Project Management Guideline & Quality Plan

D9.1 – Project management guideline & quality plan December 2021 Authors: Fuensanta Monzó (CETEC), Federico Mesa (CETEC). Ref. Ares(2021)8001458 - 29/12/2021 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 2 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 1 TECHNICAL REFERENCES Project Acronym Agro2Circular Project Title TERRITORIAL CIRCULAR SYSTEMIC SOLUTION FOR THE UPCYCLING OF RESIDUES FROM THE AGRIFOOD SECTOR Project Coordinator Fuensanta Monzó CETEC [email protected] Project Duration October 2021 – September 2024 (36 months) Deliverable No. D9.1 Dissemination level* PU Work Package WP 9 – Project management and coordination activities Tasks T9.1 – Project coordination. Quality assurance and risk management T9.2 – Administrative and finacial coordination Lead beneficiary CETEC Contributing beneficiary/ies Due date of deliverable 31 December 2021 Actual submission date 31 December 2021 PU = Public PP = Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE = Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services) CO = Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services) Document history V Date Comments v0.1 09/12/21 First draft of document v0.2 28/12/21 Revised version based on the comments of Giuliana Folco from ICONS, Arantza Blanco from Kveloce v1.0 28/12/21 First final version, approved by the WP leader and the project coordinator, (will be) submitted to EC. v1.1 First draft based upon first final version v2.0 Second final version, approved by the WP leader and the project coordinator, (will be) submitted to EC. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 3 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Document Distribution Log Version Date Distributed to v0.1 09/12/2021 Project management board Verification and approval Name Date Verification Final Draft by WP leader Fuensanta Monzó (CETEC) 28/12/21 Approval Final Deliverable by coordinator Fuensanta Monzó (CETEC) 28/12/21 Disclaimer and acknowledgement This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101036838 Disclaimer This document reflects only the views of the author(s) the European Research Executive Agency (REA) is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Whilst efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this document, the A2C consortium shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, however caused. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 4 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 TECHNICAL REFERENCES 2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7 4 GLOSSARY 8 5 OBJECTIVES 9 6 SCOPE 9 7 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS 10 8 PROJECT MANAGEMENT and quality plan 10 9 PROJECT ORGANIZATION 11 9.1 CONSORTIUM ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 12 9.2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT BOARD 13 10 PROJECT COORDINATION 13 11 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT 14 11.1 MEETINGS 14 11.1.1 Procedure 14 11.1.2 Type of meetings 15 11.2 A2C PLATFORM 19 11.2.1 Google Platform System 19 11.2.2 A2C website 19 11.2.3 A2C Drive for information storage 21 11.2.4 Shared Calendar 23 11.2.5 Emailing 23 12 MONITORING PROJECT PERFORMANCE 24 12.1 WP ANNUAL PLANS 24 12.2 TASK STATUS REPORTS 25 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 5 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 12.3 ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL COORDINATION 25 12.4 PROJECT PROGRESS INTERNAL AUDITS 27 12.5 MANAGEMENT OF ISSUES AND DECISIONS 28 12.5.1 Issues management 28 12.5.2 Conflict resolution 30 12.5.3 Decision making 31 12.6 MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT CHANGES 32 12.7 RISK MANAGEMENT 34 12.7.1 Step 1: Risk Identification 35 12.7.2 Step 2 Risk assessment 35 12.7.3 Step 3: Risk Response Development 36 12.7.4 Step 4: Risk Control 37 12.7.5 Risk Management Roles and Responsibilities 37 13 PROJECT OUTPUTS 38 13.1 REPORT FOR PAYMENT REQUEST 38 13.2 DELIVERABLES 38 13.2.1 General elaboration rules 38 13.2.2 Roles and responsibilities 40 13.3 DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION PRODUCTS 41 13.4 ARTEFACTS 42 14 QUALITY MANAGEMENT 42 14.1 QUALITY ASSURANCE 43 14.2 DELIVERABLE QUALITY ASSURANCE 43 14.2.1 Deliverable review plan 43 14.2.2 Deliverable Internal Peer Review 44 14.2.3 Deliverable review roles and responsibilities 44 14.3 QUALITY CONTROL 45 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 6 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 15 ANNEX A: Meeting agenda and minutes templates 46 16 ANNEX B WP status report template 48 17 ANNEX C Project progress internal audit report template 54 18 ANNEX D Issue log template 57 19 ANNEX E Decision log template 59 20 ANNEX F Change log and change request form 60 21 ANNEX G Risk log template 62 22 ANNEX H Deliverable template 63 23 ANNEX I Quality check list template 65 24 ANNEX J Project status checklist 74 25 ANNEX K STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL SITUATION 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 7 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A2C Agro2Circular AoM Agenda of meeting DoA Description of the action CDS Communication & Dissemination Strategy ExC Exploitation committee GA General assembly IPR Intellectual property right KPIs Key performance indicators MoMs Minutes of meetings PC Project coordinator PM Project