A new focus on digital Internationalisation support has enhanced The West Midlands current business support offering. Thanks to ideas seen in Spain, SMEs in the West Midlands region are now receiving improved digital Internationalisation Support.
The West Midlands region was able to learn from a good practice, observed in Extremadura, Spain. The ‘Digital Expande’ good practice sparked discussion about how the West Midlands region current offerings didn’t specifically offer SMEs the opportunity to understand how emerging and new technologies could be incorporated to improve their services and processes. This would in turn make them more competitive in an international market.
Thanks to this interregional cooperation within the INTRA project a policy change was achieved as proposed in the Action plan. This ensured that regional support programmes now offer digital support specifically to increase SMEs internationalisation readiness. Four regional programmes now highlight the importance of SMEs to be internationally competitive by enhancing the use of digital technologies.
Over 70 SMEs have now accessed these programmes through the continued support of Coventry City Council and Coventry University Enterprises Ltd. With international trade at the forefront of the region’s Economic Recovery Framework it is anticipated that the legacy of INTRA will continue far into the future.
Prepared by: Sarah Barsby, CUE Ltd.
