Our first speaker was Beatriz ASENSIO, from CIE of Castilla y Leon, sharing with us a success story of collaboration between DIHs and RDAs. Beatriz explained to us about the Institute for Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León. Considering all the features of the Region of Castilla y Leon and it is under the average level of digitalisation in Europe they realised that the concept of Digital Innovation Hubs would really solve the problem they had with digitalisation. It started with DIHs in different fields, three of which became fully operational in field of Industry 4.0, internet of things and cybersecurity around 2019. However, when the coronavirus struck last year, they realised that they need a stronger DIH in order to boost digitalisation in the region creating DIGIS3: smart, sustainable, and cohesive digitalisation.Beatriz explained the importance of reaching out to rural areas and the importance of having stakeholders, and the cooperation among all.
The next speakers of the meeting were Mayte CARRACERO and Graciela GARRIDO, both from FundingBox. They gave us a presentation calledIntroduction to the EDIH general framework and potential opportunities for RDAs. Mayte started explaining that a DIH has two functions: enhancing the capacities and capabilities of the regional ecosystem, but also acting as a hub with European dimensions. She explained us the local approach, in whichwe cannot cover everything from one region, we need to know what that region is strong in and try to create excellence there. And on the European Approach she explained that to be selected for European DIHs is necessary to show European added value, it underlines the importance of collaborating between all the DIHs.
She finishes mentioning that in the call for EDIH, just 1 European DIH per region will be selected. For this reason, it is important to use a tool and methodology in digitalisation and deploying our DIH. She showed us this useful tool: DIHNE project. In the second part of the section Graciela GARRIDO gave us and Overview Process Introduction to EDIHs Selection Process and some interesting tips to create a successful proposal such as that as regional agencies we must lead the strategy, do not forget that an EDIH is not a DIH, regional agencies should support the organisation of your ecosystem, among others.
The last speaker was Kuba KRUSZELNICKI, from FundingBox, who started showing us the complementary connection between the side of FundingBox and EURADA, since the European Commission offers, and the Regions demands necessities of European scope. In the next two years the amount distributed through cascade funding is expected to be around €100 million in different technological areas. He finished underlining the advantages we will have as part of the DWG. Following the scope of all the speakers, Esteban, as moderator, finished the meeting, thanking all the participants and underlining that the WG is an instrument to make it easier to acquire international partners, to learn more about calls, and to further promote regions and agencies.
Did you miss the meeting? Never fear! You can re-watch it on our Youtube channel. You can also read the interesting Q&A that participants asked via chat here.
We also encourage you to be part of the Digitalisation Working Group. If you have any question about the meeting or about the WG, please contact our colleague Julia COLOMER