manager PMB Project management board PM2 P-M squared REA European Research Executive Agency SP Stakeholder panel WPSR Work Package Status Report TC Technical committee TM Technical manager WP Work Package Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 8 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 4 GLOSSARY Artefacts: Artefacts are tangible outputs of project management activities, such as Work Plans, Meeting Minutes, Logs, Checklists and Reports. Closing Phase: The Closing Phase is the final phase of the project. During this phase, project activities are completed, Lessons Learned are discussed and documented, the finished deliverables are transferred to the care, custody and control of the European Commission, and the project is administratively closed. DoA: In an H2020 project, the description of action is a document that captures the essence of the envisaged solution in the form of high-level needs and features that gives the reader an overview of the final project deliverable(s). It includes the Project Work Plan and information regarding the project scope, cost, time and risks, as well as information such as milestones, deliverables, and project organisation and approach. The DoA contains the Project Charter and the Project Work Plan of a PM2 project. Executing Phase: The Executing Phase is the third phase in a PM² project, after Initiating and Planning. It is where the project activities are carried out as defined in the project plans and the project deliverables are produced. Initiating Phase: The Initiating Phase is the first phase in a PM² project. Its purpose is (1) to define what the project will do (formulate the objective of the project), (2) perform some initial planning to get the project off to a good start and (3) to provide and present the necessary information to get approval for the project. In A2C the initiating phase was the preparation of the project proposal, Grant Agreement and Consortium Agreement. Issue: An issue is any unplanned event related to the project that has already happened and requires the intervention of the project management board. Metric: A metric is a quantifiable value that makes it possible to measure the achievement of a project/service/deliverable/process/activity objective. Metrics should be specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and captured at the right time. Milestones: A milestone refers to a significant point or event in a project that receives special attention. Milestones can also be used to mark key deliverables, control points, the acceptance of final outputs and closing the project. Monitor & Control: Monitor & Control is a group of continuous activities that spans the life of a project. These activities are focused on measuring the correct execution of the project Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 9 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. against the agreed baselines using key metrics like costs, time and quality indicators, and taking corrective actions if the execution goes too far off plan. Planning Phase: The Planning Phase is the second phase of a PM² project in which the subject of the project is verified and developed into a workable plan for implementation. The various standard and specific plans for the project are created in this phase. Project Work Plan: The Project Work Plan identifies and organises the project into deliverables, work packages, activities and tasks, needed to achieve the project objectives. It establishes a base from which to estimate the duration of the project, determine the required resources and schedule the work. Quality Assurance: Quality Assurance (QA) is the activity of providing the evidence needed to establish the quality of work and therefore provide enough confidence that the project will satisfy the desired scope and quality requirements within its constraints. Quality Control: Quality control is the activity of monitoring and consolidating results of Quality Assurance (QA) in order to assess compliance and performance, recommend necessary changes, and plan new or refine existing quality assurance activities Risk: A risk is an uncertain event or set of events (positive or negative) that, if it occurs, will have an effect on the achievement of project objectives. A risk is generally measured by a combination of the likelihood (probability of the risk happening) and the size of the impact on the project. Risk owner: The risk owner is the person accountable for the implementation of the actions derived from a specific risk assessment. 5 OBJECTIVES The objective of this deliverable is to establish and describe the methodology, procedures, and activities of planning, organising, securing, monitoring, and managing the resources and work necessary to deliver the specific project goals and objectives in an effective and efficient way. 6 SCOPE This project management guideline and quality plan is based on PM2 methodology, a Project Management Methodology developed by the European Commission, though has been tailored to be applied for Agro2Circular project, according to the project’s specific needs, and will cover Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 16 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. ● Summarise the discussion (decisions, actions, and risk). Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form MEETING GA meetings Purpose Discuss strategic issues relating to the project and its progress, harmonize activities, solve potential conflicts and decide on major issues Location Defined by the project coordinator Frequency Every six months Chairperson Project Coordinator Minutes by To be defined by the Project Coordinator Attendees All members of the consortium Agenda Items At least ● Progress status review (review of every WP Status by every WP leader); o Accomplishments (Current and Planned actions); o Indicator review. o Plans reviews o Actual work vs Planned; o Milestone status; o Risks status o Results ● Current deliverables status ● Issues & decisions status ● Change management: o Assess new change requests. ● Project management & Quality assurance aspects ● Budget review Distribution list All participants are invited. Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form MEETING PMB meetings Purpose ● Management review meeting. Location Defined by the Project coordinator Frequency At least quarterly Chairperson Project Coordinator Minutes by Defined by the project coordinator Attendees Project Coordinator Technical Manager Project Manager Systemic approach Manager Outreach Manager WP leaders of ongoing WPs Agenda Items At least ● Accomplishments for this period; ● Problems encountered and actions taken; Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 17 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. ● Major points meriting management attention; ● Subjects to be realised until next milestone/meeting; ● Evaluation of current status with respect to project scope, project budget, project finish date; ● Status of issues/actions, decisions. ● Status of risks and related actions ● New proposed changes ● Formal approvals / Commitments ● Propose decisions and prepare the agenda of the General Assembly Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form. ● WP status reports written in MS word and uploaded to the A2 platform using the form to send documents. MEETING Technical committee meetings Purpose Discuss technical issues. Location Defined by the Technical Manager Frequency Every 3 months Chairperson Technical Manager Minutes by To be defined by the Technical Manager Attendees All members of the Technical Committee Agenda Items At least ● Review of identified risk and approval of assessments and actions ● Technical issues ● Technological and scientific progress & milestones ● Propose decisions and prepare the agenda of the General Assembly Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form MEETING Exploitation committee meetings Purpose Discuss exploitation & IPR issues of the project outcomes Location Defined by the Outreach Manager Frequency To be defined by the Outreach Manager Chairperson Outreach Manager Minutes by To be defined by the Outreach Manager Attendees All members of the Exploitation Committee Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 18 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Agenda Items At least ● Exploitation plan ● IPR assessment ● Innovation monitoring ● CDS & KPIs ● Outreach local desk ● Propose decisions and prepare the agenda of the General Assembly Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form MEETING WP meetings Purpose Coordination of WP and Tasks involved Location Defined by the WP leaders Frequency At least every three months Chairperson WP leader Minutes by To be defined by the WP leaders Attendees At least WP leader and Task leaders Agenda Items At least ● Discuss all points of the WP status report: ● o Accomplishments (Current and Planned actions); o Plans reviews o Actual work vs Planned; o Milestone status; o Risks identification, assessment and response o Arising issues (technical, coordination, resources) o Results & dissemination activities Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form MEETING SP meetings Purpose Feedback from stakeholders Location Defined by the Systemic Approach Manager Frequency Twice a year Chairperson Systemic Approach Manager Minutes by To be defined by the Systemic Approach Manager Attendees At least Project management Board Stakeholder panel Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 19 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Agenda Items At least ● Main project results ● Recommendations from the stakeholder panel on the necessary features of the project’ results and systemic approach: o Market routes and implementation vehicles o Environmental, socio-cultural & socio-economic impact of A2C solution. o Policies affecting A2C solution Media ● Meeting minutes written in MS word and uploaded to A2C platform using the meeting form Technical review meeting: The Project Coordinator will make the necessary arrangements for the mandatory midterm review meeting by the EC Officer and external experts. 11.2 A2C PLATFORM A2C platform is an internal, password-restricted web-based shared working environment, a Google Work Space platform created for A2C project communication and information storage. 11.2.1 Google Platform System A2C platform is a Google Workspace for day-to-day communication by e-mail or chat, Calendar for meeting and tasks planning, Meet for on-line meeting, Drive for information storage and a website for document uploading to A2C Drive through proper forms as well as for information consultancy and downloading. All partners have access to this platform with their organization’s emails and password. 11.2.2 A2C website All partners can access the A2C information either through the website (Figure 3) or the drive. