Last week, the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) was launched in the Northern Netherlands. “It is a program in which we try to help as many entrepreneurs as possible to make the digitalization move and allow companies to work smarter,” says Anne Wil Lucas of the Northern Development Agency (NOM) in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata .
The program must make the Drenthe manufacturing industry competitive and future-proof. “We have a whole package of measures. It starts with an intake interview in which we look at the extent to which an entrepreneur has already digitized his company or made it smart. And what the need is. But we also look at whether the staff is properly trained. And we help with financing.”
Initially, NOM will take 80 manufacturing companies under its wing. “Some entrepreneurs in the Northern Netherlands have already taken the step, but there are also traditional companies that have not yet made it that far. It will be difficult for them to keep up with the competition,” says Lucas. “There is a shortage on the labor market and it is difficult to find suitable staff who can operate machines. Through digitalization and robotization, this can partly be taken over and we prepare companies for the future.”
“This also prevents production from going to low-wage countries, and robots can also help with that.” Four million euros are available for the project. It has a term of seven years. Half of that money comes from the national government and the province and the other half from Europe. “It is not a subsidy, but is used to develop a program that helps entrepreneurs get started.”
There are a hundred of these types of hubs throughout Europe. The Northern Netherlands specializes in self-learning systems and smart factories. Knowledge that is already available in the region is also used. “We have a lot of manufacturing industry, but also forerunners that already have these types of smart systems. And they can help other companies. We also collaborate with northern knowledge institutions such as universities of applied sciences and the University of Groningen,” says Lucas.
(watch the full interview with Anne Wil Lucas below)