A Chips JU Innovation Action (IA) primarily consists of activities aiming at technology or method introduction, pilot lines, test beds, demonstrators, innovation pilots and zones of full-scale testing. These activities produce plans and arrangements or designs for new, altered, or improved products, processes, methods and tools or services. For this purpose, they may include prototyping, testing, demonstrating, piloting, large-scale product validation and market replication.

A ‘technology or method introduction’ aims at the development, testing, and implementation of new technologies, tools or methods, which are a critical element of innovative products, which will be created in subsequent projects.

A ‘demonstration or pilot’ aims to validate the technical and economic viability of a new or improved technology, product, process, service or solution in an operational (or nearly operational) environment, whether industrial or otherwise, involving, where appropriate, a larger scale prototype or demonstrator.

A ‘market replication’ aims to support the first application/deployment in the market of an innovation that has already been demonstrated but not yet applied/deployed in the market due to market failures/barriers to uptake. ‘Market replication’ does not cover multiple applications in the market of an innovation that has already been applied successfully once in the market. ‘First’ means new at least to Europe or new at least to the application sector in question. Often such projects involve a validation of technical and economic performance at system level in real life operating conditions provided by the market.