the university;
b) high school students working on project teams (maximum 5 students per team) coordinated by
an instructor from the students' school. The instructor will act as Project Manager and will
represent the team in organizational dealings with the Think for Social initiative. The instructor
may also include a greater number of students in the project (e.g. a class project), provided there
are no more than 5 contact students for each project. The instructor, as representative of the team,
is responsible for complying with all formalities regarding enrolment and for the truthfulness of all
details and documents provided.
3) NON-PROFIT/FOR PROFIT ALLIANCES/PARTNERSHIPS
Partnerships among non-profit organizations described in 1) a) and among commercial
companies (micro, small, medium and large businesses in all sectors) established in the following
ways:
a) temporary associations of companies (ATI), already formed or to be formed within 30 days of
assignment of financing. The principal agent and proprietor of results arising out of the project must
be one or more of the bodies described in point 1) a) above;
b) Micro, small, medium and large businesses in all sectors who undertake to constitute, within 30
days of assignment of financing, a spinoff non-profit company belonging to one of the legally
admissible forms listed in point 1) a) above;
c) Co-financing for development of the project by commercial companies, providing resources in
cash and/or in kind, as charitable donations, certified by a letter of commitment by the company/ies
in question, providing details of the resources made available and/or the amount of the contribution.
In cases of teams of individuals, temporary associations or non-profit spinoff companies, the
applicant/s must attach a letter pledging to establish one of the forms envisaged within 30 days of
assignment of the financing.
Applicants in the categories covered by points 1) and 3) above must meet the following
requirements:
$ they must have a registered office and operational premises in Italy;
$ must not be in liquidation or closure and must not be subject to insolvency proceedings;
$ must not have received or receive for the duration of the period of collaboration with the
initiative any contributions for the same purposes from other promoters or public bodies;
$ must have legal representatives, administrators (with or without powers of representation) and
shareholders who are not subject to measures such as prohibition, forfeiture and suspension,
envisaged under Art. 10 of Law 575/1965 ("anti-mafia measures").
3. What we offer
The Fondazione Vodafone Italia makes available a maximum total of 1 Million Euro in financing
to launch and develop projects.
The projects selected:
1) will receive an equity-free "seed grant" of up to €30,000 (hereinafter "Grant") which must be
entirely utilized for development of the project;
2) An acceleration programme of 4 months co-ordinated by PoliHub, the technical incubator
unit of the Politecnico di Milano, which includes support by expert mentors in the technology and
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social business spheres. The acceleration programme aims to develop entrepreneurial skills and
abilities and to support participants in practical ways in developing their own project. Each team
selected will be assigned a mentor made available by PoliHub.
The seed grant must be used during the 4 months of the acceleration programme to develop the
practical application of the project – i.e. by producing a prototype or, in cases of solutions in more
advanced phases of development, to finance operations of fine tuning, technical testing or market
trials. The results obtained must be presented at the end of the acceleration programme, together
with a programme for development and growth of the project.
The Fondazione Vodafone Italia may, at its discretion, where the projects selected prove
particularly promising and have high potential at the end of the acceleration programme, provide
a further equity-free "growth grant" to finance development and growth.
The contributions are non-substitutable and non-transferrable; the teams selected may not
request substitution of the contributions made in any form.
The Grant must be used for the following expenses, within the period of the acceleration
programme:
- Staff, permanent or other, contractors for entities listed in points 1 and 3 of Art. 2 (up to
40% of the grant);
- Other external consultants (up to 50% of the grant);
- Tools and equipment;
- Procurement of various goods and services;
- Marketing and communications;
- Travelling expenses (up to 10% of the grant).
Only costs effectively incurred in relation to development of the project selected are admitted,
until the amount of the grant is reached, VAT and other charges included where applicable. All
costs must be adequately documented for accounting purposes. See Art. 6 below for details.
