The digital transformation of EU business and society presents enormous growth potential for Europe. It is estimated that digital technologies, such as Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence or the Internet of Things, have the potential to add 1.5 million jobs to the EU’s digital economy, and that SMEs can grow two to three times faster when they integrate digital technologies into their business models. Nevertheless, on the one hand, SMEs are not currently taking full advantage of these advanced technologies because they usually lack orientation, know-how and hands-on solutions in line with their current business, and on the other hand, digitalisation services in too many occasions do not take into account the rapid changing innovation ecosystem and the emerging of new technologies. The objective of DigiJourney is to enable the participating innovation agencies to exchange knowledge, know-how, and good practices on advanced methodologies and tools for digitalisation assessment to SMEs and customised support services. In particular, based on the Twinning+ methodology, the project aims to cover peer learning activities for three digitalisation approaches and the design of a digitalisation journey for SMEs, which will facilitate all innovation agencies to improve their digitalisation support services adapted to their specific national/regional contexts, and will allow SMEs to get the right digital tools to gain competitiveness. This peer-learning and peer-review scheme has been developed based on each partner's identified competences in advanced digitalisation services for SMEs. DigiJourney will therefore contribute to the specific challenge of increasing SMEs support programmes and the satisfaction of them with the support provided, through a joint learning effort of the three participating partners and the elaboration of a suitable Design Options Paper that will be shared with other EU innovation agencies and networks, and with national and EU policy-makers.

Digital Innovation Hubs have become the national and European instrument to speed up digitization in SMEs/MidCaps to ensure the EU’s future industrial leadership. Most EU Member States DIHs have established, in a growing number of regions and sectors, complemented by regional and national networks. Also the EC is deploying a vast number of initiatives to support DIH activities. The next step is to build a pan EU network that coordinates and integrates this wide variety of initiatives and ensure collaboration and quality. DIHNET.EU just does that: build a network of networks involving hubs, competence centres, and regional and national programmes and infrastructures. The aim of this EU DIH network is to ensure the best possible support to SMEs and midcaps. DIHNET.EU will contribute to this in the following: - Enhancing collaboration between stakeholders from the European DIH Community to better support SMEs/MidCaps with their digitisation, by creating awareness, understanding and activating the ecosystem on DIHs challenges and possible solutions. - Offering DIHs an online infrastructure to facilitate their collaboration. This platform will support the DIHNET.EU Community with a wide range of services, information and tools that will help DIHs to communicate, align, collaborate and synchronise activities. - Developing a clear overview of the DIH related services provided in Europe and align them. - Upgrading the DIH Catalogue: identifying/activating activities in the DIH Community in coherence with regional, national and EU policies. - Creating a strategy to reinforce the specialization of these services to SMEs and MidCaps, as well as support its uptake by relevant DIH and DIH networks. - Creating a vision and strategy on a self-sustaining business model for this network of DIHs, and to make this operational. The project is carried out by TNO, Tecnalia, Fundingbox, euRobotics, BluMorpho and FEDIL, have strong experience in DIHs and well connected to the EU DIH community.

The Idealist2027 vision is to supply the National Contact Points (NCPs) responsible for digital destinations in Horizon Europe with the tools, knowledge and expertise they need to better serve the digital research community applying for funding from Horizon Europe. Through transnational collaboration, synergies with other digital programs and other cluster 4 NCPs networks, and special network activities Idealist2027 will enhance NCP capacities to facilitate stronger, more impactful European projects. The project focuses on four key objectives: 1.Bringing NCPs to a common understanding of the EU digital landscape, future digital trends, policies, and funding opportunities. 2.Lowering barriers for newcomers, particularly SMEs and widening countries, ensuring broader engagement in digital initiatives and creating better impact on the digital landscape. 3.Connecting digital communities to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders. 4.Integrating the components of Cluster 4 to benefit NCPs, applicants, and stakeholders through synergies across Digital, Industry, and Space. Idealist2027 introduces new services, such as the Horizon Intelligence task, which will analyze Evaluation Summary Reports (ESRs) to provide data-driven insights to NCPs, enabling them to better guide proposers, and will continue to offer very successful services such as Idea check and proposal check. By building on the experience of previous Ideal-ist projects and fostering cooperation within Cluster 4, Idealist2027 will create a more cohesive and supportive environment for NCPs and their stakeholders. The project will ensure compliance with the FAIR principles for data management and will collaborate closely with other Cluster 4 NCP projects. Idealist2027 aims to strengthen the European digital research community, paving the way for successful participation in Horizon Europe and the next Framework Programme.

DIH-World aims to accelerate the uptake of advanced digital technologies by European manufacturing SMEs in all sectors and support them in building sustainable competitive advantages and reaching global markets strengthening the capacities of regional DIHs, particularly in underrepresented regions across Europe. As intermediaries of successful local SME digital transformation, DIH World, aims at providing DIHs, access to harmonised tools, well proven technologies, effective methodologies, sound knowledge, smart investment sources, rich training assets and overall a vibrant innovation environment. The final aim is to accelerate the matureness of DIHs and the development of their collaboration capabilities, and avoid a DIH divide due to lack of access to technologies, skills, networks, investment and infrastructures with special emphasis in underrepresented regions; so they can capitalise and leverage on the European DIHs Networks their resources and facilities for the benefit of their local SMEs. This will be achieved thanks to the: DIH-World platform, that will provide a full coverage of the services needed by the DIHs and the SMEs willing to identify the right DIH for them, the DIH-Academy that will provide the tools to train DIHs and bring them to the next level, Open calls for experiments, that will provide sufficient technological support to SMEs and midcaps. As well as with a broad geographical coverage, with more than 26 countries to be covered in Europe including specific activities to involve regional and national actors in the DIH network.