Kickstart Digitalization is a methodology to boost awareness about digitalization opportunities and to stimulate initial digitalization activities for competitiveness in SMEs.

Lower Austrian stakeholders were trained by the Swedish partners already in September 2020. The Green Building Cluster Lower Austria discussed the methodology in detail with eight interested member companies in three workshops, finally carried out onsite in September/October 2021. The feedback was very positive. According to the participating companies, it helps to rethink digitalisation priorities and to start digitalisation activities in the company step by step in a more structured way.

Based on the positive feedback of the Green Building stakeholders, the Regional Government Department Economy agreed to promote Kickstart Digitalisation as a new service offered to Lower Austrian companies. In coordination meetings in October and November 2021, representatives of the Department Economy, the clusters and the House of Digitalization and the regional intermediary TIP – Technology & Innovation Partners, discussed and agreed on a step-by-step roll-out of Kickstart Digitalisation in Lower Austria. Workshops with companies from different sectors and representatives of intermediaries to be trained on the tool were prepared and will start in spring 2022 as soon as the COVID regulations allow onsite workshops.