In South-East Finland in Kymenlaakso region a joint project funded by ERDF is being planned by South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and Regional Development Companies Cursor Oy and Kouvola Innovation Ltd. The project called Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Network will promote Kymenlaakso´s action plan implementation and more particularly action 1 Creation of an Ecosystem for Smart Factory Actors.
The Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Network project is being developed to continue regional DIH related development work promoted especially by Xamk. This work was originally initiated by the submission of a proposal for Finnish European Digital Innovation Hub status at the turn of 2020 and 2021 by a consortium of three universities. Even though the proposal was not amongst the ones designated by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy for the next stage of the EU-wide selection process for European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH), the endeavor encouraged to continue DIH related regional development measures.
The Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Network project under planning will continue the work based on findings resulting from a project Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Kymenlaakso (implementation time 1st April 2021 – 31st March 2022) coordinated by Xamk and funded by Regional Council of Kymenlaakso. This ongoing project executes e.g.:
• the mapping of regional ecosystem
• business needs assessment through interviews
• a vision for a new digital innovation hub
• preliminary concept of services provided.
Some of the envisaged measures of Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) Network project are e.g.:
• training of business advisors to provide advice related to digitalisation
• testing and launching of service concept for companies in Kymenlaakso region
• narrowing of previously identified digital skills gaps for SMEs by providing necessary training for different skill levels
• development of digital tools and a website to support DIH activities.
• launching of collaboration with other domestic and foreign DIHs.
