This document summarizes the ICT and Business Support Services Programme Call III - extended. The objectives of the programme are to develop the information society, promote strategic sectors in the Czech Republic, and increase competitiveness. The call supports activities like developing IT solutions, shared services centers, and high-tech repair centers. Eligible applicants must meet minimum investment amounts and job creation requirements. The form of support is subsidies up to CZK 100-150 million depending on the region.

1. ICT and Business Support Services Programme
Call III – extended
The ICT and Business Support Services programme is focused on the development of the
information and knowledge society through support for the supply of new ICT products and
services.
The programme’s objectives are to promote the development and competitiveness of strategic sectors
in the Czech Republic, increase their competitiveness on the international market and support the
increased availability of ICT solutions, new software products and services, shared-services centres,
high-tech repair centres and high-tech data centres.
Planned schedule
 Acceptance of Registration Applications: 1 October 2011 – 15 January 20121
 Acceptance of Full Applications: 1 November 2011 – 21 March 2012
 End of Call III – extended: 21 March 2015
Supported activities
 Creation and development of IS/ICT solutions and applications.
 Establishment and development of shared-services and data centres2 with a substantial
international focus.
 Establishment and development of high-tech repair centres for products
and technologies.
Applicant
 Newly established or expanding entities:
o Legal entity (specific supported forms are defined in the Call) with its registered office in
the Czech Republic and operating in accordance with Act No. 513/1991 Coll.,
the Commercial Code, or
o Natural person with his/her place of business in the Czech Republic entered
in the Commercial Register in accordance with Act No. 513/1991 Coll.,
the Commercial Code.
 The applicant must be authorised to conduct the business activity corresponding to the submitted
project (i.e. the chosen supported activity).
1
The Governing Body reserves the right to prematurely terminate the acceptance of Registration Applications in the event that the financial
volume of submitted Registration Applications significantly exceeds the amount of the planned allocation for this Call.
2
A data centre is understood as a centre which has optimised electricity consumption and uses economical hardware and virtualisation thereof.
A data centre provides leasing and operation of applications, including leasing of computer capacity in a highly secure environment.
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2. Basic provisions of the Call
 Minimum amount of investment in long-term assets amounts to CZK 0.5 million or CZK 1
million or CZK 3 million (depending on the size of the enterprise – small/medium-sized/large).
 Creation of new jobs (positions directly related to the project; the number of positions depends
on the type of activity and the size of the enterprise, see the table below).
Minimum number of newly created jobs
Supported activities Small Medium- Large
enterprise sized enterprise
enterprise
Creation and development of IS/ICT 3 5 10
solutions and applications
High-tech repair centres for products 5 15 25
and technologies
Shared-services centres, 10 20 40
data centres
 Beneficiary must retain supported jobs and assets for a period of at least five years (three
years in case of SMEs3).
 The project must be implemented in the Czech Republic outside the territory of the city of
Prague.
 Only one project is allowed in a certain region (NUTS III4) per call.
 The financial health of the applicant expressed by the rating evaluation conducted by the
mediating entity (CzechInvest) cannot be lower than C+.
o If an applicant is a newly created entity, the rating evaluation is processed
for the entity (entities) having a controlling interest in the applicant.
 If the parent company is not registered in the Czech Republic, the applicant is
obliged to provide the following documents on the date of submission of the
Registration Application:
1. Rating of the parent company determined based on the evaluation scale
according to Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s,
2. Auditor’s report for the last two closed accounting periods (including balance
sheets and income and expense statements).
Activities for which support shall not be granted:
 Establishment and development of shared-services centres without a substantial
international focus
 Establishment and development of IS/ICT design and implementation centres
 Establishment and development of customer support centres
 Creation of websites (web design)
 Server rental
 Telecommunication services
3
SMEs = Small and medium-sized enterprises
4
NUTS = Common classification of territorial units for statistics
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3.  Development of specific software (firmware) – this activity is supported within the Potential
Programme
Eligible costs
 Must be expended in accordance with the goals of the programme and must directly relate to
the implementation of the project.
 Must be expended no sooner than on the date of eligibility of the project5.
OPTION I OPTION II
Wages, insurance Long-term tangible assets and
– gross wages of employees in technical appreciation
newly created positions – purchase of buildings (max. 50% of
– mandatory social-security and total eligible investment costs)
health insurance contributions – purchase of land (max. 10%)
paid by the employer – hardware, networks and other ICT
components
Long-term intangible assets
– software, licences, know-how
(max. 50% for large enterprises)
Selected operating costs (beyond options I and II)
– real estate rental
– services of experts and consultants, expert studies (eligible cost max. CZK 3
mil., maximum aid intensity 50%, for small and medium-sized enterprises
only),
– access to information and databases – de minimis aid, for small and medium-
sized enterprises only.
Form and amount of support
 A subsidy for all eligible costs is provided in the maximum amount according to the Regional
Map
of State Aid Intensity for the period 1 January 2011 – 31 December 2013 (see map on page 4).
 Support is provided in the form of a subsidy in the amount of CZK 1.5 – CZK 100 million.
Projects implemented in regions with concentrated state aid can receive a subsidy of up to CZK
150 million.
 A subsidy is provided to the beneficiary retroactively following the completion of the project or
completion of a phase thereof provided that all conditions set forth in the Decision to Grant a
Subsidy have been fulfilled.
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The date on which the provider of the subsidy or the mediating entity confirms to the applicant, in writing, that the project essentially fulfils the
programme’s conditions of eligibility.
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4. Maximum permissible state aid intensity
(valid for the period 1 January 2007 – 31 December 2013)
Medium-
Small Large
NUTS II Region sized
enterprise enterprise
enterprise
Northwest, Central Bohemia, Northeast,
60% 50% 40%
Southeast, Central Moravia, Moravia-Silesia
Southwest 50% 40% 30%
Prague 0%
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