About the Smart Factories Project

Smart Factories in New EU Countries

The project “Smart Factories in new EU Member States”, managed by the EC – DG Connect for the European Parliament, was launched in May 2017. In the context of “Digitising European Industry” initiative, it aims to contribute to the efforts to build a Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) network in Europe.

About the Project

The project “Smart Factories in new EU Member States” aims at building a Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) network in Europe, where companies – especially SMEs – could have access to expertise, development and testing facilities of digital technologies, as well as access to finance and innovation services.

The project targets the EU13 new Member States, namely Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, where companies (especially those from traditional industrial sectors and SMEs) are now investing less in digital technologies than in other parts of Europe.

A call for interest was open from late August 2017 to November 2017. In December 2017, 34 successful DIH applicants have been selected by the Steering Committee and the EC to take part in the Training & Mentoring programme.

The programme will include different types of activities such as the development of a specific business plan, training and coaching, provision of manuals and relevant documentation, establishment of potential funding schemes, as well as organisation of regional workshops.

To find out more, please visit https://smartfactories.eu