Supporting knowledge capacity in ICT among SME to engage them in growth and innovation
Project background
Throughout Europe, a digital gap exists between urban conglomerations and the rural regions as there are challenges to the provision of broadband services in rural and remote areas. This has resulted in a significant backlog in the digital activities of small companies active in rural areas, jeopardising their opportunities for competition and therefore crucially needed work places in areas often affected by demographic change. Today's programmes to promote small businesses' ICT uptake are often unable to overcome this digital gap as they are designed on regional or national levels, not matching the specific needs of rural areas' SMEs.
Importance of the project for Kainuu
SKILLS + is important for Kainuu for two reasons:
Project Objectives
The overall objective of the project is to enhance the ambition of rural SMEs by promoting the uptake and integration of modern ICT tools in daily business routines. Its aim is to optimise existing policy instruments by either giving more priority to the specific needs in rural areas or by proposing complimentary measures to increase the share of available funding for rural areas in order to overcome the digital gap between urban agglomerations and the periphery.
The project addresses public policies on national, regional and sub-regional levels, including EU (ERDF, ESF, EAFRD), aiming at promoting ICT skills in rural areas.
Project partners
The project includes 12 partners from 11 European countries:
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