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 20 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Figure 3: Access to documents through the website Documents must always be uploaded to the drive folders, using the “Sending Docs” forms available on the website, selecting to which WP folder partners want to upload the document (Figure 4). There are also specific forms to upload the information about dissemination & communication, and meetings. Figure 4: Uploading of documents through A2C website Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 21 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Once the specific work package is selected, the form will pop up with all the fields that are required to be filled in. Every form will contain the important instructions for their proper filling in. The uploading of documents will be automatically recorded in an excel sheet, as an updated log list of submitted documents, which will include important fields such as type of document, date of submission, who uploaded it and the link to the document. 11.2.3 A2C Drive for information storage A2C Drive is organized in the following folders 1 00 A2C general (access to every partner for reading and downloading) Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 22 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 2. 02 A2C Work Package folder that contains a folder for every work package and every task (access to every partner for reading and downloading) Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 23 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. WP leaders and Task leaders will have permission for editing in their corresponding WP and Task though documents must be always uploaded through the website forms. 11.2.4 Shared Calendar There is a shared calendar to set meetings and check the activities schedules. Only the WP leaders have permission for editing the calendar. 11.2.5 Emailing E-mails are an important tool for communication. To facilitate the seeking and organization of emails by all partners, the subject of the emails involved in the project A2C must start with A2C_WPX, so that the recipient can easily identify the project and work package to which it refers. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 24 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 12 MONITORING PROJECT PERFORMANCE The purpose of monitoring the project performance is to collect information in order to evaluate the state of the project’s progress and overall health. The Project Coordinator and Project Manager will track the project dimensions of scope, schedule, cost and quality, monitor risks, issues and project change, and forecast their evolution for the purpose of reporting the overall project progress (project progress reports). The project coordinator will use the baselined Project Work Plan, milestones, and WP annual work plans as a reference for monitoring the project performance, and will track the scope and schedule using the information gathered from the MoMs and WP leaders reporting (WP status reports). After receiving the WP status reports, the project coordinator will perform an internal audit of the project performance and prepare the project progress audit report where the project performance will be assessed, including project indicators and metrics for evaluating progress, conclusions, and proposed contingency measures in case any issues arise. Internal reporting: The project coordinator will request the following inputs from the WP leaders in order to collect all the information necessary for the project progress monitoring and control: - WP annual work plans - Task status reports The project manager will request financial planning and reporting from every partner: - Budget execution planning - Statement of financial situation. Monitoring and control: important aspects of the project will be managed as part of the activities necessary for the project monitoring and control: - Control of the project progress (Scope & Schedule) through internal audits. - Management of issues and decisions - Management of changes - Management of risks 12.1 WP ANNUAL PLANS The project DoA includes the project Gantt and scheduled milestones, with a detailed description of the objectives and work to be done in every work-packages and sub-tasks. To Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 25 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. assure the proper performance of all project works, every WP leader must prepare, together with the task leaders, a WP annual work plan in a Gantt chart, trying to itemize all activities required as much as possible to easy the monitoring of the WP progress by the task leaders, WP leader and Project Coordinator. The WP annual plans will be delivered to the Project Coordinator during the first month of every reporting year, using the “Sending Docs form WP9-Task 9.1” available in A2C platform. 12.2 TASK STATUS REPORTS These reports are required by the Project Coordinator to monitor the progress of the project. Each partner will contribute, sending details on the progress in their own activities to the respective Task leader. Annex B presents the template each task leader is required to use for the Task Status report and instructions on how to complete it. The template includes, besides all the activities carried out, any deviation or change of what was planned, issues that may come up, results and achievements and the risks identification and analysis. Task leaders will produce an annual Task Status Report that will be quarterly updated and discussed in the quarterly WP meetings. The Task leaders will upload the first version of the report, using the “Sending Docs Form” available in the A2C platform, to the corresponding WP and task, version that will be quarterly updated online. 