European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and the digital transition of regions

Join us at the European Week of Regions and Cities, and explore & discuss the role of Digital Innovation Hubs in the creation of digitalised #PostCovid Europe!

During the disruptive COVID19 crisis the whole world realized that digitalisation takes up has greatly contributed to the seamless continuation of important economic activities but also social ones moved temporarily to the virtual world. One of the goals of the Digital Decade strategy of the EU is to further improve the digitalisation of businesses in the post-COVID era to help the economy recover and contribute to the Green and Digital transition.

Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in regions and countries have already accompanied many SMEs in their digital transition and have shown their important role in supporting the regional innovation ecosystems. The EC is further supporting their role with the development of a new network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) focusing on advanced digital technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, High-Performance Computing and digital skills.

This network is expected to boost European SMEs’ and public sector’s capacities in integrating these technologies in their products and services contributing to a faster recovery.

Main objectives of the workshop:

The workshop is targeting regional/national policymakers and DIH/EDIH stakeholders with main objectives:
1. update them on the state-of-play of the development of the network of EDIHs in the Member States and regions funded by the DIGITAL Programme
2. present a new tool on measuring digital maturity of SMEs and a methodological approach for a new regional digitalisation index
3. present and discuss a new CoR study on how to measure digital preparedness of regions.

Interaction and getting feedback from the audience on the topics above is essential for the success of the workshop.