The Federal Government’s Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII) Pilot Round 2 program provides small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with grant funding to develop innovative solutions for government policy and service delivery challenges.

The program covers up to five challenges for which SMEs can develop solutions. These challenges are listed in the program guidelines and proposed by Australian Government agencies.

The total grant funding for the program per round is: $2 million for feasibility studies and $10 million for proofs of concept.

Applications close on 17th April 2019.

The program has three stages.

* Stage 1 Challenge Selection The Minister for Industry, Science and Technology approved the following 5 challenges for Round 2: Fast and secure digital identity verification for people experiencing family and domestic violence; Intelligent data to transform tourism service delivery; Uplifting government capability to help deliver world-leading digital services; Managing the biosecurity of hitchhiking pests and contaminants on shipping containers; Automating complex determinations for Australian Government information.

* Stage 2 Feasibility study – Stage 2 is open for small to medium sized enterprises to apply to conduct a feasibility study. The maximum grant amount for feasibility studies is $100,000 with a maximum grant period of three months. Challenge agencies assess and rank applications against the merit criteria. Innovation and Science Australia then assess applications, consider the challenge agency assessment and recommend which projects to fund. Finally, the Program Delegate approves recommended applications for funding. Successful SMEs conduct feasibility studies. If you successfully complete your feasibility study, you can apply for a proof of concept grant.

* Stage 3 Proof of concept – The maximum grant amount is $1 million with a maximum grant period of 18 months. Those grantees that successfully complete the feasibility study will be able to apply for the proof of concept stage.