The Silesia Automotive & Advanced Manufacturing Cluster (SAAM, Poland) has created the SMEs Go Digital service: an Industry 4.0 mobile demonstration centre (a truck equipped with machinery) + a virtual factory (VR\/AR) + a personalised digital transformation plan for each SME based on a 5-step methodology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The service is integrated into the regional European Digital Innovation Hub (E-DIH) Silesia Smart System, which simplifies SMEs\u2019 access to grants and technical assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Possible ideas for UCA high-tech clusters: <\/strong>\u2018Mobile demonstration centre + virtual factory\u2019 as a joint tool for several clusters\/EDIHs in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Latvian IT Cluster \/ Latvian Digital Innovation Hub is implementing the Kickstart programme:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kickstart Digitalisation \u2013 26 cohorts (2022\u20132025), ~350 companies; each arrives with a specific business challenge and leaves with a roadmap for a digital solution and information on support tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kickstart Cybersecurity \u2013 5 groups, 160 companies; modelling of real cyberattacks, simulations, instant feedback from experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kickstart Artificial Intelligence \u2013 a new track from 2026 focusing on the implementation of AI in business processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The concept scales well: <\/strong>the \u20181 month, clear challenge, mentors, homework, outcome \u2013 roadmap + grant application\u2019 format works well and is easily adaptable to the Ukrainian context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cyberLAGO cluster (Germany) organises cyberFESTSPIELE \u2013 a one-day \u2018digitalisation festival\u2019 combining: tracks on future skills, workshops, teamwork simulations, practical sessions on deepfakes\/fake news\/password cracking, and workshops on new work and leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The format demonstrated high engagement from SMEs and demand for a second edition in a year\u2019s time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea:<\/strong> to create a \u2018Digital Cluster Fest\u2019 for Ukrainian clusters as an annual event for SMEs with a strong element of gamification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECA brochure shows that clusters often act as operators or the core of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), combining technology testing, training, access to finance and networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An example is the integration of the SMEs Go Digital service into the E-DIH Silesia Smart System: the cluster combines technology demonstrations, consultancy and support with access to funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The JRC report on Digital Innovation Hubs highlights the example of Catalonia, where at least 21 organisations supporting the digitalisation of SMEs are integrated into a single cluster-oriented ecosystem to simplify companies\u2019 access to services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea is already being implemented in Ukraine<\/strong> \u2013 five UCA clusters form part of the network of Ukrainian EDIHs, including the Kharkiv, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk IT clusters, the Zaporizhzhia IAM cluster, the Automotive and Mobility Cluster, and the UCA itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CREA HydroEnergy (Czech Republic) \u2013 the \u2018Digital Twin of a Dam\u2019 project: the cluster has brought together companies specialising in numerical modelling and infrastructure management to create a digital twin of a hydraulic structure (maintenance planning, sensor monitoring, safety, staff training).\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hellenic Digital Health Cluster (Greece) \u2013 the IRHIS project on scaling up telemedicine and remote care: the cluster is mapping the market, policies and barriers, building an interregional network, and helping SMEs validate solutions in real hospitals and rehabilitation centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cluster Montagne Solutions, SUAVE Eurocluster, Plant Intercluster \u2013 utilise digital tools (digital platforms, data, ICT solutions) for \u2018green\u2019 models \u2013 mountain tourism, urban-agro, plant innovations, where digitalisation is part of the SME business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea:<\/strong> for every Ukrainian cluster to have at least 1\u20132 \u2018anchor\u2019 pilot digital products (digital twin, platform, marketplace, DSS, etc.) for SMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ko\u0161ice IT Valley (Slovakia) \u2013 Live IT Projects programme: teams of 4\u20135 students work for 4 months on real IT projects for companies (including SMEs) using SCRUM; the result is prototypes of software, websites, IoT solutions and cloud services; 432 projects, 2,335 students over 11 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For SMEs, this means free or low-cost MVPs and direct access to young talent; for the cluster, it means strengthening regional digital talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea:<\/strong> \u2018Live IT Projects\u2019 as a standard service of the cluster \u2013 matching SME requests with teams of students or start-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cluster IDiA (Spain) \u2013 the eNCUENTRA programme: personalised pathways for people wishing to transition into digital professions, close collaboration with the regional employment service; over 630 participants, >350 employed, with a focus on women and vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cluster acts as an \u2018employers\u2019 council\u2019, setting requirements for digital skills and adjusting programme content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Idea:<\/strong> to involve clusters as \u2018skills commissioners\u2019 in digital skills\/education policies in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MetroDigital example (Piedmont, Italy): an initiative in which an ICT cluster conducts a systematic assessment of the digital maturity of the region and its SMEs, identifies investment priorities, and helps local authorities and businesses