The success story of the YouControl company, presented by Svitlana Stepanenko, Manager of the development of the company’s international projects and partnerships.

YouControl – is a Ukrainian IT company that creates services based on open data. Its flagship product – is the analytical system of the same name for compliance, business analytics, OSINT, proper checks in the field of financial monitoring and taxation, compliance with ESG standards. As a socially responsible company, it actively works with journalists and social activists to combat corruption, make procurement transparent and help expose corruption schemes.

In addition, the YouControl ecosystem includes the YC World product, which allows you to carry out in-depth inspections of companies around the world, identify suspicious connections, connections with politically significant persons, check companies for belonging to sanctions lists or states that support war and terrorism. This product is in demand among representatives of law enforcement agencies, researchers of international corruption and investigative journalists.

The company includes a special department that constantly monitors opportunities for attracting financing and implementing partner projects. During such monitoring, the department’s employees found information about the Horizon Europe Programme (and the previous programme Horizon 2020) as the largest EU research and innovation programme.

Previously, the company’s team had already prepared project proposals, but due to lack of experience and lack of understanding of some features of the Programme, it received refusals. At the same time, employees actively and on an ongoing basis worked a lot to expand networking. Therefore, the partner organisation approached them with a proposal to join the consortium and start working together on a competitive application. Common views and coordinated work helped to better understand the specifics of Horizon Europe grant calls and requirements for project proposals. Also very valuable was the experience of consortium partners who had previously submitted and won such calls.

Thus, priority Clusters 2 and 4 were selected, dealing with democracy and digital innovation – topics that are daily work for the company. As a result, the company received two grants today, several more applications are waiting for the response.

In more detail, the projects that the company is already successfully implementing under the Programme are projects in which participation is directly linked to increased transparency and trust: BRIDGEGAP and CEDAR.

Thus, the BRIDGEGAP project is aimed at overcoming gaps in evidence, regulation and impact of anti-corruption policy. It contributes to increasing transparency and accountability in European and candidate countries, helping both scientists, the public and politicians to have access to objective data for decision-making in the field of anti-corruption policy.

The CEDAR project creates common European data spaces and artificial intelligence for transparent public administration. It helps European governments move towards digital, transparent and accountable governance using big data and innovative technologies. YouControl is responsible for the development of a Ukrainian pilot project that will demonstrate the application of the methods and tools offered by the consortium. The pilot is dedicated to analysing tenders for the reconstruction of Ukraine to help monitor the use of international aid funds and reduce the risks of corruption in the recovery process.

However, the company did not stop there. Having gained some management experience within the assigned tasks as beneficiaries in the process of implementing those projects, the YouControl team began to try to independently form ideas and invite partners to the consortium. In particular, in one of the projects, the company acts as a leader of the Ukrainian pilot, also coordinating the work of several partner organisations from Ukraine. Several proposals have also been prepared as a consortium coordinator.

Formation of project applications always involves teamwork. When the company did not act as a coordinator, it actively cooperated with partners to agree on all the details and create a quality application. However, having gained a basic understanding of what a consortium should look like and what should be indicated in the application, YouControl has taken on the role of coordinator of several projects, accordingly, most of the work on preparing the application and involving partners fell on it.

Project team members have been in touch with the coordinators from the very beginning of the discussion of the idea until today. Communication with other partners was gradually established in a working order: through online meetings and correspondence. Joint activities provided for by the projects also help a lot to build communication. Issues that arose during the work were usually resolved in a working order. If something needed further explanation, the team could always consult with the coordinator. The understanding that you are together responsible for achieving a common goal, each in its own part, greatly strengthened the work.

The real challenge for the team was working with the EU portal Funding & Tenders Portal, through which all official processes of participation in the Horizon Europe calls took place. This is a very large amount of information. It was necessary to understand many details: from the registration of the organisation to the definition of roles for employees, the appointment of LEAR, etc. First, it looked quite confusing, but after the team went through all the steps and researched the materials available on the F&T Portal, the process became clear and predictable. After all, with practice, everything becomes clear and easier to implement.

The direct signing of the Grant Agreement after receiving information that the company’s project was selected for financing also became a considerable challenge for the team, primarily for lawyers. It was necessary to carefully read each point and understand whether it is consistent with the company’s activities in terms of Ukrainian legislation. So the process was long and painstaking.

At the initial stage of project implementation, the biggest difficulties were to clearly understand the roles of all partners who are responsible for what, to understand different types of meetings and reporting, in particular, how to correctly fill out reports on project results and which stages and aspects are the most important. Working with new requirements for the team, adapting expertise to the European framework was difficult. However, the participants of the project team gained experience, and gradually the process became much clearer and more structured.

In addition, in the process of project implementation, synergy in cooperation between business and research organisations was noted, when academic and practical expertise are combined. An additional motivator for the team was obtaining a positive conclusion after evaluating the results of the implementation of its projects.

The representative of the company does not yet want to talk about the general results of the work, since the projects are still in the process of implementation. However, if we are talking about fundraising goals, then they were achieved, because the projects received funding. YouControl plans to continue participating in the HE calls, as the Programme has opened up new opportunities and the team sees a perspective in the development of both its own ideas and partner projects.

Tips and wishes from the YouControl project team for those who are still thinking about participating in the Programme or in the process of submitting a project application

“Ukrainian companies have something to show the European Union. Our experience of working in conditions of war and challenges makes Ukrainian achievements especially valuable for the entire European community. Horizon Europe – is an opportunity to turn these achievements into international projects, find partners and show that Ukraine is an equal participant in the European innovation ecosystem. In addition, from our experience, Ukrainian participants are usually more flexible and faster in responding to certain challenges and finding solutions for them”, – said Svitlana Stepanenko.

She added that the Programme was at the same time a long-term history: new demands, partnerships, planning for years ahead. Therefore, the manager of the development of international projects and partnerships of the company advised to carefully read the terms of calls, prepare in advance and think strategically. And to clarify unclear aspects or get a general idea of a certain call, to be in touch with the HE National Contact Points in the relevant area of activity.

“Don’t be afraid to take the first steps, even if it seems difficult. Participation in Horizon Europe provides an opportunity to work not only for your team and country, but also to contribute to the development of the entire European community”, – concluded the representative of YouControl.