12.3 ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL COORDINATION The project manager is responsible for the administrative and financial coordination of the project, and will compare the budget execution planning with the financial situation and dregree of execution. Budget execution planning (BEP) must be carried out in order to be able to manage the budget with the minimum margin of error. Once the GANTT schedule and the budget are known, the planning consists of linking both of them in order to be clear about the cost to be incurred in each period. There are cost items that will be distributed throughout the execution of the project: * Personnel. * Amortization. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 32 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. decisions will be binding after the Project Coordinator sends to all Members of the Consortium Body a written notification of this acceptance. 12.6 MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT CHANGES Project change management aims to bring transparency, accountability and traceability to all project changes implemented after the project scope and project plans have been baselined. It ensures that changes with a significant impact in any of the project dimensions (i.e. scope, time, cost, quality or risk) are properly assessed, agreed on and approved by the appropriate level of authority. The project change management process defines the activities related to identifying, documenting, assessing, approving, prioritising, planning and controlling changes, and communicating them to the General Assembly. The change management process for this project is a five-step process and falls under the responsibilities of the Project Coordinator who should execute the process when required throughout the project lifecycle. Step 1: Change Identification: The purpose of this step is to facilitate the identification and documentation of change requests to project baselines as scope, requirements, deliverables, resources, costs, schedule, or quality characteristics. Changes can be requested (or identified and raised) throughout the project lifecycle by any member of the Consortium. After receiving a change request, the Project Coordinator registers the requested change in the Change Log and makes sure the change request is described using the Change Request Form (ANNEX F). A request for a change can be submitted formally via a Change Request Form, or can be identified and raised during meetings as a result of decisions, issues or risks. The Change Log contains information to be fulfilled at this stage, such as the change identifier, the name of the requestor, the date of identification, the change category (e.g. new requirement, issue or risk related, business, etc.), the change details and impact, and the status of the change. Step 2: Change Assessment and Action Recommendation: The purpose of this step is to assess a) whether this request is indeed a project change, b) to define the different options to meet this request, c) to assess the size of the identified change for each option defined in terms of the impact to the project objectives, quality, risk, schedule, Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 33 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. cost, effort, and the contract with the contractor, and d) to decide on a priority for the implementation of that change request. After this assessment, the recommended action will be detailed with the necessary steps, deliverables, cost, timescale and resources involved. Be aware that the recommended action may be to reject the requested change. This information will be documented by the Project Coordinator in the Change Log, which is then used as an input to the formal change approval or rejection by the appropriate decision makers. New changes can generate new risks, issues or quality requirements and therefore change assessment will include the assessment of current or new risks, issues and quality requirements. The design of the change implementation (action) will also impact cost, scheduling and resources assigned to the project, so all these dimensions will be assessed before change approval. It is important to bear in mind that a change may require an amendment that implies a considerable amount of administrative work that is costly and may delay the project. Step 3: Change Approval The purpose of this step is to achieve a decision regarding the approval or rejection of the change according to section 10.4.2. Changes classified with high size will always be communicated to the Project Officer. There are four possible decisions to be considered: Approve, Reject, Postpone, or Merge the change request. The decision details are documented in the Change Log. Key decisions may also be logged in the Decision log. If the change request needs further information or clarification, it returns to the "Change Assessment and Action Recommendation" step. Step 4: Change Implementation For the approved or merged changes, the WP leaders will incorporate the actions related to these changes into the WP annual work plans and update project related documentation (e.g. Risk Log, Issue Log, Decision Log, Quality Review Checklist and Deliverables Acceptance Checklist, if applicable). Step 5: Change Control The purpose of this step is to monitor and control project changes, to be able to easily communicate them to the several decision layers of the project, for approval or status updates. The Project Coordinator will collect any changes to the project or related actions and control the status of each change management activity. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 34 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. WP meetings will be used to revise the status of changes and related actions, and to identify new changes. The Project Coordinator is responsible for updating the Change Log, which can include adding new changes, updating change status, updating effort estimation, modifying size and/or priority levels based on changes in project environment, etc. Additionally, the Project Coordinator will report periodically (quarterly) the status of project changes to the Project Management Board and, when adequate, to other project participants. 12.7 RISK MANAGEMENT Risk management is an important part of the project management because it is a way of assuring the quality of the project, identifying possible lack of quality and proposing preventive measures, as well as a way of anticipating possible issues that could affect the proper execution of the project and the achievement of its objectives, by proposing contingency measures to prevent such events from occurring. The project risk management process defines the activities to identify, assess, prioritise, manage and control risks. This process is divided into four steps (Figure 5). Figure 5: Risk management process Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 35 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 12.7.1 Step 1: Risk Identification Risks must be continuously identified throughout the project lifecycle; however, very early during the preparation of the project proposal, an initial list of foreseen risks was created which can be found in the Annex 1 (part A) section 1.3.5 of the Grant Agreement, where proposed mitigation and contingency actions have also been included. These already identified risks, together with those new risks identified during the project, will be recorded in the Risk Log, according to the template shown in ANNEX G, which contains the risks identifier, risk ID and short description, the risk category and owner, as well as strategies, actions and timing, all in order to facilitate the monitoring and control of all aspects of the risks. The Risk will be identified with an ID coding: RLX where X is a consecutive number. The risk identification is made through a systemic approach based on the project objectives, using different tools and techniques such as desk review, brainstorming or workshops/meeting, on the basis of the knowledge and experience of the partners. The following risk categories have been included in the risk identification analysis: Management (M), Technical (T), External (E). WP leaders and task leaders will be in charge of the risk identification of their WP, and it will be a point of review and discussion in the quarterly WP meetings. 12.7.2 Step 2 Risk assessment As soon as a possible risk is identified, next step will be to assess the likelihood and impact of the identified risks in terms of their influence to the project objectives. This assessment is necessary before any risk response planning can be done. Risks are assessed based on their likelihood of occurrence and the impact in project objectives. The product of their likelihood (L) and impact (I) defines the Risk Level, which is then used as a reference for their prioritisation and risk response development. Risk level= L*I The likelihood (L) is a numerical value denoting the estimate of the probability of the risk to occur. The possible values are: 3=High, 2=Medium, 1=Low The impact (I) is numerical value denoting the severity of the risk’s impact (in case it occurs). The possible values are: Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 36 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. >12=High, 7-11=Medium, -2=Low The risk level threshold is shown in Figure 6. Figure 6: Risk Likelihood/Impact matrix WP leaders and task leaders are responsible for the Risk assessment with the support of the technical manager. 12.7.3 Step 3: Risk Response Development The purpose of this step is to select the best risk response strategy and identify and plan the actions to control the risks. The selection of the risk response strategy will be based on the results of the risk assessment (risk level), the type of risk, on the effects on the overall project objectives (e.g. schedule and costs), as well as on the cost of the strategy and its benefits (cost/benefit analysis). The strategy (or strategies) selected for each risk are documented in the Risk Log. Two strategies are considered as risk responses: reduce and avoid: • Avoid: develop contingency plans in case the risk occurs. • Reduce: risk mitigation or reduction through the proactive implementation of risk reduction activities. The following table describes the risk response approach for this project: Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 37 