Digital Innovation Programme (R&D on AI, data and security, Malta)

What it funds

Industrial research and experimental development projects, from technology readiness level 1 to 7, across seven areas: generative and agentic artificial intelligence, digital security and identity, data analytics and knowledge graphs, sustainable cloud and edge computing, emerging technologies, compliance with EU digital rules such as the AI Act, and tools for the Maltese language. It mostly pays for the staff working on the project, plus specialized equipment and software, consumables and a flat-rate share of overheads. The rules are in the Rules for Participation, in three versions depending on the aid regime chosen.

Requirements and what is left out

• Be an entity registered in Malta; companies take part alone or in a consortium with other Maltese entities.
• Choose the regime: de minimis (Option A1, the full intensity listed here) or the General Block Exemption Regulation (Option A2), which starts at a quarter of costs and rises for small and medium-sized companies and for collaborative or widely disseminated projects.
• Projects run for two years with no extension, and for the 2026 call had to start by November 1.
• Work given to third parties, consultancy included, stays within a quarter of the project value; equipment and consumables together stay within half.
• Staff hourly rates are capped by role, at levels the rules set year by year.
• No other public grant for the same scope, except the sub-grant for the MDIA regulatory sandbox (TARF), added when the MDIA asks for enrollment.
• Left out: reproducing an existing product, recoverable VAT, standard office equipment, overtime, and patent and publication costs.
• The share not covered is paid in cash: in-kind co-financing is not accepted.

How to apply

The 2026 call is closed and the scheme runs once a year: these steps apply to the next one, to be checked again when Xjenza Malta publishes the new page.

1. Download the rules for the chosen regime and the application form from the call page.
2. Complete the MDIA TARF Level 0 self-assessment, mandatory with the application.
3. Prepare the detailed budget for each partner, in Excel and in PDF.
4. Email everything to the address on the call page before the deadline.

Three external evaluators score each proposal; the best project in each area is funded, and the rest follow in ranking order while funds last.

What this budget builds

This is a research grant, not a purchase grant: it pays the hours of people developing something new, so it needs a technical problem no product on the market already solves. I help scope that problem, split the work between the in-house team and outside help while staying under the subcontracting cap, and design the system so the TARF assessment and the AI Act requirements are already covered when the prototype reaches the sandbox.

This entry is informational and is not advice: I do not handle grant applications, and before committing to a purchase it is worth reading the official source above or talking to whoever files the application.