Fostering SMEs growth through digital transformation

This guide is addressed to national, regional and local stakeholders interested in promoting regional innovation and competitiveness through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), with a special focus on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Abstract

This guide is addressed to national, regional and local stakeholders interested in promoting regional innovation and competitiveness through the use of information and communication technology (ICT), with a special focus on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It introduces an EU initiative which aims to improve the framework conditions for the smart use of ICT in specific sectors and offers suggestions on how the results of these initiatives could be exploited by follow-up actions in other regions, to further advance the smart use of ICT in Europe. It should be of interest to all regions, in particular regions with a strong base in agriculture & food, textile & clothing, automotive, transport & logistics, tourism or construction as these sectors were covered by the six projects under the EU initiative. However, the methods developed are also applicable in other industries.