Technology Innovation Challenge

Calling on technology providers with a proven solution: up to $450,000 to pilot it across Asia and the Pacific.

TIC Rules

TIC Rules

 

The Technology Innovation Challenge (the “challenge” or “TIC”) invites technology providers to propose a pilot or proof-of-concept of innovative solutions addressing the development challenges in Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) developing member countries (DMCs). It is supported and financed by the High-Level Technology (HLT) Fund, ADB’s multi-donor trust fund promoting more widespread adoption of high-level technology in DMCs and ADB projects. The TIC is sponsored by ADB and part of Technical Assistance TA 9965-REG, project number 52307-004. 

 

CHALLENGE RULES 

(the “Rules”) 

The aim of these Rules is to set out the terms and conditions governing the Applicant’s participation in the TIC. By submitting an application to this Challenge, the Applicant fully and unconditionally agrees to comply with these Rules. If you do not agree with these Rules, you should not submit an application. In the case of non-compliance with these Rules, the Applicant will be immediately disqualified from the Challenge. 

 

 1. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS 

“The Applicant”, “an Applicant” or “Applicants” refers to all project members involved in the proposed project for the TIC. Project members are all entities that will have an active role in the implementation of the project, e.g. joint venture partners, consortium partners, or any form of project partnership. All TIC applications have to include a lead applicant. The lead applicant is the entity that will have the lead in the TIC application process and in the implementation of the TIC project. Furthermore, the lead applicant will handle all communication with ADB. A TIC project can only have one lead applicant. The other project members, also referred to as project partners, are the entities that will work with the lead applicant and have an active role in the implementation of the project. The lead applicant can apply by itself without any other project members. ADB signs a Grant Funding Agreement with the lead applicant. The terms and conditions of TIC are more fully described in the Grant Funding Agreement. The Applicant shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of its application. ADB shall in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the application process. 

The application, as well as all correspondence and documents regarding the Challenge shall be written in English. Supporting documents that are part of the application may be in another language, provided they are accompanied by an accurate and complete translation of the relevant passages into English, in which case, for purposes of interpretation of the application, the translation shall govern. 

All project proposals have to adhere to ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement. The goal of the policy is to promote the sustainability of project outcomes by protecting the environment and people from projects’ potential adverse impacts. Project proposals that do not adhere to the policy will be rejected. TIC will not fund activities that could involve environmental and social impacts.  

The Applicant has to, during the application process as well as the implementation process, adhere to ADB’s Anticorruption Policy and Integrity Principles and Guidelines.  The Applicant is obliged to notify ADB should any of the project members be temporarily suspended, debarred, or declared ineligible or blacklisted by ADB, ADB member countries, multilateral development banks, international organizations, or other donor agencies.  

The Applicant may be requested at any stage to provide additional documentation to support their application. ADB reserves the right to accept or reject any application and, revise the Challenge Rule to annul the TIC application process and reject all applications at any time, without thereby incurring any liability to the Applicant. 

ADB has the right to share all applications with other departments within ADB, as well as with DMCs.  

ADB will seek a no-objection letter from the relevant DMC government. If this acknowledgment cannot be obtained, then the proposal may be rejected. 

 

2. REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION  

Applications are submitted via the online application system. To apply, the lead applicant must register and create a user account.  When an account has been created the lead applicant will have access to the participation forms. Applicants that have applied to previous Development Challenges can use the same log in details. The lead applicant is solely responsible for the information provided when registering. Any intentional or non-intentional mistake, anomaly or inconsistency, regarding this information, may result in disqualification. 

All TIC participation forms have to be truthfully and accurately filled out. Failure to complete all forms may lead to disqualification. If documents submitted in the application system cannot be downloaded, are not in the right format, or are incompatible, illegible, or unintelligible, the application will be disqualified. 

An Applicant can submit only one application per Development Challenge. An Applicant, as a lead applicant that submits more than one application for a specific Innovation Challenge, will be disqualified. If applicable, please ensure that only one subsidiary or associated company within your group, or an organization owned by the same ultimate holding company, will submit an application. Suppliers can participate in multiple applications submitted by different Applicants. 

 

3. COMMUNICATION 

All inquiries on the TIC or the application process must be sent via the message function in the online application system. No other ADB staff or DMC staff are authorized to comment on this process. 

The questions and answers for all queries related to the application process will be shared with all potential applicants in the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section of the online application system. Therefore, please do not share any confidential information or information which could indicate your identity in your question.  

