The project focuses on the following common challenges in the Baltic Sea Region:
- uptake of ICT in the business sector,
- innovation and interoperability of public services and
- cooperation and coordination of digital policies on macro-regional level.
These challenges can be tackled through strengthening the macro-regional knowledge base (e.g benchmarking, information sharing, studies), exchange of experience and peer-to-peer learning, designing and piloting transnational digital solutions and conducting policy and regulatory dialog.
The project aims to increase the capacity of policymakers, industry associations and industrial SMEs to enable faster and more efficient uptake of digital solutions both in public and private sector. Some of these target groups are already involved as project partners, but the project aims to address a lot wider range of organizations by including them into project activities or disseminating project’s findings and outputs among them.
Project’s main, tangible outputs are:
- An active cross-sectoral BSR industry digitalization community. Industry 4.0 national and regional communities and networks have an important role in fostering uptake of digital solutions by industrial SMEs and in prioritizing this topic on policy level as well. The aim of industry 4.0 community is to bring together important players from all levels (businesses, associations, universities, public authorities) and sectors (ICT, steal, forestry, etc.) to better understand each-others challenges and find common solutions.
- Company digitalization toolkit for SMEs. The aim of developing Industry 4.0 toolkit is to increase innovation capacity of industrial SMEs by showcasing digitalization opportunities and benefits and providing a practical toolkit to guide them through the process.
- Show-case models of government to business cross-border e-services (incl. feasibility analyses and proofs of concept) with recommendations for policy makers for developing better cross-border G2B services.
- Policy recommendations White Paper. The work of the BSR policy network will be concluded in a White Paper with policy recommendations for national and EU level. The aim is to inform policymakers and increase awareness among decision makers, ensure commitments from external stakeholders and to ensure long term sustainability of project results.
How does DIGINNO contribute to the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region?
Policy Area Coordinator of Policy Area Innovation, Reet Reismaa, answers:
"The idea of DIGINNO was born in January 2016 Tallinn, when first time in the region’s history the ICT policymakers from all BSR countries gathered together at a round table discussion. The need of collaboration came out very strongly: let’s create a digital network! A place, a platform where to deal together with obstacles and possibilities, to speed up the process of moving towards the BSR single digital market.
The DIGINNO project falls under the Policy Area Innovation (PA INNO) in the EUSBSR and contributes to its implementation. Digitalisation is one of the cross-cutting themes and innovation enablers in the PA INNO, a crucial aspect of accelerating innovation. Five key priorities for macro-regional digital collaboration has been identified in the PA INNO Strategy Guide.
The process behind the PA INNO Strategy Guide and the outcome of the policy analysis has provided direct inspiration for DIGINNO. DIGINNO is part of the implementation of the PA INNO Strategy Guide: it is one of the sub-projects of digital flagship "BSR Digi co-lab: Transnational Digital Collaboration in the BSR“
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More information about DIGINNO project and about the objectives of EUSBSR Policy Area Innovation on the PA Innovation website.