Development agencies
and policy makers
With the acceleration of digital technologies, regional economies do not have to rely so much on the natural resources and amount of workforce as before. Innovative and successful businesses can be supported with the implementation of advanced digital solutions and this type of support promises to become more and more important in the future. In the long-term Industry 4.0 related solutions will create new market opportunities and jobs, improve business productivity, increase the overall competitiveness of the region, foster economic growth and creation of innovation-led economy.
Today’s challenge
Digital transformation can be challenging for smaller companies due to lack of own expertise, funding, or other essential resources. These challenges can be solved with the aid of digital innovation hubs – a one-stop-shops that provide various digitalization solutions and assist in implementing these solutions into the company’s production cycle. However, the digital innovation hubs themselves have various stages of maturity i.e. the available technology pack, access to specific infrastructures and expertise, and access to funding, depending on the region and length of their operation.
The BOWI project aims to create a self-sustainable pan-European network of digital innovation hubs that will enable the experience, expertise and infrastructure exchange between the hubs thus giving all of them same opportunities to support regional companies. For the companies and regional economies this means an even distribution and access to digital solutions as well as the opportunity to connect with other regions and develop new collaborations.
To reach a new stage in region’s technological advancement and economic growth it is essential to support both the hubs and the companies that require high-tech service solutions by addressing such challenges in the regional development policies and supporting instruments.
BOWI solution
Digitalization is seen as an enabling trend among regions and can often be seen mentioned in the Smart Specialization Strategies developed and funded by regions. By enhancing technology transfer across Europe BOWI is contributing to the investments made by national and regional authorities. Involvement of regional and national policymakers in BOWI project will help to maximise the impact through aligned development of the digital technologies and consolidation of different EU, regional, and national funds. By aligning national and regional funding, duplication will be reduced, and the impact of public and private investments increased. The collaboration will enable the better use of existing funding and resources.
Why join BOWI?
BOWI community consists of digital innovation hubs from regions with different technology adaptation levels, SMEs and mid-caps, development agencies and investors, both private and agencies, that all are thinking about the economy of tomorrow. As a development agency you will be able to connect with agencies from other, more technologically mature regions, and get to know their practices and approaches that you can afterwards implement in your own work. You will also be able to engage in dialogue with other network members and understand the needs and tendencies to map next steps in your policies and initiatives.
Knowledge and experience sharing between BOWI community members will improve the understanding of the approach needed to face the challenges in the area of digital solution implementation. It will also enable the mapping of future challenges related to advanced digital solutins, such as legal (privacy and intellectual property rights) questions, workforce skill development and others. You will be able to discover synergies with digital innovation ecosystem in order to capture policy priorities and help decision makers to understand how this ecosystem can benefit from different policies and in its tur support the regional economy.