 

4. PURPOSE OF THE GRANT 

The TIC can provide a grant of up to US$ 450,000 to undertake a proof-of-concept/pilot of a high-level technology or solution to address an identified development challenge. The proposed technology or solution must be new to the country or context, or applied in a new way (such as for a different purpose, with a different user group, or through a new implementation model) with improved efficiency and /or impact compared to existing solutions. The TIC does not support technology solutions that replicate what already exists in the same context and use case. The technology should have been tested before in another country or context, with documented results that can be verified. If the technology solution and the results of its application elsewhere cannot be verified, the TIC application may be rejected.     

Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:   

  • Pilot of the solution conducted (including stakeholder meetings, capacity building workshops and closing workshop)  

  • Project communication plan developed and implemented (includes project video and other results and lessons learned content published)  

  • Progress and completion reports delivered, including verification of the results by an independent party.  

The purpose of the TIC grant is to introduce new high-level technologies in DMC’s and thereby support ADB’s mandate in assisting DMC’s to reach the Sustainable Development Goals. Through TIC, DMC’s will learn about new technology solutions to address various development challenges, and technology providers’ risks related to market entry may be reduced. The goal of the TIC is to identify and develop a high-level technology project at an early stage of the project cycle in a partnership with technology firms. A successful grant implementation may lead to a scale up of the solution with ADB loan or grant funding. ADB may require the scale-up to be competitively tendered. The grantee will be eligible to participate in such tender. To guard against any unfair competitive advantage, data and reports captured and prepared under the grant may be shared will all participating bidders. 

4.1  Project costs and payments 

Eligible costs required to implement the project, contained within the agreed project budget, may be charged to the grant including (but not limited to) staff/consulting cost of the lead applicant and the project partners, equipment, travel cost, per diems, training and capacity development cost for local counterparts, and independent verification of results. The project costs as well as the technology solution cannot generate revenue for the project members during the TIC project implementation. If a project member’s own product is used, the valuation of the product should be based on its production cost. If requested, the manufacturer of the product should be able to present relevant documentation showing the actual production cost. Equipment purchased under the TIC grant is expected to stay within the country of implementation after the completion of the project. The operating, maintenance, and ownership arrangements of the technology solution beyond the project implementation period is to be agreed upon during contract negotiations and to be included in the Grant Funding Agreement. For example, a royalty-free license to the participating DMC to operate the technology solution for a mutually agreed period of operation beyond the TIC project period may be negotiated.  

Payments are made on a milestone basis, subjected to the final Grant Funding Agreement  negotiations. The project implementation period is expected to be around 12-18 months.   

 

5. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 

In order to be eligible to apply, the Applicant and its project partners must fulfil all seven eligibility criteria listed below. Applications that do not fulfil all the eligibility criteria will be rejected. There are two types of eligibility criteria: project concept criteria and applicant criteria.   

A. PROJECT CONCEPT CRITERIA 

1.  Geographic scope: The project must be implemented in one of the countries listed below. Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Philippines, Sri Lanka.  

2.  Financing requirements: The Applicant must co-finance at least 10% of the total project cost via their own resources or from other funders. Their contribution can be cash or in-kind (for example, travel or staff time). 

B. APPLICANT CRITERIA 

An application can comprise of several project members. All project members have to fulfil the applicant criteria listed below.  

3.  Type of applicants: The following type of entities can apply: 

• For profit entities 

• Not-for-profit organisations 

• Civil society organisations 

• Research institutions 

• Government-owned enterprises (must be legally and financially autonomous of the government in the implementation country) 

 

4.  Legal registration: The lead applicant and their project partners must be legally incorporated or registered in an ADB member country. ADB members are listed at https://www.adb.org/about/members. 

5.  Intellectual property rights: The lead applicant or the project partner must have the intellectual property right, through ownership or licenses, to use the technology solution. 

6.  No conflict of interest: The lead applicant and their project partners shall not have a conflict of interest with the government in the country of implementation or with ADB. Conflicts of interest may include sharing shareholders or legal representatives; receiving a subsidy; having material information about or improperly influencing the application of another applicant, or influence over the decisions of ADB regarding this process. 

7.  Not sanctioned: The lead applicant and its project partners cannot be sanctioned by ADB or be sanctioned under the UN Security Council rules. An organization or individual is ineligible while under temporary suspension or debarment by ADB directly, or under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions (which allows international financial institutions to recognize each other’s sanctions, such as those issued by the World Bank). 

The government of the implementation country has not prohibited the import of goods, contracting of works or services from the relevant country of incorporation or registration, or any payments to persons or entities in that country under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. 

In addition to the eligibility screening, applications will be assessed for completeness and quality. This means checking that all sections of the application are properly completed with substantive content, that the technology solution is described clearly enough to understand what it does, how it works, and who it serves, and that the pilot is described specifically enough to understand what will be tested and how. Applications that do not meet this standard will not move forward to evaluation. 