access RRF and other funds for digital projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many initiatives (SMEs Go Digital, DigiBEST, etc.) use standard \u2018digital maturity assessments\u2019 as a starting point for support: following the assessment, the cluster proposes a roadmap and a selection of policy tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This topic \u2013 integration into national or regional policies and strategies \u2013 is also of paramount importance for Ukrainian clusters, as whilst there is much talk in Ukraine, in reality there are virtually no government policies or strategies that actually support clusters in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Interreg Europe policy brief \u2018Driving the Green and Digital Twin Transitions\u2019 explicitly identifies clusters as a bridge between regional innovation policy and industrial policy, helping SMEs to implement digital and green solutions, including through Interreg projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emphasis is placed on programmes such as the Cluster Excellence Programme (COSME \/ SMP), which strengthen clusters\u2019 capacity to act as drivers of digital transformation and the modernisation of SMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UKA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, is a partner in the Interreg Europe AccelerateGDT project \u2013 a consortium of partners from Ireland, Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and Ukraine, working together to update national and regional cluster policies so that they directly support the digital and green transition of SMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aim is to integrate the following tools into cluster programmes: digital\/green maturity diagnostics, support for digital investment, the development of EDIH-like services, and training for cluster managers as \u2018twin transition agents\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project demonstrates how policies are shifting from \u2018cluster = ad hoc projects\u2019 to \u2018cluster = official provider of twin transition services for SMEs\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The JRC\u2019s materials on Digital Innovation Hubs state that Catalonia has at least 21 organisations supporting the digitalisation of SMEs, and that regional policy has organised them into a single ecosystem in which clusters play a key coordinating role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This helps to avoid fragmentation of instruments, create a \u2018one-stop shop\u2019 for SMEs, and align DIH services with the priorities of Catalonia\u2019s cluster strategy (including the Catalonia Clusters Programme).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IDiA eNCUENTRA example: the regional employment service funds the programme, but the cluster determines the content and focus through an employers\u2019 advisory board to ensure that the programmes meet the actual needs of digital SMEs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This model demonstrates how clusters are integrated into labour market and digital skills policies, rather than just industrial\/innovation policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Clusters Alliance brochure highlights that clusters are used by governments as \u2018local entry points to EU business tools\u2019, helping SMEs navigate complex programmes (Digital Europe, Horizon, EDIH, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clusters are cited as a tool for policy modernisation: they bring together \u2018traditionally separate\u2019 domains \u2013 industry, digitalisation, skills, social innovation \u2013 into practical programmes for companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such projects are often launched and implemented by cluster organisations, which, following pilot phases, \u2018integrate\u2019 the tools into their regional or national business support programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Interreg Central Europe report (DigiBEST and others) shows how transnational projects are used to realign SME digitalisation policies based on a shared catalogue of best practices: training vouchers, Houses of Digitalisation, and hub networks.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How to accelerate the digital transition of SMEs \u2013 what clusters are actually doing 1.1. How to accelerate the digital transition of SMEs \u2013 what clusters are actually doing The […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":34857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34858,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34856\/revisions\/34858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clusters.org.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1.2. Short intensive programmes on digitalisation, cybersecurity and AI<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1.3. Digital transformation events and festivals for SMEs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
1.4. Clusters as digital innovation hubs (E-DIH \/ DIH)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1.5. Thematic clusters promoting digital solutions in their sectors<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1.6. Training digital talent in partnership with universities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1.7. Development of digital skills and employment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1.8. Tools for assessing the digital maturity of SMEs<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The dual transition in cluster policies (cluster policy + national\/regional policy)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2.1. Clusters as a tool for the twin transition in EU policies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.2. The Accelerate GDT project: updating cluster policies under the GDT<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.3. Catalan cluster policy and digitalisation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.4. Clusters as co-creators of digital skills and employment programmes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.5. Integration of clusters into national and regional digital strategies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
2.6. External projects that \u2018drive\u2019 digitalisation policy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n