D9.1 Project Implementation and Monitoring Plan

The SURPRISE Project Implementation and Monitoring Plan is proposed to support and monitor the running and performance of the project. It has the overall objectives of: o ensuring that all partners are aware of the various activities, their roles and relative timescales and deadlines, right from the outset of the project; o ensuring that all partners have clear guidelines on quality assurance, risk management and reporting procedures; o ensuring that all documentation is readily and easily available to all partners; o monitoring project performance on the basis of a set of S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) indicators, thus enabling partners to identify any critical issues in advance and to propose contingency plans (risk management). The system is designed to support partners, without adding significant extra workloads and avoiding filling-up partners' inboxes with email reminders. To this end, the decision making procedure is supported by four components, all available on-line (access only to authorised representatives identified, through a password system): o Document repository available within the Project Intranet to share data, material and all final versions of documents; o Project guidelines and templates, detailing quality assurance procedures, risk management measures and reporting procedures, all made available thought the Project Intranet; o Monitoring system based on tools for collecting quantifiable information and a series of participative exchange sessions (during project meetings), and the above mentioned quality assurance procedures. Details on each of the above are found in the following sections. All of the above should be used in the context of the signed Grant Agreement [R1] and the Consortium Agreement [R2] signed by all partners. These two documents clearly define obligations, roles and procedures and should be considered as the reference documents for all activities.