Digital Agenda Funding

Project Status: Live Project

Project Leader: Jose Manuel San Emeterio

EU Programme: INTERREG Europe

Project Budget: €1,652,750

Start Date: Jun, 2018

Finish Date: Nov, 2022

Project Website: http://www.interregeurope.eu/devise/

The aim of the project is to:

Increase the contribution of the digital-tech sector to competitiveness in other key sectors by improving supporting policy instruments.

Specific objectives are to:

Explore how public policy supports can be adapted to facilitate increased uptake of solutions by a region's key sectors from its digital sector.
Help to create digital transformation-enabling environments across the project's ten European regions
Facilitate increased collaboration between SMEs in the digital sector and those belonging to other key regional sectors.

Donegal, Ireland
ERNACT Network(Lead Partner)
Project management and responsible for the overall delivery of the project

Jose Manuel San Emeterio
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Cantabria, Spain
Gobierno de Cantabria(Partner)
Project Partner

Jorge Muyo López
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Derry & Strabane, United Kingdom
Derry City & Strabane District Council(Partner)
Project Partner

Tara Nicholas
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Northern & Western, Ireland
Northern & Western Regional Assembly(Partner)
Project Partner

Patrick Devine
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Pays de la Loire, France
Laval Mayenne Technopole(Partner)
Project partner

Valérie Moreau
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San Sebastián, Spain
Fomento de San Sebastián(Partner)
Project Partner

Gorka Díez Jiménez
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South Ostrobothnia, Finland
Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences(Partner)
Project partner

Saara Nuottajärvi
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Varna, Bulgaria
Business Agency Association(Partner)
Project Partner

Silvia Stumpf
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West Flanders, Belgium
Voka - Kamer van Koophandel West-Vlaanderen(Partner)
Project Partner

Soraya Van Cauwenberghe
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West Romania, Romania

WRDA (Partner)
Project Partner

Karla Hategan

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The ERNACT regions focus on adapting and transferring services, approaches or digital knowhow between regions. Please examine the following table to see a list of specific items transferred over the past few years

Regional Action Plan - Cantabria (Spain)

Cantabria - Gobierno de Cantabria

The aim of this action plan is to increase the number of innovative and more digitalised companies at regional level, especially SMEs. This upgrade will have as direct consequence to increase their competitiveness and innovation levels.

The aim of this action plan is to increase the number of innovative and more digitalised companies at regional level,...

Regional Action Plan - City of San Sebastian (Spain)

San Sebastián - Fomento de San Sebastián

The retail and hospitality sectors are one of the historical mainstays in the production profile of the city of Donostia-San Sebastián and of its job market. Fomento San Sebastián supports businesses in these traditional sectors to help them move...

The retail and hospitality sectors are one of the historical mainstays in the production profile of the city of...

Regional Action Plan - Derry and Strabane (Northern Ireland)

Derry & Strabane - Derry City & Strabane District Council

The purpose of this action plan is to provide: • A set of prioritised, co-ordinated actions that are required to foster the growth of digital SME’s in DCSDC, providing innovative solutions that allow a range of sectors to become more...

The purpose of this action plan is to provide: • A set of prioritised, co-ordinated actions that are required...

Regional Action Plan - Donegal (Ireland)

Donegal - ERNACT Network

This action plan is aimed to increase the uptake of disruptive technology solutions by SMEs in the Border Irish region to accelerate their competitiveness and innovation levels. This is key to enabling SMEs to address the twin threats of Brexit and Covid-19. The unique...

This action plan is aimed to increase the uptake of disruptive technology solutions by SMEs in the Border Irish region...

Regional Action Plan - Northern and Western Region (Ireland)

Northern & Western - Northern & Western Regional Assembly

This action plan is aimed to recommend which specific support mechanisms must be included in the next Operational Programme that support SMEs with their Digital Transformation. This will lead towards a more digitalised and innovation led SME base driving productivity,...

This action plan is aimed to recommend which specific support mechanisms must be included in the next Operational...

Regional Action Plan - Pays de la Loire (France)

Pays de la Loire - Laval Mayenne Technopole

This action plan is formed by 3 main actions aimed to support the digital transformation of companies in Pays de la Loire: 1) Artificial Intelligence: to support companies to initiate and implement artificial intelligence uses and technologies. 2) 5x5 Digital: to...

This action plan is formed by 3 main actions aimed to support the digital transformation of companies in Pays de la...

