Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)

Expected Outcome:

Each EDIH will support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations within its geographical area and area of expertise, while also aiming to extend its impact beyond its immediate region. An EDIH can select to focus on specific group(s) of clients (e.g. mainly SMEs or mainly public sector).

Each selected project will provide the four core types of services (testing before investing, training and skills development, support to find investments, networking and access to innovation ecosystems) covering a wide range of digitalisation needs, from mainstream technologies and AI capacities to specialised technologies. The services will be provided seamlessly, through proxies when required, maintaining consistency and accessibility for stakeholders. EDIHs complement and build synergies with existing regional and national initiatives, collaborate with the EU AI Innovation infrastructures and will become a central point for companies and public sector ensuring a flexible and seamless digital journey and referring them to the services provided by these AI innovation infrastructures where appropriate.

All together, EDIHs will contribute to consolidation of a balanced network of EDIHs, ensuring the broadest coverage of regions in Europe, addressing the needs of public and private sectors across all economic sectors, fostering cross-regional collaboration and resource sharing and offering a wide range of digitalisation services, from mainstream to specialised technologies.

Each EDIH will carry out Digital Maturity Assessments for their clients, using the tools provided by the Commission and DTA, and deliver services leading to greater digitalisation of their clients as well as to their adoption of AI. While not all services need to be preceded by a Digital Maturity Assessment, EDIHs are encouraged to use it as often as practically possible.

Objective:

The objective of this call is the consolidation of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) aiming to cover all regions of the European Union and Associated Countries by strengthening its performance and capacity to meet local, regional, national and European digitalisation needs.

With increased experience and capacities, the EDIHs will continue providing the complete set of services of an EDIH, including the necessary infrastructure, focusing primarily on specific geographical areas and covering the digital transformation needs of local SMEs, mid-caps and/or public sector organisations. Considering the transformation potential of AI technologies, these will be a reinforced focus of EDIHs’ operations under this call.

The consolidation of the EDIHs network will be pivotal in supporting the wide deployment and uptake of European AI technologies, solutions and tools and in promoting the adoption of other crucial digital technologies, while upholding Union values and human-centric perspective.

Furthermore, the network will harness the potential of green digital technologies, advancing Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals. This approach not only enhances the resilience of Europe’s industry but also boosts its strategic autonomy. With its enhanced presence in countries associated to Digital Europe, the EDIH network will help bridge technology gaps, and support competitiveness and economic convergence. 

Scope:

Each EDIH will provide services based on a specific focus and expertise, which will support the local private and public sector with their digital transformation with particular focus on support to development, training deployment and uptake of European AI. This specialisation can be strengthened over time and should make use of existing local competencies in this area.

The EDIH network is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs and public services through four types of services:

Test before invest: providing access to technical expertise and experimentation facilities, in particular to AI-related services.

Training and skill development: offering training sessions to SMEs and public services for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce, including on the adoption and use of AI technologies.

Support to identify and facilitate access to potential financing sources to support digital transformation.

Foster an innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities

Each EDIH is expected to provide all four types of services. They can however have different weights in the overall services portfolio. The services will be provided on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis and will be targeted mainly to (1) SMEs and mid-caps and/or (2) public sector organisations conducting non-economic activities.

Each EDIH will act as an access point to the European network of EDIHs, helping local companies and/or public actors to get support from other EDIHs in case the needed competences fall outside their remit, ensuring that every stakeholder gets the needed support wherever it is available in Europe. Reversely, each EDIH will support the companies and public actors from other regions and countries presented by other EDIHs that need their expertise. The EDIHs will also serve as contact point for the AI innovation infrastructures as described above, notably the AI factories, AI-on-demand platform and TEFs, and offer a first-line AI help desk to businesses and public sector organisations, including basic information on compliance with the AI Act as well relevant sources of further information and ensuring a broad adoption of strategic technologies supporting the development of an AI continent and implementing the Apply AI strategy. These helpdesks by EDIHs shall further coordinate with the DTA on replies and new questions on the AI Act.

Each EDIH will make available the relevant experimentation facilities and demonstrators related to its specialisation. SMEs, mid-caps and the public sector will be able to demonstrate, prototype and test the technologies proposed, including where relevant their environmental impact, and the feasibility of applying these technologies to their business before further investing in it. Likewise, EDIHs will harness the potential of green digital technologies, advancing Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals.

EDIHs will also provide access to finance services including providing information and facilitating access to public and private funding sources as well as to public and private investors.