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Scenario Risk Response Strategy Very high impact and high or very high likelihood or high or very high impact and very high likelihood. Avoid or implement an immediate reduction All other risk levels. Reduce Specific actions to implement the strategy will be defined, described, scheduled and assigned by the WP leaders together with the technical manager, while a Risk Owner assumes the responsibility for its implementation. The specific actions will be approved by the Technical Committee. Actions will detail concrete activities, milestones and deliverables and will be documented in the Risk Log, clearly identifying the target resolution date. These actions (at least the most effort/cost consuming ones) will be incorporated into WP annual work plans, to have a consolidated view of all project related activities. 12.7.4 Step 4: Risk Control The purpose of this step is to monitor and control the implementation of the risk response activities while continuously monitoring the project environment for new risks or changes (e.g. probability and/or impact) in the risks already identified. The project coordinator will review the Risks Log every three months, but also revise it after the occurrence of any event that might have a significant impact on the project environment and hence the project risks. The updating of the Risk Log can include adding new risks or actions, updating the status of response activities, changing risk levels based on mitigation actions, changing the assignment of actions, etc. The WP leaders will report periodically the status of the risk and any response activities to the Project Coordinator in the quarterly WP Status Reports (PM). Risk status will be included in the periodic report to the REA. 12.7.5 Risk Management Roles and Responsibilities Risk identification WP leaders & Task leaders Risk assessment & response development WP leaders & Task leaders Technical manager Response development approval Technical Committee Risk action implementation Risk owner Risk control Project coordinator Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 38 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 13 PROJECT OUTPUTS 13.1 REPORT FOR PAYMENT REQUEST The project coordinator must submit to the REA the technical and financial reports, according to the following reporting periods: - RP1: from month 1 to month 18 (Periodic Report) - RP2: from month 19 to month 36 (Final Report) The coordinator must submit the progress report within 30 days following the end of each reporting period and must be drawn up using the forms and templates provided in the electronic exchange system. The content of the reports is explained in detail in the Grant Agreement, article 20, sections 20.3 and 20.4 (pages 32-33). 13.2 DELIVERABLES Deliverable submission is an obligation according to the article 19 of the Grant Agreement. The project coordinator is responsible for submitting all deliverables at their due date according to the List of Deliverables shown in Annex I section 1.3.2 of the Grant Agreement (Pages 714). A public summary of the confidential deliverables within WP1-WP5 will be provided to the REA at the final reporting period, summarising /highlighting the important results. 13.2.1 General elaboration rules The deliverables will be prepared according to the Deliverable Template (ANNEX H), in compliance with its format, logos, statements and disclaimers. The deliverables must include an Executive Summary, an Introduction section outlining clearly the Purpose and Scope, and a Conclusion section. In the phase of Deliverable elaboration, the following rules have to be taken into consideration: Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 39 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. - The executive summary will be a section no more than one page that summarizes the important points of the deliverable in a very clear and exhaustive way. - Objectives have to be clear from the beginning. - The document has to be concise: giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words; expressing what needs to be said without unnecessary words; avoiding useless lengthening. - Synthesize, summarize and get to the point always. - Pay attention to glaring typos, leaving the spell check active and reading once more the document before considering it as consolidated and ready to be checked by the reviewers. - To avoid repeating contents already described in previous Deliverables or in the Grant Agreement (always use references for that). - Any bibliographic citation has to be referenced, using a numeric type of citation such as IEEE. Although there are no requirements on the minimum or maximum number of pages, each Deliverable should provide sufficient information to both the REA and external reviewers to assess the project progress and its results. Very long deliverables create several problems: - They don’t attract the reader. - It is easier to lose the thread of thought and the fundamental concepts. - Their revision requires a long time, and results in more comments that require further revisions. Therefore, Deliverables have to be very concise about which content to include in the documents. The right size for a given Deliverable depends largely on the topic, the objective, etc., but as a general rule, it is considered reasonable that Deliverables should not exceed 30 pages. Annexes may be added. Deliverable coding