Funded by Interreg Europe programme, DIGITAL REGIONS project partners from Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland have met for the first time on 8th October for the kick-off meeting in Letterkenny (Co. Donegal, Ireland). The event, hosted by Lead Partner ERNACT, has served to start discussions on how to improve innovation policies supporting the implementation of Industry 4.0 as an enabler for the competitiveness of the manufacturing sectors.
After a general overview of the project, partners had the opportunity to share with the others what are their expectations and contributions to the project. “This is a key meeting for the partnership because, although we have been working together and meeting online in the last 2 months, this is the first opportunity for us to meet in person and know better who will be cooperating with in the next years. Building the capacity of th partnership is one of the main objectives for this meeting but not less important the links and closer relationships established among the partners attending to it”, explains Jose Manuel San Emeterio, DIGITAL REGIONS project Leader. Partners have reviewed ongoing activities, started in August 2019, what includes identification of local good practices, the establishment of regional stakeholder groups and the regional context analysis methodology. The partnership also reviewed and agreed project communication and dissemination activities and management and coordination steps.
According to Digital Regions Project Leader, “We believe that DIGITAL REGIONS can bring us great opportunities to unlock existing Industry 4.0 research and innovation capacity and turn it into real solutions for the manufacturing sector”.
About Digital Regions
Digital Regions is an interregional project funded by Interreg Europe programme in which 8 European regions will work together until January 2023. Partners will try to best adapt innovation policies to support smart specialisation in the manufacturing sector as a result of the emergence of INDUSTRY 4.0 (often referred to as the 4th Industrial Revolution).
The overall objective of Digital Regions is to, by the end of 2022, achieve a 15% increase of the number of SMEs from manufacturing sector, cooperating with other innovation actors in the participant regions, to implement I4.0 solutions as a result of improved innovation policies.
The project aims to benefit all stakeholders in each region’s innovation ecosystem, i.e. innovation policy makers, SMEs that use I4.0 solutions, suppliers of I4.0 services and universities and innovation centres. It has an overall budget of €1,622,566.00, which is 85 % funded by ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and Swiss equivalent funding in the case of our Swiss partner.
If you wish to learn more about our project or make an interview with our Project Leader or any other project member, please contact: [email protected]