4. Phases of the programme and procedures for participation
The programme consists of the following phases and time limits:
i. Submission of applications: until 30/04/2015
ii. Assessments of the applications: until 30/05/2015
iii. Innovation weekend + pitching session: 05-06/06/2015 Anticipated on May 28th-29th 2015
iv. Acceleration programme - 4 months: from June to November 2015
v. Final event: November/December 2015
vi. Monitoring of the development and growth phase: from December 2015 for another 12 months.
i. Submission of applications (from 09/02/2015 to 30/04/2015)
Candidates must present their applications no later than 30 April 2015 (deadline time 23.59), to
the site fondazionevodafone.thinkforsocial.it.
The application entails:
1) completion of an online form regarding the project and the members of the team (every
application must indicate a principal contact – in the case of teams of high school students this will
be an instructor); the registration process may be completed in several phases by saving
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intermediate versions before submission.
2) Inclusion of attachments, such as:
a) Attachment A: description of the project, including:
i) description of the product/service/project and its supporting technology;
ii) description of the current stage of project development and of the activities to be carried out
during the acceleration programme and the practical results pursued (development of a
prototype/test);
iii) description of the social needs to be addressed;
iv) description of the target beneficiaries;
v) social impact and relative metrics for measurement;
vi) innovative features and potential for growth and future development;
vii) business model / model for economic sustainability;
b) Attachment B: project costing/budget, including details of how the team intends to use the seed
grant of up to €30,000 and any co-funding of project expenses by the applicant or
sponsor/external partner (e.g. commercial business);
c) Attachment C: business plan; this attachment is not required for student applicants
(see point 2) Article 2);
d) CV of team members;
e) company profile for the entities described in point 1) a) of Article 2;
f) Where applicable, the letters of intent to constitute one of the entities admissible, as defined in
Article 2);
g) Slide show presentation of the project, in any format (optional);
h) Any technical attachments or tables or other useful items (optional);
i) For high school students, the form authorizing treatment of personal data signed by legal
guardians (see Art. 7).
3) Provision of a link to a videopitch uploaded to a public forum (Youtube, Vimeo) in which the team
present themselves and describe the project in no more than 4/5 minutes; this may include video
animations and demo videos. If the video is password protected, the access code must also be
provided.
Attachments A, B, and C must be completed following the models available for download at the
site fondazionevodafone.thinkforsocial.it.
The documentation attached must be uploaded in printable pdf format; the file must have the
maximum dimensions indicated on the form.
Further documents may be requested, at the discretion of the assessment committee, in order to
verify eligibility of the candidates.
General information:
- Participation is free of charge and does not entail any constraint or commitment of any
kind beyond the conditions set out in these regulations;
- All documents presented may be written in Italian or in English;
- The candidates, in submitting the application and documents for participation in the
competition, thereby declare that the information provided is truthful and that every
decision of the assessment committee will be accepted unconditionally.
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ii. Assessment of the applications (until 30/05/2015)
The applications will be reviewed by an assessment committee (described in detail in Art. 5 below),
which reserves the right to request supplemental documentation and to call the project contact for
an interview, in person or by videoconference (Skype/Hangout).
The assessment will follow the criteria described in Art. 5 below and will identify
20 projects who will go forward to the subsequent phase (Innovation weekend).
iii. Innovation weekend + pitching session (05-06/06/2015) Anticipated on May 28th-29th 2015
The Innovation Weekend is a programme of two full days, with teacher-led group training and
individual/team sessions overseen by a tutor, in order to examine the project proposal and develop
an effective presentation. At the end of the weekend, the entrepreneurs will present their own
project in an "elevator pitch" to the assessment committee, which will select a maximum of 10
projects to go on to the acceleration programme.
The Innovation Weekend will be held on May 28th-29th 2015, within the Festival dell’Economia
in Trento the 5/6 June 2015 in Milan (at the PoliHub premises or another location to be
announced). Participants in the Innovation Weekend who are resident/domiciled more than 100
km from the venue will be reimbursed travelling and accommodation expenses up to a maximum
of €500 per project.
iv. Acceleration programme - 4 months: from June to November 2015
The projects selected during the elevator pitch sessions will qualify for the acceleration programme
and the seed grant funding, as described in Art. 3.