Regional Action Plan - South Ostrobothnia (Finland)

South Ostrobothnia - Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences

This action plan focuses on supporting the digital transformation of manufacturing and food industries, considered key sectors in South Ostrobothnia. Its aim is to strengthen the implementation of regional action programs and strategies, in particular, the Regional...

This action plan focuses on supporting the digital transformation of manufacturing and food industries, considered key...

Regional Action Plan - Varna (Bulgaria)

Varna - Business Agency Association

SMEs in tourism and hospitality have great difficulty in adopting and implementing digital innovations in order to increase their competitiveness. Regional policies should be targeted and accordingly support the dissemination of innovative digital solutions and new...

SMEs in tourism and hospitality have great difficulty in adopting and implementing digital innovations in order to...

5X5

West Flanders - VOKA (Kamer van Koophandel - West-Vlaanderen)

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is a methodology whose purpose is to develop new, high added-value products tailored to customers’ needs, in collaboration with a designer. It is innovative because implements the methodology of design thinking at the...

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is a methodology whose purpose is to develop new, high added-value products...

Apollo Programme

Pays de la Loire - Laval Mayenne Technopole

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme intended for companies that want to innovate (product, service, business model, new technologies). This is an innovative initiative because it supports companies in their innovation process by adapting...

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme intended for companies that want to innovate (product,...

Business Boost

Derry & Strabane - Derry City & Strabane District Council

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is a service whose purpose is to provide free tailored and specialist business support to micro and small enterprises. It was produced by Derry City & Strabane District Council in Derry & Strabane (Northern Ireland).

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is a service whose purpose is to provide free tailored and specialist...

Challenges and competencies

Pays de la Loire - Laval Mayenne Technopole

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme whose purpose is to mobilise students in order to enable SMEs to integrate innovative solutions. This is an innovative initiative because provides traditional SMEs with skills to innovate and...

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme whose purpose is to mobilise students in order...

DENDATICS Grants Programme

San Sebastián - Fomento de San Sebastián

This good practice, directed at companies, consists in a grant scheme whose purpose is to increase digitalisation in retail and hospitality sectors. It is innovative because allows traditional economic sectors to increase their competitiveness through their digital...

This good practice, directed at companies, consists in a grant scheme whose purpose is to increase digitalisation in...

Digital Change

Pays de la Loire - Laval Mayenne Technopole

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is an initiative whose purpose is to help companies to better understand and lead the digital transformation that affects their businesses and organizations. It was produced by Laval Mayenne Technopole in Pays de la Loire (FR).

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It is an initiative whose purpose is to help companies to better understand and...

Digital Training Programme for retail and hospitality sector

San Sebastián - Fomento de San Sebastián

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme whose purpose is to promote the digital business culture among local retail-hospitality companies as well as to strengthen their competitive. It is an innovative support measure to foster promotion and...

This good practice is directed at companies. It is a programme whose purpose is to promote the digital business culture...

Digital Vouchers

Pays de la Loire - Laval Mayenne Technopole

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It provides external advice to help them identify and choose the best solutions/tools that will enable them to grow, innovate and face their current challenges. This is an innovative initiative that offers new ways for SMEs...

This good practice is directed at SMEs. It provides external advice to help them identify and choose the best...

DEVISE aims to give response to the current challenge that 10 European regions are facing to unlock and exploit the potential that digital tech SMEs have as enabler for the competitiveness of other SMEs belonging to sectors included in their Regional Smart Specialisation Strategies (RIS3).

Although significant progress has been made in the definition of more focused policies supporting these strategic sectors, more coordinated actions are required to foster the growth of digital SMEs providing innovative solutions that allow other sectors to be more competitive. Taking this into consideration, DEVISE aims, by 2021, to increase by 15% the number of digital tech SMEs enabling competitiveness in other regional strategic sectors through improved supporting policy instruments.

In doing so, the project will follow an innovative intersectoral approach involving all the relevant stakeholders in the process of analysing the current context, learning from other EU regions and defining improved policies integrating the lessons learnt.

DEVISE will produce concrete outputs to meet this objective and other long-term effects. This includes the definition of 10 regional action plans that will help policy makers improve the effectiveness of the instruments they are responsible, through more focused actions supporting the issue addressed in DEVISE. We will also put a lot of effort to set up 10 regional digital transformation enabling environments that will cooperate together. DEVISE will facilitate the creation of these environments formed by digital and other key sectors. Policy makers, business support organisations, educational centres and SMEs from the digital and other smart specialisation sectors will be the main participants and beneficiaries of these environments expected to last beyond DEVISE’s lifetime. These environments will bring improved coordination and increased collaboration between the digital sector and those belonging to other smart specialisation sectors.