Mayor’s Resilience Fund – FAQs

The Resilience Fund is the Mayor of London’s £1 million open innovation programme calling on  innovators to address key challenges facing London, help us emerge stronger from COVID-19 and ensure the capital is prepared for future disruptive challenges.

We will fund a range of proposals that will help London’s small businesses and civic society emerge from the current crisis stronger and more resilient. You can find out more about what each individual challenge is trying to achieve by visiting https://challengeworks.org/broader-programmes/mayors-resilience-fund. For the delivery of data-led projects, we champion the approach and methodology set out by the London Office of Technology And Innovation.

An open innovation competition is a public competition that aims to tap into and engage the broadest possible community of innovators in the solving of a specific problem or challenge. They are particularly suited to solving problems that share some key characteristics:

• Problems that are defined well enough so that a clear goal for innovators can be set.
• Problems that would benefit from the fresh thinking that comes from new innovators; for instance, because the field is stagnant, has few players, or there is a related field that is much more dynamic.
• Problems where a prize could attract new innovators to address them, within a reasonable budget and timescale.
• Problems where the additional funding and attention of the prize could address market failures, galvanise action and accelerate progress.
• Problems where the solution could thrive in the market (or find continued funding) after the prize is awarded.

The Resilience Fund is delivered by the Mayor of London in partnership with Challenge Works.

Challenge Works has been designing and running innovation challenges that help solve pressing problems that lack solutions for nearly 10 years. We shine a spotlight where it matters and incentivise people and organisations to solve these problems. We are independent supporters of change to help communities thrive and inspire the best placed, most diverse groups of people around the world to take action.

The Fund is running in four different stages.

Entries Open: 23 February 2021

Entries Close: 11:59pm GMT 04 April 2021

40 finalist innovators announced: Early May 2021

10 winning innovators announced: In June 2021

Innovators will be selected by a judging panel, who will assess entries based on the Fund’s assessment criteria which can be found on our website. The Resilience Partners and the Greater London Authority (GLA) will also participate in the assessment and selection process. More information on what the different challenges are looking for can be found in the respective challenge briefs on our website.

We recognize that the 10 different challenges are at varying stages, with different objectives and goals. We don’t have the same expectations for each challenge, and we recommend reading the “what good looks like” section on the individual challenge web pages.

During the initial delivery period you will also be working closely with the Resilience Partners who will be able to provide guidance throughout that phase.

We have selected 10 Resilience Partners – local authorities, public agencies, social enterprises and business improvement districts – to define a range of challenges that reflect the stresses facing London to help make our city a stronger, more robust place to live.  More details about each Resilience Partner can be found in the challenge briefs online at https://challengeworks.org/broader-programmes/mayors-resilience-fund.

We looked for organisations that were seeking a solution to a challenge compatible with London’s eight resilience themes as set out in the London Resilience Strategy, and that were willing to put in the time and resources needed to collaborate to find the solution. An open call for Resilience Partners was held from September – December 2020. The open call for Resilience Partners is now closed.

Resilience Partners are the problem holders enabling innovators to develop solutions around the challenges. They will provide support and guidance to innovators as they design their solutions. What each Resilience Partner will provide to innovators will vary depending on the challenge, but could include access to relevant data, networks, 1:1 meetings, workshops, access to pilot sites etc. See the relevant challenge page on our website for more information. 

The Resilience Partners will also participate in innovator assessment and selection.

You can find more information on each of these challenges on https://challengeworks.org/broader-programmes/mayors-resilience-fund.

Entries received by the relevant deadline will be assessed against the eligibility criteria set out below. Entries which do not meet the eligibility criteria shall not be accepted. Late entries will not be accepted. The eligibility criteria are final and the Greater London Authority (GLA) reserves the right to refuse any entry that does not meet the eligibility criteria or comply with the terms and conditions.

Eligibility criteria: 

• A London-based team, with a registered company/charity in the UK.
• Sole traders can apply but must show VAT registration, public liability insurance or employer’s liability insurance, and audited accounts or a profit and loss statement.
• You may enter as a single organisation or as a partnership, however partnerships must nominate a lead organisation (that is a registered entity).
• Entries will not be accepted from individuals.
• You can submit an entry for more than one challenge, but you must submit a separate application for each challenge.
• We cannot fund activity which is party-political in intention, use, or presentation nor to support or promote religious activity.
• Employees of Nesta, Greater London Authority, Resilience Partners or organisations working on the Prize, and their immediate families, are not eligible to enter.
• We are unable to accept entries from any organisation that is currently: bankrupt, in liquidation, having their affairs administered by the courts or entered into an arrangement with creditors.