Those who have declared (by letter) their intent to form a temporary association of companies or one
of the other forms admissible described in point 1) a) of Art. 2, must formalize the arrangement in
order to proceed to the acceleration programme and receive the seed grant.
The acceleration programme does not require a commitment of physical presence by the team.
Each team will be overseen by a mentor who will work with the team to co-ordinate the types of
sessions most suitable to the team's requirements (face-to-face meetings, skype calls, etc.).
During the acceleration programme, the team will work to develop their own project with the specific
objective of producing tangible results (prototypes, technical tests, market trials, fine-tuning of
solutions already in advanced phases of development, etc.), which will then be presented at the
final event.
During the acceleration programme the team selected will also prepare a plan for development
and growth of the project which will be assessed for suitability to receive an equity-free "growth
grant" made available by Fondazione Vodafone Italia, as described above in Art. 3.
v. Final event: November 2015
On completion of the acceleration programme, all of the participating teams will present their results
at a public event to be held in Milan. After the presentation a jury will assess the results achieved
and select the most promising projects – up to a maximum of 3 – who will proceed to the next
phase.
vi. Monitoring of the development and growth phase: from December 2015 for another 12
months.
The best projects will go forward to the phase of development monitoring, with periodic checks to
assess the progress made by the project. The monitoring will aim to identify projects that are
particularly promising and which, at the discretion of Fondazione Vodafone Italia, may be eligible
for a further equity-free "growth grant" up to the remaining ceiling of funding available.
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5. Composition of the Committee and criteria for evaluation
of the project proposals
The projects will be evaluated by an assessment committee composed of:
1) Representatives of Fondazione Vodafone Italia and/or its delegates;
2) Representatives of PoliHub (technical partner);
3) Representatives of other partners from the social business environment.
The Committee will assess all projects duly submitted and considered admissible, on the basis of
the following criteria:
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Satisfaction of a social need;
Innovative nature of the solution;
Social impact;
Technical feasibility and economic sustainability;
Skills and abilities of the team;
Scalability/reproducibility
At the end of the Innovation Weekend and the acceleration programme, the participating teams will
present their projects before a jury which will be constituted for each of the two events. The jury
members will be drawn from the Assessment Committee and from the business, Non-Profit,
financial and institutional communities.
One of the elements considered in the award will be the clarity and effectiveness of the project
presentation (pitch).
The judgement of the Committee and the Jury will be final and irrevocable.
6. Procedures for payment of contributions and documenting
of expenses
For projects selected which have been submitted by entities described in point 1) and 3) of Article
2, the contributions will be paid as follows:
- 80% in advance, at the start of the acceleration programme;
- 20% after reaching 80% of expenses envisaged, subject to confirmation of accounting
statements.
In the case of projects selected which have been submitted by teams of individuals, or by entities
that have pledged to form a temporary association of companies or to establish a non-profit spinoff
company, the advance payment is made following formalization of the above legal forms
admissible, which must take place within 30 days of assignment of the financing.
For projects selected which have been submitted by students, as described in point 2) of Art. 2, the
grant will be provided through the purchase of goods and services by PoliHub on behalf of the
project selected, in accordance with the terms for admissibility of expenses, on the basis of the
spending plan for the project, up to the amount awarded (VAT and other charges included).
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All costs must be adequately documented for accounting purposes, which will take the form of
presentation of a final statement of expenses incurred, showing how the contribution was used.
Receipts for expenses and payments must be attached.
If during the financial reporting phase expenses are found which are not related to the project
funded or which do not comply with the procedures expressly indicated under Art. 3, the
Fondazione Vodafone Italia will have the right to request restitution of such sums.
