To assist micro and small enterprises in growing through digital technologies, the European Commission has published a draft to ensure that funding allocated for small and medium-sized enterprises is quickly and fully utilized.
Innovation vouchers worth up to ten thousand euros will be available for the purchase and learning of digital (ICT) services, all aimed at improving the level of digitalization of their businesses. Such vouchers have already been tested as part of a pilot project in the Spanish regions of Murcia and Extremadura.
– Small businesses that utilize digital services grow twice as fast, export twice as much, and create twice as many jobs. Everyone should feel the benefits that Murcia and Extremadura have – said Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes, commenting on the Commission’s draft, which aims to replicate these results in other European regions.
Increasing Competitiveness Digitalizing business, or shifting to the internet and using other digital services, affects increased competitiveness, export, and domestic market opportunities. ‘Internet-connected’ businesses in all G20 countries have up to 22 percent higher revenue growth than those with low or no internet engagement in their operations. In Germany, for example, 93 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises actively present on the internet increased employment over a three-year period, compared to 50 percent of those that are not online. The regional voucher plan would allow small businesses to exchange these vouchers for specialist ICT services such as website development, learning how to sell online, or adapting more sophisticated ICT tools for business purposes, such as supply chain management and customer relationship management. The Commission offers regions a detailed draft for implementing the plan with a workshop ‘Open Days, 11th European Week of Regions and Cities’.
