Good practice:

FIWARE Digital Innovation HUB for Business Acceleration - FiiHUB

The main challenge for companies, cities or territories willing to be more competitive in the current digital economy is the lack of internal resources to access disruptive technologies, tools, and solutions. Although regional SMEs know the importance of innovation, creating new markets, and staying relevant, they don’t know how to turn ideas into ready-to-use smart solutions, how to create new products and services and consequently, make a meaningful impact in the market or society.
FiiHUB reaches its objectives in different ways: offer easy access to Open Source technologies, business development support, and community building that enable local digital businesses to thrive at a regional and a global level. FiiHUB is devoted to instructing and educating, helping and advising local communities, matching the demands of their local market, and creating new demands. FiiHUB has implemented thanks to the Interreg Mac program (an ETC program), with 85% ERDF funds.
The main stakeholders are regional public institutions, science and technology centers, universities, and chambers of commerce and industry from the Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde.
The main beneficiaries are local businesses (SMEs) and entrepreneurs from the region, who need support to grow in regional, national and international markets, to engage in innovation processes using FIWARE technologies.

Technology centers need to be in front and drive the process. They also need to be willing to take the main financial risk.
In the human resources, you will need, to set up the practice, almost 2 persons, and to run the practice 4.
200 k€ - 899.337,22 € (total amount partnership)

Nowadays, FIIHUB is officially recognized by FIWARE Foundation as a FIWARE iHUB 1 Star level, because it demonstrated success with the following outputs:
• +15 FI-MAC training actions (workshops and dissemination actions)
• +40 projects during the FI-MAC open call (FIWARE projects to be supported and accelerated by FI-MAC)
• 16 SMEs accelerated (from Macaronesia region)
• 8 internationalization (European funding, European initiatives, and FIWARE expert support), etc.

This practice is interesting for other regions because, with this practice, they could promote the digitization and transformation of companies through different technologies such as Augmented Reality with FIWARE as a connector of these. In fact, they could gain access to the FIWARE ecosystem and the FIWARE Lab; enjoy training and technical support provided by FIWARE experts; get involved in FIWARE Accelerator Programmes, etc.
This practice is potentially interesting for other regions to learn from, because SMEs, entrepreneurs, and start-ups could benefit by using the modular platform of FIWARE, allowing to use of different technologies as AR through FIWARE API, Data Models, the catalog, the lab, and the validation center, the Expert Certification Program, the marketplace, the FIWARE Marketing Program, the international ecosystem to share best practices and implementations, the training materials, etc. No difficulties were encountered.