Supporting knowledge capacity in ICT among SME to engage in growth and innovation

 

Σύντομη περιγραφή

Throughout Europe, a digital gap exists between urban agglomerations and the periphery as broadband access is only slowly becoming available in the latter. This has resulted in a significant backlog in the digital activities of small companies active in rural areas, jeopardizing their competitiveness and therefore crucially needed work places in areas often affected by demographic change. Today’s programmes to promote small businesses’ ICT uptake are often unable to overcome this digital gap as they are designed on regional or national levels, not matching the specific needs of rural areas’ SMEs. SKILLS+ therefore aims to optimize these policy instruments by either giving more priority to the specific needs in rural areas or by proposing complimentary measures to increase the share of available funding spent to the benefit of rural areas. The overall objective of SKILLS+ is to enhance the competitiveness of rural areas’ SMEs through the promotion of the uptake and integration of modern ICT tools in daily business routines. Measures defined in the action plans to be developed for 11 European countries or regions aim to increase the funding made available to small businesses in rural areas and to promote their growth. The plans will be elaborated together with relevant stakeholders and shall be endorsed and formally approved by the legally competent decision-makers. The territorial action plans are the main outputs of SKILLS+. Before their elaboration, an interregional learning process comprising three capacity building seminars and peer reviews of all 11 addressed territories helps to identify good practices and efficient policy approaches. In this process, capacities in modern ICT and small businesses’ needs of project partners and involved stakeholders are strengthened. The adopted methodology of SKILLS+ allows all 12 partners from 11 European countries and backgrounds to engage in a fruitful and result-oriented exchange, managed by an experienced lead partner.

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