NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION AGENCY OF EUROPEAN INNOVATIONS

Their core work

AEI is a Ukrainian NGO based in Lviv that operates as a National Contact Point (NCP) for ICT and digital programmes under H2020, helping Ukrainian researchers and organizations navigate EU funding applications and connect with European partners. Their work centres on two distinct but complementary activities: supporting the trans-national coordination network of ICT NCPs across Europe and associated countries, and promoting the translation of research outputs into policy through digital communication and social media. As an NCP, they advise applicants on proposal writing, partner search, and programme rules — a brokering and facilitation role rather than a technical research one. Their position as a non-EU participant in large pan-European coordination consortia makes them a gateway for Ukrainian ICT actors into the H2020 ecosystem.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

AEI's two projects span 2017–2021 and show a short but legible trajectory. Their entry point was COMPACT (2017), a project about amplifying research through social media for policy impact — a broad communication and dissemination role with no specific technical domain. By 2019 they had moved into the more structured Idealist2020 network, which is the formal coordination framework for ICT NCPs across H2020 countries, suggesting they formalised their NCP status and deepened their institutional position within the EU funding ecosystem. The shift from generic science communication toward specialised NCP coordination for ICT is a clear professionalisation of their EU intermediary role.

AEI is consolidating its identity as a formal ICT NCP for Ukraine, making them a likely long-term fixture in any H2020/Horizon Europe support infrastructure project that requires Ukrainian institutional participation.

How they like to work

AEI has participated in both projects as a consortium member, never as coordinator, which is consistent with the NCP model where each national contact point joins a shared coordination consortium led by a more established partner. Their two projects collectively brought in 45 unique partners across 31 countries, reflecting the large pan-European structure of NCP networks like Idealist rather than deep bilateral relationships. Working with them means engaging a facilitation-oriented partner whose value lies in access to national networks and applicant communities, not in technical research capacity.

Despite only two projects, AEI has touched 45 unique partners across 31 countries — a footprint explained by the large all-NCP consortia they joined, which typically include one representative from every EU and associated country. Their network is broad but structurally shallow, reflecting participation in shared European coordination frameworks rather than recurring bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

AEI is one of the very few Ukrainian NGOs with a documented formal role as an ICT NCP inside the H2020 system, giving them a distinct institutional bridge function between the Ukrainian digital research community and European funding bodies. For a consortium that needs a Ukrainian partner with EU programme familiarity and local researcher access, AEI fills a gap that most research universities or companies cannot — they exist specifically to navigate the interface between national science ecosystems and EU frameworks. Their NGO status also makes them a flexible, low-overhead partner for coordination and dissemination tasks.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Idealist2020
  AEI's participation in this flagship ICT NCP coordination network — spanning virtually all H2020 countries — confirms their formal NCP status and is the clearest evidence of their core institutional role.
• COMPACT
  Largest project by funding and the earliest, showing AEI's capacity to contribute to research communication and policy outreach beyond the narrow NCP mandate.