The Digital Innovation Hub of Catalunya (DIH4CAT) is a non-profit regional initiative focused on innovation, aiming to boost the technological transformation of SMEs, start-ups, and public entities.

It is coordinated by ACCIÓ, the agency for business competitiveness, and brings together the main technological agents linked to Industry 4.0 in Catalunya, including leading technological centers and universities with cutting-edge infrastructures such as Eurecat, CVC, ICFO, i2CAT, Leitat, UPC, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and the recent addition of the CIM Foundation, as well as business associations Foment and PIMEC, and business school IESE Business School.

At the European level, the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) network consists of 227 hubs, of which 151 receive direct funding from the Digital Europe Programme, including DIH4CAT. The following data stands out:

• Across Europe, 213 regions, or 85%, host organizations within the EDIH network.
• The services provided by the EDIHs are accessible in 223 regions, covering nearly 90% of European territories.
• The EDIHs provide support to test and apply Artificial Intelligence in 91% of European regions. Their regional coverage for cybersecurity and high-performance computing is 73% and 61%, respectively.

Specifically, in Catalunya, since May 2.022, 2.426 unique companies have received a service from the Digital Innovation Hub, related to the adoption of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, supercomputing, robotics and advanced manufacturing, photonics, advanced communications, or cybersecurity.

Companies can access public funding to subsidize DIH4CAT’s technological services. Since 2.022, ACCIÓ has published a line for Advanced Digital Technologies, which has financed 150 projects (with about 93 projects expected to be financed in 2.024). Additionally, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has a subsidy line for technological testing of SMEs through the European Digital Innovation Hubs called the Digital Innovation Hubs Support Programme (PADIH). Since its publication in January 2.023, 240 Catalan companies have benefited.

Both funding lines aim to execute technological projects, allowing Catalan companies to validate and experiment with advanced digital technologies, with the support and access to cutting-edge infrastructures from DIH4CAT’s partners, boosting their digital transformation, and in some cases, generating new business models.

With 361 technological projects underway, DIH4CAT has exceeded expectations and initial forecasts, confirming the initiative’s interest within Catalunya’s business ecosystem.

Other notable results

Additionally, DIH4CAT provides services in training, connection, and open innovation alongside technological services, strengthening companies’ capabilities to adopt advanced technologies. During these first two years of activity, the following results were achieved:

• 83 ecosystem activities, with 3.397 participants.
• 113 training activities, with 2.756 participants.
• 204 orientation services (including advice on funding lines).
• 64 interactions outside the national territory, with a presence in 37 international networks.
• 82 participations to raise awareness of DIH4CAT in regional, national, and international ecosystems.

Among the most notable activities is the “Cycle of Training in Advanced Digital Technologies,” which took place between September 2.023 and January 2.024 throughout Catalunya, with the collaboration of 5G Areas.

Among the Connection initiatives, the “DIH4CAT Tech Meetings” are especially relevant, where companies can meet experts in advanced digital technologies, validate their projects, and explore potential services for establishing synergies. These meetings, co-organized with the Enterprise Europe Network, were held at Advanced Factories and the IOT Solutions World Congress in 2.023 and 2.024, where European Digital Innovation Hubs also had a space to foster collaborations. They will again take place at the next editions of both fairs.

In the field of Open Innovation, excellent results have also been achieved through Business Mentorships, webinars, and Bootcamps, organized by IESE Business School. Specifically, IESE has organized:

• 2 Digital Innovation Forums, gathering over 600 participants.
• 8 international webinars on open innovation with 653 attendees.
• 82 companies mentored in open innovation mentorships.
• 42 companies participating in open innovation Bootcamps.

All these data corroborate, on one hand, the interest and demand from Catalan companies to gain more information about advanced digital technologies, test them with expert guidance, and plan their implementation according to their strategic objectives and expected returns. On the other hand, the excellent results confirm that the Digital Innovation Hub of Catalunya is a useful and necessary tool to achieve the European Union’s Digital Decade goals by 2030: where it is expected that 75% of European SMEs will have adopted some of the critical advanced technologies for their competitiveness, such as AI or cybersecurity.