Both the draft and final versions will be numbered according to the Deliverable number shown in to the List of Deliverables shown in Annex I section 1.3.2 of the Grant Agreement (Pages 714), adding the version code that will be V0.x for consecutive draft versions and V1.x for consecutives versions of the final edition (Table 4) Table 4: Deliverable coding CODE FOR DRAFT VERSIONS Dx.yV0.z CODE FOR FINAL EDITION VERSIONS Dx.yV1.z Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 40 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable preparation timing: The first draft of the deliverable must be ready a month before its due date, for its peer review, and the final version must be sent to the project coordinator a week before its due date. Storage The project coordinator will store the final versions of the deliverables in the corresponding folder on the A2C platform and put them at the disposal of all members of the consortium for consultation. Public Deliverables will be published on the project website. 13.2.2 Roles and responsibilities The following roles will be involved in the delicate process of Deliverable preparation: Deliverable lead beneficiary: For each Deliverable, as specified in the List of Deliverables shown in Annex I section 1.3.2 of the Grant Agreement (Pages 7-14), there is a “lead beneficiary” who is the task leader, and they are responsible for elaboration of the deliverable, upon materials and documents provided by other project partners. Lead beneficiaries are the main editors and lead the Deliverable production process, being the main responsible for the submission of the document in due time. They are also the main contact point with the other roles, being in charge of asking contributions to other involved partners, uploading the document to the right location in the project platform and notify the Project Coordinator (CETEC) that it is ready for starting the Quality Check. It is in charge of providing an update of the Deliverables progress and explanation on eventual expected delay to the Project Coordinator. Once the peer review related comments are received (if any), the lead beneficiary has to ensure that such comments/requests have been indeed addressed (involving, if it is the case, also the contributors). Deliverable contributor: participants in the production of the Deliverable by contributing with content and supporting the lead beneficiary in producing a high-quality document, addressing eventual reviewer comments and requests. Coordinator: the project coordinator must submit to the EC the deliverables identified in Annex 1 of the grant agreement, in accordance with the timing and conditions set out in it. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 41 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 13.3 DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION PRODUCTS Disseminated products are items that are developed in the course of the project, which may be of external use, being some of them not required by the GA. Examples of disseminated products are: - Papers for publication, posters, brochures, press releases, newsletters; - Project website; - Project brochure; - Non-deliverable software; - Presentations and demonstrations. The outreach manager will be in charge of the dissemination & communication products management & procedures. All dissemination & communication activities must be notified to the outreach manager in advance, so that plans can be updated and the information to be shared validated in terms of confidentiality and quality. As soon as any partner carries out a dissemination or communication activity, the specific form, available in A2C website, must be filled in, attaching the activity report with all relevant information, including metrics to assess the activity impact/audience. By using these forms, all dissemination & communication activities will be automatically logged in an updated list in an excel sheet. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 48 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 16 ANNEX B WP STATUS REPORT TEMPLATE Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 49 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 50 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 51 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 52 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 53 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 54 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. 17 ANNEX C PROJECT PROGRESS INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT TEMPLATE Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 55 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 56 de 76 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101036838. Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 57 de 76 18 ANNEX D ISSUE LOG TEMPLATE Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 64 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 65 de 76 23 ANNEX I QUALITY CHECK LIST TEMPLATE Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 66 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 67 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 68 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 69 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 70 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 71 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 72 de 76 Deliverable D9.1V0.2 Page 73 de 76