Investment TD-C16-i02

Investment TD-C16-i02

i02: Digital Transition of Enterprises (€450M)

This investment, which is being coordinated by IAPMEI, I.P. in close collaboration with various public bodies and associations, will contribute to the transformation of Portuguese SME business models and their digitalisation, with the goal of achieving greater competitiveness and resilience. It incorporates the promotion of business digitalisation through the acceleration and automation of decision-making and execution based on artificial intelligence, the redesign of value and supply chains, optimising speed and resilience and the use of cross-sectoral data spaces, supported by European cloud and edge computing infrastructures that are innovative, secure and energy efficient, providing enterprises with a way to reposition their businesses in a digitally advanced ecosystem. It encompasses the National Test Beds Network, Digital Commerce (Coaching 4.0) and Entrepreneurship programmes.

The four programmes converging towards this objective by addressing the various aspects of the digital transition are:

1. National Test Beds Network – Creation of a national test beds network through infrastructures that aim to create the necessary conditions for enterprises to develop and test new products and services, and accelerate the digital transition process, either in a physical space or via a virtual simulator;

2. Digital Commerce – Programme for the digitalisation of SMEs, with a focus on micro-SMEs in the area of commerce, with a view to activating their e-commerce channels, incorporating technology into business models as well as dematerialising processes involving clients, suppliers and logistics through the use of information and communication technologies and support for internationalisation. This integrates three projects – “E-Commerce Accelerators”, “Digital Business Neighbourhoods” and “Internationalisation via E-commerce”;

3. Support for Digital Transition Business Models (Coaching0) – Framed within the national programme for Industry 4.0, this initiative seeks to encourage the integration of technology within enterprises in support of the development of organisational processes and skills promoting the digital transformation of organisations’ business models;

4. Entrepreneurship – Investments that result in enhancing the strategic focus on the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, which involves directly supporting start-ups, usually during the seed phase that is aimed at developing new products and services with a strong digital and green component, consolidating existing entrepreneurship support structures (Start-up Portugal) and supporting the development of incubators and accelerators. This integrates three projects: “Voucher for Start-ups – New Green and Digital Products”, “Strengthening the National Entrepreneurship Structure” and “Voucher for Incubators / Accelerators”.

Among other objectives, the investment is expected to support more than 50,000 SMEs, set up 50 digital commerce districts, 10 digital accelerators, support the creation of 30 Test-Beds and reach 4,000 enterprises with theoretical training and consultancy focused on Industry 4.0, and issue vouchers for 3,000 start-ups.