The Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) Annual event aims to reinforce the capacity of DIHs to support European companies in their digital transformation. SMEs, start-ups, research and technology organisations, DIHs and policy-makers from all around Europe are invited to participate.

What's in it for you

• Are you a Digital Innovation Hub? Then this event is for you! You will be able to learn about your colleagues' experience on how they collaborate with other hubs across borders, how they work with regional authorities or how they prepare their companies on the ground to have the adequate digital and non-digital skills.
• Are you a research and technology organisation ( RTO), trying to expand your service offerings to cover innovation services, or ecosystem building? Then this event is also for you! You will hear about examples of similar competence centres becoming fully fledged Digital Innovation Hubs throughout our projects.
• Are you an administration responsible for industry or SME policy? This event is also for you! We will showcase examples from various Member States on how they have set up and nurtured Digital Innovation Hubs for the benefit of their companies and for reducing disparities between regions.
• And, in case you happen to be an SME? Well, do not miss this event either! There are plenty of opportunities for you to learn about; funding, experimentation, networking possibilities; all in one place.
• Finally, are you an organisation in one of the EU13 countries, following a training and coaching programme to become a Digital Innovation Hub? The event will allow you to see how others have done it; inspiring use cases from Central and Eastern Europe will be complemented by some mature examples.

Registration and opportunities for you to book before the event

We look forward to seeing you at the DIH Annual event in Warsaw on 27-28 November 2018! Our discussions will focus on the achievements of the past two years, since Digital Innovation Hubs were put forward in the Digitising European Industry initiative. Introducing the forthcoming programmes under the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework will demonstrate how Digital Innovation Hubs will have a key role in those future programmes.

So, join us in Warsaw on 27-28 November. To ensure your place is secured, please register here as soon as possible. Beyond the conference and exhibition, we also offer structured networking opportunities. Please book your networking slots now as places are limited!

Finally, if you are a hub and would like to present your own case, please express your interest to us via email by 20 November, with a description/link of your hub and what you would like to present.  We will be able to provide a space at an exhibition stand during the lunch break on Day 2 to the first 10 hubs.

Background information

Digital Innovation Hubs are not-for-profit one-stop-shops that support companies, notably SMEs in their digital transformation. Digital Innovation Hubs are a key priority in the Digitising European Industry Initiative adopted by the European Union in April 2016.

From 2016 to 2020 the EU is investing €100 million per year to support networking between different DIHs across Europe to help SMEs and mid-caps go digital. Networking and collaboration between DIHs is crucial. Hubs are usually specialised on certain technologies and applications, no one hub has all necessary competences, so they need to work together to give SMEs the access to the solutions they need.

EU actions on DIHs have been carried out through EU-wide initiatives such as Smart Anything Everywhere (SAE) and ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMES (I4MS). More than 150 Digital Innovation Hubs and 500 Start-ups, SMEs and mid-caps have taken part so far in 370 different innovation experiments where companies tested digital innovations in collaboration with DIHs.

The 2018 edition of the DIHs Annual Event will bring together SMEs, start-ups, RTOs, DIHs and policy-makers from all around Europe with the objective of reinforcing the capacity of DIHs to support StartUps and SMEs in their digital transformation. The event is taking place in the context of the preparation for the new Multi-Annual Financial Framework, featuring the proposed Digital Europe Programme highly on the agenda.