34 Digital Innovation Hubs that have qualified for the Smart Factories programme will receive support from PwC and Oxentia

The aim of the Smart Factories project, implemented by the European Commission for the European Parliament, in cooperation with PwC and Oxentia (Oxford’s Global Innovation Consultancy), is to create a Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) in each country of the European Union. 34 such entities have qualified for the next stage of the programme. They will receive support in the form of individual training courses, workshops and meetings with mentors.

The Smart Factories project, designed for 13 “new” EU countries, is part of the EU initiative, Digitalisation of the European Industry, which is especially important as with the use of new technologies the European industrial sector can generate an additional EUR 110 billion in revenue per year. The aim of the project is to create a network of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) and provide them with a training programme to improve their effectiveness. According to the European Commission’s strategy, each of the EU countries should have at least one Digital Innovation Hub in their area until 2020.

The huge interest in our project, offering substantive instead of financial support, exceeded our expectations and those of the European Commission. This is proof that access to expert knowledge and the opportunity to exchange experience between participants may be more valuable for business entities than short-term financing. I am glad that PwC participates in this initiative and contributes to the technological transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in our part of Europe.

Agnieszka Gajewska, partner at PwC, leader of the public sector team in Central and Eastern Europe

From among all 137 applications, 34 entities were selected whose competence, resources and strategy for implementing the Digital Innovation Hub function in the future were best aligned with the needs of the country. The biggest number of DIHs selected for the project come from Poland (8), Romania (5) and Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovakia (3 in each of these countries).

Selected entities will participate in training courses and workshops tailored to their needs, carried out jointly by PwC and Oxentia, including meetings with mentors during which participants will develop their business plans. The start of the programme is planned at the turn of February and March 2018.

The full list of entities that qualified for the Smart Factories project is available on the EC website.

Contact us

Jakub Kurasz

Jakub Kurasz

Head of Communications, Poland, PwC Poland

Tel: +48 601 289 381

Piotr Kołomycki

Piotr Kołomycki

PR Expert, PwC Poland

Tel: +48 519 506 606

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