On 11 October, the EU4Digital Initiative will organise a virtual excursion to support stakeholders of the Eastern partner countries in joining the EU network – European DIGITAL SME Alliance. 

The session will invite participants to a practical conversation with the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, the largest network of ICT and digital SMEs in Europe. The network was introduced during a dedicated networking event organised on the topic to facilitate the development of expert communities and increase their involvement into policy design and implementation in the policy area ‘ICT Innovation ecosystems for start-ups and scale-ups’.

The consultation targets specifically selected group of associations and organisations supporting the development of ICT/digital SMEs in the Eastern partner countries. The meeting aims to enhance the capacity of the targeted organisations as executive bodies by helping their member SMEs to use cross-border B2B collaboration opportunities and by providing prospects to contribute in policy and ecosystem activities for the development of EaP digital markets.

The virtual consultation will be run by European DIGITAL SME Alliance representatives and facilitated by EU4Digital ICT Innovation Stream Lead Anna Pobol. The consultation will include the following subjects: services, projects and partnerships provided by the European DIGITAL SME Alliance and the European Digital Innovators Club. Additionally, Mr. Andrei Kelemen, CEO at the Cluj IT Cluster, will share the experience of bringing together digital business associations within the Balkan, Black Sea and Baltic ICT Clusters Network (3B ICT Network), also a member of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance.

The ultimate goal of the event is to support the integration of the EaP organisations into the European DIGITAL SME Alliance network to foster cooperation and joint work of the digital SMEs from the Eastern partner countries and the EU on digital markets development.

The detailed agenda can be found here.

The supporting informational material on European DIGITAL SME Alliance activities, opportunities and eligibility criteria can be found here.