 

In addition to the eligibility screening, applications will be assessed for completeness and quality. This means checking that all sections of the application are properly completed with substantive content, that the technology solution is described clearly enough to understand what it does, how it works, and who it serves, and that the pilot is described specifically enough to understand what will be tested and how. Applications that do not meet this standard will not move forward to evaluation. 

 

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA  

A technical committee will evaluate applications in two stages, concept note and full application, based on the following evaluation criteria 

Concept note criteria 

A. Impact (50%) 

How effective the technology solution is in resolving the development challenge, and the likelihood that it will deliver meaningful and lasting change for the intended beneficiaries. This includes whether the expected outputs and results are clearly defined and realistic, and whether the solution addresses the root causes of the challenge rather than its symptoms. The extent to which the technology solution can contribute to helping DMCs reach the Sustainable Development Goals. 

B. Innovativeness (30%) 

The extent to which the technology solution represents a new or innovative approach to resolving the development challenge. This includes whether the solution introduces a new technology, a new combination of technologies, or a novel application of an existing technology within the nominated DMC or context. Whether the approach demonstrates creative problem solving and offers a distinct advantage over existing solutions currently available or in use in the region. 

C. Scalability (20%)  

The extent to which a successful solution could spread beyond the pilot and be sustained over time. This includes whether there is a plausible actor to take the solution to scale, such as a government agency, private provider, or development partner, and whether the solution could fit within existing systems, institutions, or workflows rather than requiring system-wide reform. Whether there is a credible pathway to sustaining and financing scale-up without reliance on continued external support. 

Full application criteria 

A. Impact (30%) 

How effective the technology solution is in resolving the development challenge, and the likelihood that it will deliver meaningful and lasting change for the intended beneficiaries. This includes whether the expected outputs and results are clearly defined and realistic, and whether the solution addresses the root causes of the challenge rather than its symptoms. The extent to which the technology solution can contribute to helping DMCs reach the Sustainable Development Goals. 

B. Scalability (30%)  

The extent to which a successful solution could spread beyond the pilot and be sustained over time. This includes whether there is a plausible actor to take the solution to scale, such as a government agency, private provider, or development partner, and whether the solution could fit within existing systems, institutions, or workflows rather than requiring system-wide reform. Whether there is a credible pathway to sustaining and financing scale-up without reliance on continued external support. 

C. Pilot design (20%)  

The extent to which the proposed pilot is well designed and positioned to generate credible evidence in support of scale-up. This includes whether the overall approach is sound and appropriate to the context, whether the budget is realistic, well justified, and proportionate to the expected impact, and whether milestones are clearly defined and measurable. Project risks, including environmental and social are identified along with realistic and proportionate mitigation measures. 

D. Team (20%)  

The extent to which the team demonstrates the expertise, experience, and local knowledge needed to deliver the proposed pilot effectively. This includes the technical expertise of the core team in the relevant domain, a track record of implementing similar projects, and familiarity with the local context, regulatory environment, and community dynamics. The extent to which the proposal leverages local partners who bring relevant knowledge, networks, and credibility within the country of implementation.  

 

 

 

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PROPRIETARY RIGHTS 

If an Applicant is selected to receive a grant, the Applicant will be required to confirm that: 

  • They have the necessary rights to all technology solutions described in your application including without limitation all background (any data, know-how, intellectual property, or other information, whatever its form and whether tangible or intangible, that is held by you before receiving any grant from ADB and that is necessary to implement and undertake actions related to the technology solution) and any device or process necessary to make, use or sell such Technology Solutions existing at the time of your application submission; and 

  • They will defend and hold ADB and its  participating DMC harmless from all costs and expenses related to any suit, claim, or proceeding brought against ADB or its participating DMC based on any claim that the technology solution in whole or in part, as well as any device or process necessarily resulting from the use thereof, constitutes an infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of any third party.    

 

8. DISSEMINATION OF PROJECT RESULTS 

ADB requires the rights necessary to share knowledge related to innovations developed and funded via a TIC grant. If an Applicant is selected to receive a grant, ADB and the DMC has the right to publish the results of the TIC project implemented. Furthermore, ADB and the DMC shall have the right to use and share all descriptive information, data, deliverables data results supplied or collected during the TIC project. 

 

 9. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLOSURE 

When information provided in the context of a TIC application (whether orally or in writing, in electronic or printed form) is designated by an Applicant as confidential at the time it was disclosed, ADB will take reasonable measures in accordance with its policies and procedures, including its Access to Information Policy 2018, to hold the information confidential for a period of four years.

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