Yes, you should be London-based, or have a strong London presence. All of the funding must be directed fully towards activities in London.

No. The lead partner should be London-based, or have a strong London presence. All of the funding must be directed fully towards activities in London.

The Fund is open to entries from any type of organisation or company registered in the UK. Partnerships and collaborations between organisations are also eligible. Sole traders are eligible.

Submit your entry online through the GLA Open Project System (GLA-OPS). Fund entries must be submitted by 11:59pm GMT 04 April 2021.

Before completing your form, make sure that you’ve:

• Read the FAQs, the funding terms and conditions and Privacy Policy, you can find links to these on our website.
• Reviewed the PDF version of our entry form.
• Familiarised yourself with the relevant challenge statement, the eligibility criteria, and the judging criteria and make sure you can clearly address them in your entry form.

If you are ready to enter, go to the entry page here. You will need to register your organisation on GLA-OPS. When registering, please select the Mayor’s Resilience Fund programme under “GLA Regeneration Unit”.

We will use the contact details you provide to contact you about the Challenge. If you do not respond within 14 days, or if you subsequently withdraw or are withdrawn from the Challenge for any reason, another entry may be selected in your place, but there is no requirement or obligation for this to happen.

We have designed the entry process to be as straightforward as possible. We advise you to start your entry before the deadline because we cannot be responsible for technical difficulties after the deadline of 11:59GMT 04 April 2021. The downloadable pdf entry form can be accessed here. If you have any problems with the online form please contact [email protected].

There are no fees to participate in the Fund.

No.

In the first round, up to 40 innovators (one per challenge) will be awarded £10k each, as well as access to capacity building support to develop their solution.

The Resilience Partners will also be offering access to various types of in-kind support to help innovators develop their solutions (e.g. access to data, testing sites etc), please see the individual challenges located at https://challengeworks.org/broader-programmes/mayors-resilience-fund for more information.

In the second round, 10 innovators will be selected as winners and will be awarded up to £40k each to implement their solution.

In addition to the grant money, participation in the fund will provide opportunities for:

• Route to market: Connect with potential customers, investors and partners and work with Londoners to refine your product offering
• Validate solutions: Test and validate your solutions directly with market leaders
• Business support: Access the knowledge, expertise and insights of our partner networks, and attend a programme of expert advice and training
• Raised profile: Increase your brand awareness and profile by taking part in the Mayor’s Resilience Fund

The grants will be paid in pounds sterling and the grantees are responsible for payment of tax and other charges in relation to the award of the Fund.

Visit the website https://challengeworks.org/broader-programmes/mayors-resilience-fund or https://www.tech.london/resilience or contact [email protected] about any questions you may have about the Mayor’s Resilience Fund.

Yes, contestants will retain rights over any intellectual property developed as a result of participation in the Fund, and will grant to the GLA a non-exclusive, perpetual, sub-licensable, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to the project intellectual property rights for the purpose of using, testing and developing the products. Where possible, we encourage entrants to demonstrate a willingness to follow the principles of open data and open standards as set out in the Emerging Technology Charter. This is not a requirement for entry, but is looked favourably upon.

Entries will be kept confidential. Entrants are required to share information (for example, any information included in their entry) with the GLA for the purposes of administering the Fund. The GLA may in turn share this information with our partners in this Fund, subject to appropriate obligations of confidentiality and data protection. More information on how we use your personal data is included in our Privacy Policy.

There are no set requirements for specific format or technology as long as it is accessible and visual and can be used by lots of different users with different IT skill levels. It needs to be open to use, and not require a license for use.

The spaces have been identified, and the Resilience Partner is in conversation with the developers. Access to these networks (spaces, developers, workspace operators) will be something the Resilience Partner will be able to provide during the first phase of delivery.

While cost is an important factor, it is not the only requirement for this challenge. Conversations with developers and other stakeholders lead the Resilience Partner to identify that shell and core is not an attractive option at the moment. In particular, without knowing who will occupy a space, and if they are a small business that will be occupying it for a short period of time, they may not be able to afford the costs of a re-design or it would not make financial sense.

The Resilience Partner is in the process of compiling information gathered from their networks and research, and should be able to provide this intel to the selected finalists.

This is to be determined as developers are on-boarded for this challenge. The two possible ways that this could be done are ask tenants to pay these directly or these are paid by landlords and these are reflected in the price.

This will be heavily dependent on the roadmap and the 5 week reviews. Although this is hard to predict, the plan is that in April there should be a wider opening of the street markets, and the return to be able to operate indoors in May. But the review in mid to late June will let markets know how they will be able to operate.