7. Protection of privacy and confidentiality
In accordance with Art. 13 of Legislative Decree 196/2003 ("Data Protection Code"), data supplied
by participants to the initiative will be treated in compliance with the provisions of the Data
Protection Code and with those set out in the notice on privacy which the participants accept at the
time of registration/application. High school students who, at the time of submission of the
application are still legal minors, must, as described in point (i) of Art. 4, provide an authorization for
treatment of personal data duly signed by legal guardians. Failure to provide this authorization will
entail inadmissibility of the application. All participants, in every phase of activities of the Think for
Social initiative and subsequent to its conclusion, must ensure the confidentiality of information
regarding the ideas and projects presented.
Projects submitted which are selected to participate in the acceleration programme will be made
public.
8. Limits of responsibility
Given the procedures involved for participation in the initiative, the Fondazione Vodafone Italia and
PoliHub cannot accept any responsibility for technical malfunctions of hardware or software,
interruptions of network connections, application registrations that have not been successful, that
are incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, illegible, damaged, lost, delayed, incorrectly addressed or
which are intercepted, or for registration of applications that, for any reason, have not been
received, for electronic or other communications that have been delayed or for any other technical
problems connected with the registration and upload of information regarding the initiative.
Fondazione Vodafone Italia and PoliHub therefore accept no liability for any form of
reimbursement and compensation, partial or total, for:
$ any damage to persons and/or things incurred by participants or by "external assistants"
during execution of the various phases of the programme;
$ injuries or damage sustained by participants (including legal minors) or their "external assistants"
while participating in the programme.
9. Guarantees and Indemnities
Participants in the Think for Social initiative guarantee that all material submitted:
$ does not include material that violates the rights, demands or claims of third parties (with
regard to laws on copyright and industrial property and other laws or regulations applicable);
$ does not contain material that is prohibited by law or which does not comply with these
regulations;
$ is freely and legitimately available for use in compliance with the provisions of these
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regulations, in that the participant holds the right to use such material, or has acquired the right to
use it from all rights holders, fulfilling all obligations to acquire such rights, including payment of
royalties, due to the authors of such contents and/or of the works from which the content is
derived and/or abstracted, or to other parties holding rights, or who are legally responsible for
collection of royalties arising out of such rights.
Those who participate in the Think for Social initiative declare that they are aware that all
liability, including penal sanctions, for the content of projects submitted for the purposes of
participation in the initiative subject to these regulations, is borne solely and exclusively by such
participants, who hereby indemnify Fondazione Vodafone Italia and PoliHub Services s.r.l.
against any claims by third parties.
The Fondazione Vodafone Italia and PoliHub Services s.r.l. furthermore hold no responsibility
for any act or conduct by individual participants during the course of the initiative that may violate
civil and penal laws in force.
10. Intellectual property and publication rights
The material and intellectual property rights of material presented with applications submitted by
participants remains their own; the organization may use such material only within the sphere of the
Think for Social initiative.
Where, following the acceleration programme described in points iv) and/or v) and/or vi)
of Art. 4, works become available that can be protected under current legislation
regarding copyright (for example, but in no way limited to: software, hardware,
publications etc.), the Fondazione Vodafone Italia shall retain, thereby, the exclusive right
of first refusal in relation to purchase of such intellectual property rights, should they be
made available for sale by their proprietors.
11. Acceptance of the regulations
Participation in the initiative entails full acceptance of these regulations and all attachments, which
the participants declare to have read, understood and accepted. Failure by the participants to
accept the regulations, or submission of the application in an incomplete, inexact or false form, will
entail disqualification from the competition, loss of all rights to any possible awards and forfeiture of
all right of recourse against Fondazione Vodafone Italia and PoliHub Services s.r.l. Participants
declare that they are aware of the civil and penal consequences that making false declarations
entail.
12. Updates to the regulations
Any updates to the regulations will be published on the site fondazionevodafone.thinkforsocial.it.
13. Disputes
Any disputes will be the jurisdiction of the Court of Milan.
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