Why is it important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas to see data as a valuable resource? How can SMEs be supported in using data to optimize processes and ultimately save time and costs?
The Interreg North Sea Region project Futures By Design is addressing these issues. Now that the project has been in the implementation phase for six months, the twelve project partners came together again to discuss the results to date, progress and the next steps in the project. This time, the virtual host was aconium GmbH, which is responsible for communication management together with the Swedish Alexanderson Institute and is also responsible for content implementation in northwest Germany.
Originally, a three-day face-to-face meeting was planned at aconium GmbH in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, but this could not take place in this form due to the Covid-19 restrictions. As an alternative, the project partners met in a virtual conference room. An important part of the meeting was the presentation of digital tools that were developed in the project partnership and are located on a virtual platform, the so-called Horizon Scanning and Knowledge Transfer Hub. In future, these tools will help SMEs in the North Sea region to review and improve their knowledge and skills in relation to data-based work in order to identify new solutions and implement sustainable, innovative processes in their companies. In a total of six project regions – Friesland (Netherlands), Groningen (Netherlands), Cambridgeshire (UK), Antwerp (Belgium), Halland (Sweden), as well as the district of Osterholz and surrounding districts in north-west Germany – SMEs are thus being supported within the framework of the project in equipping themselves for the digital future.
The exchange of ideas was supplemented by contributions to the discussion from stakeholders from north-western Germany, such as the WiPaD – Papenburg Dörpen economic region, who presented the necessity of data-based work from their perspective and thus also underlined the importance of the Futures By Design project.
In the coming weeks, SMEs in the North Sea region will now embark on the data journey, equipped with helpful tools and information on data sources, which will also be made available on the virtual hub. In spring 2021, another project partner meeting is planned in Belgium with local stakeholders to discuss the ongoing implementation and data-based work transnationally.
If you would like to keep up to date with the work of the project partners and would like more information about the project, please visit the website or contact us at fbd@aconium.eu.