There are thousands of traders currently licensed to trade within the existing Local Authority markets in London. This solution will potentially unlock swift expansion and access to trading opportunities across London and offer a one click solution to entrepreneurs seeking a place in which to establish a pop up or start their own business.

Currently the control group consists of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Camden, RBKC and Southwark – five of London’s biggest market boroughs and over 3,000 trading pitches. More may come on board for the second phase of testing and beyond.

This would be determined during the first delivery phase as the innovators work on their solutions. But as the user must submit their documentation for a licence to trade in the market, it makes sense they would need to register.

Twenty markets will be supported in the control group initially with iconic markets such as Portabello rd, Broadway market , East Street market , Columbia rd and Leather lane to name but a few.

There are over 3,000 sites.

All devices (laptop / PC, mobile, tablet) would need to be supported.

The availability requirements are 24x7x365.

No, the system will not be expected to integrate into local authority systems at this time. However it will require the ability to recognise and forward onto local authorities selected by the user, all the documents uploaded – these will include files in word, excel, pdf formats and jpeg formats.

No payments will be taken directly by the local authority on approval and granting of licenses.

This would be determined during the first delivery phase as the innovators work on their solutions.

There is flexibility around how much human input the tool needs. In general, in the short term, a tool that can make recommendations at the level of detecting or understanding inefficiencies without much human input. But longer term impacts would probably require more human input.

Yes, some historic data will be made available to the innovators during the first delivery phase, as well as relevant inputs, such as transport data, building data, ordnance survey data etc. Although the innovator would have to have a good understanding on how air quality modelling works.

There is no exact figure for the amount of time it currently takes the council to identify sites for air quality. In terms of the expectation that a tool would have a 50% reduction in time taken, this is more of an internal measure of success and innovators would not be expected to adhere strictly to it.

We are not considering installing sensors as part of the project at present.

We would expect the effect of meteorology (including, but not limited to wind) to be taken into account in the modelling.

We are looking for a modelling tool which combines health and air quality data. The aim of the modelling would be to tell us what is the impact of pollution mitigation measures delivered in a certain area of the borough, on PM2.5 and therefore on mortality/morbidity. We are equally interested in the air quality and health impact.

The spaces have been identified, and the Resilience Partner is in conversation with the developers. Access to these networks (spaces, developers, workspace operators) will be something the Resilience Partner will be able to provide during the first phase of delivery.

While cost is an important factor, it is not the only requirement for this challenge. Conversations with developers and other stakeholders lead the Resilience Partner to identify that shell and core is not an attractive option at the moment. In particular, without knowing who will occupy a space, and if they are a small business that will be occupying it for a short period of time, they may not be able to afford the costs of a re-design or it would not make financial sense.

The Resilience Partner is in the process of compiling information gathered from their networks and research, and should be able to provide this intel to the selected finalists. We recommend applicants to speak to the executive director of the Hackney Wick and Fish Island Community Development Trust (CDT) [email protected] 

This is to be determined as developers are on-boarded for this challenge. The two possible ways that this could be done are to ask tenants to pay these directly or these are paid by landlords and these are reflected in the price.

We have no expectation around the price of fit-out per sq ft and would welcome any submission proposing to provide insight on what savings can be achieved.

No.

Although the brief is design-led, we will welcome submission in teams of consortia with a blend of skills, including design skills. Additional skills or experience could include: workspace operations (especially affordable workspace provision), local knowledge, understanding of the commercial space market and values, delivery of fit-out. We recommend that submissions include input from a workspace provider.

The end-user tenants are small businesses or organisations, preferably local to the Hackney Wick and Fish Island area. There is a high concentration of creative businesses, ranging from fine artists to digital creative businesses who work more in an office set-up. Some of these tenants will be looking for space for more community uses or temporary uses, e.g. making a space usable for local groups to have classes etc. We would like to explore solutions that can range across sectors.

No developer has confirmed their participation in the challenge but we have had positive conversations with East Wick and Sweetwater and the developer at 415 Wick Lane. We will confirm the opportunity to visit units, as well as a list of units to look at, during Phase 1 of delivery. Some of these units will still be under construction.

There is no expectation that this funding would deliver an actual fit-out or transform a space, we are after a model or a framework that would help end-users/ prospective tenants/ developers overcome the fit-out challenges. We expect the solutions to also be a catalyst for conversations with the local developers who will participate in the challenge.

We want to focus on what is needed locally and we know there is a high demand for workspace that accommodates messy or noisy uses. So we want solutions to consider and work for those uses. 

Deadline to submit proposals is 1st April, 3 to 4 finalists will be selected to further refine their solutions during 5 weeks, after which one team of innovators will be selected to further develop their solution between June and September 2021.