HORSE – The South Moravian Project: DIGIMAT

In order to develop an innovation ecosystem in the area of IoT  & robotics in the South Moravian region (Czech Republic) a consortium of 4 partners decided to create a Regional Digital Innovation Hub. The consortium partners are:  South Moravian Innovation Centre (JIC), Brno University of Technology (BUT), INTEMAC Solutions, Industry Cluster 4.0.  

The overall objective of the DIGIMAT project is to elaborate a feasibility study which addresses 3 specific objectives:
a) identify manufacturing companies, assess and analyse their technological needs, match them with relevant R&D capacities/expertise within the region and prepare a change project which can be implemented later on
b) verify the most suitable institutional arrangement for the South Moravian Digital innovation Hub
c) elaborate a sustainable business model for financing of the South Moravian Digital innovation Hub

What has been achieved since the start of the project in October 2016?

The consortium partners took part in the Summer School in Coventry, which was a very useful experience, offering a deep insight into the I4MS initiative. On October 17th, the consortium attended a kick-off meeting organised by the HORSE consortium, which is in charge of mentoring and coaching support for DIGIMAT. This meeting was a good opportunity to exchange ideas, share experiences, learn more about different requirements under the funding agreement and find out more details about the coaching scheme. The DIGIMAT partners have already put together a methodology to assess digital readiness of manufacturing SMEs, prepared a list of companies to be visited and interviewed as pilot use cases. During the regional conference “Pracovište budoucnosti 4.0” which took place on 29 November 2016 a short questionnaire including various questions about the needs in the area of digitalisation was distributed in cooperation with the Regional Chamber of Commerce.  The results will be included in the assessment of the regional ecosystem.  Two use cases have already been launched – 2 companies were visited and needs-analysis of digital readiness were performed. Now, the workshops for these 2 use cases are being prepared and they will probably take place in the beginning of 2017, bringing together SME representatives and regional experts from different R&D institutions.