This week we continue exploring the policy instruments that DEVISE partners are addressing. We virtually travel to Donegal (Ireland), to talk with DEVISE Project Manager and ERNACT Programme Manager, Daniela Copaci.
What policy instrument are you addressing?
We address the Donegal Digital Action Plan, developed within the framework of the County’s Local Economic and Community Planning. One of the three main goals of this instrument is to grow ‘An expanded digital cluster, home to indigenous and Foreign Direct Investment companies’. Among the actions to be implemented within the next years and relating to the issue addressed in DEVISE, the plan intends to be a catalyst for the following: new start-ups in the tech sector in Donegal; encourage existing businesses to use digital processes, increasing their ability to compete, sell additional products and services and create more jobs.
This action will be funded by Enterprise Ireland, so we included it as new policy instrument addressed. It is part of a package launched by the Ministry for Business, Enterprise and Innovation of the Irish Government and managed by the governmental agency Enterprise Ireland specifically designed to help the counties most impacted from Brexit: Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. The main objective is to support businesses across the region to strengthen their resilience and capabilities and drive economic activity.
Were the Managing Authorities of the policy instruments addressed involved in the project? How?
The Donegal Digital Action Plan Working Group and Donegal County Council have been involved in all project stages - regional analysis, interregional learning process and action plan development. It was agreed with the working group to focus the work in the Action 2: Digital Innovation Connecting talent, which objective is to create a collaborative environment for players in the field of technology research, innovation and tech businesses, as well as non-tech businesses within Donegal’s priority sectors Digital Innovation Hubs action included in the DDAP.
Which are the improvements in the policy instruments addressed?
The improvement refers to the implementation of a new project - Innovation as a Service. IaaS aims to increase the uptake of disruptive technology solutions by SMEs in the Border region to accelerate their competitiveness and innovation levels. This is key to enabling SMEs to address the twin threats of Brexit and Covid19. This policy change was achieved thanks to the process followed in the project, permanently involving the relevant stakeholders of the DDAP Working Group from the very beginning. In particular, the following steps were followed: 6 Regional Stakeholder Group meetings, regional assessment made based on the DEVISE common methodology, attendance to staff exchanges with stakeholders in Laval and West Flanders, 1 intersectoral breakfast, definition of the action plan bringing the knowledge acquired in the project.
How is helping DEVISE to achieve your objectives?
DEVISE has provided us not only with a methodology assess the current situation regarding the digital transformation of SMEs and ways of connecting the digital suppliers with companies as potential users of their services, but also with an invaluable pool of good practices from other EU regions. Among them, ERNACT got inspiration from several good practices from Belgium, France and Finland, that have been previously shared within the DEVISE partnership:
- The Imec good practice Flanders, West Belgium has served as inspiration in different ways, such as the collaboration and research tailored to the needs of the consortium partners, the access to an extensive pool of expertise of academics and industry partners and a route to valorisation through the industry partners.
- The Apollo good practice, Laval – France was a valuable input for carrying out the delivery and testing of the service to introduce disruptive digital technologies into the operations of the companies.
- The Regional Manufacturing Digital Innovation Hub IoT-Compass, South Ostrobothnia - Finland, is a very inspirational way of making the technologies and infrastructure available for companies to get to learn more of digital manufacturing and industrial internet and Internet of Things, to implement company demand-driven pilots.
Would you like to share some results?
It is too early to share. The IaaS project is currently under implementation and permanent monitoring. The unique approach of the project is to use sophisticated digital collaboration services to better network and connect the Border region’s growing network of innovation hubs to technology providers (universities and institutes of technology) across the Border and West regions in Ireland.
