On 16 March 2021, the EU funded project “Digital Innovation Hubs Federation for Large Scale adoption of digital technologies by European small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)” (DigiFed) announced its third call for applications. In this call, they will offer grants of up to €50 000 to start-ups, SMEs or mid-capitalisation companies for the development of smart applications in Europe. This capital is complemented by additional technical and business support to successful applicants.
DigiFed aims to boost the adoption of advanced digital technologies, or cyber-physical systems (CPS), by European SMEs with a focus on non-digital businesses. By doing so, they aim to help applicants implement business plans for the sustainability of the federation of Digital Innovation Hubs, designated by the European Commission. Moreover, DigiFed wants to provide key support mechanisms to both individual companies and groups of SMEs to foster their introduction of digital technologies as part of their product-and-service offerings.
The third open call presents three types of Application Experiments (AEs) – DigiFed’s method to support SMEs and mid-capitalisation companies with different levels of digital maturity. These AEs are:
- Single AE – involving one European SME and one DigiFed Technical partner which provides support and expertise.
- Twin AE – involving two European SMEs with complementary expertise and legally based in two different countries (cross-border condition).
- Twin AE with one low-digitalised company – involving two SMEs cooperating cross-border, where at least one has a low digital maturity level. Here, twin applications can request the additional (optional) support of a DigiFed Technical partner.
The deadline to apply is 8 June 2021. For more information, visit the open calls section on the DigiFed website.
The Advanced Technologies for Industry (ATI) has been set up to promote the creation of a competitive European industry. By monitoring technological trends and up-to-date data on advanced technologies, the project aims to support the implementation of policies and initiatives. For more information, read more about the ATI project.