Signed contracts for the development of digital innovation centers;  Filipović: EDIH will benefit society and the economy

Agreements on the allocation of grants for the implementation of the activities of the European Digital Innovation Centers (EDIH) with a total value of 10.8 million euros were signed today at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.
The importance of these projects is that Croatian small and medium-sized enterprises will be able to receive free services in the field of innovation and digitalization, with a special emphasis on advanced technologies.
The contracts were signed by the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Davor Filipović, with representatives of the institutions that are the leaders of the EDIH consortium, i.e. the coordinators of individual EDIH projects.
These are EDIH AI4HEALTH, whose coordinator is the Ruđer Bošković Institute, then EDIH ADRIA, where the University of Rijeka is the coordinator, and EDIH CROBOHUB++, with the coordinator of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb. The last one is JURK EDIH, and the coordinator is the Regional Coordinator of Sisak-Moslavina County.
The EDIH concept was designed by the European Commission with the aim of strengthening capacities in the field of artificial intelligence, cyber security, high-performance computing, development of advanced digital skills, digital transformation of public administration and digitization of companies and business.
The total value of Croatian EDIH projects is EUR 10.8 million

Croatian EDIHs are non-profit consortia that are part of the European network of EDIHs, and are composed of stakeholders from the private and public sector and will develop and provide services, primarily to companies, but also to the public sector, in the field of innovation and digitalization, with a special emphasis to advanced technologies.
The total value of the Croatian EDIH projects is 10.8 million euros, and 50 percent of the grants for the co-financing of their activities in the next seven years were provided by the European Commission as part of the Digital Europe 2021-2027 program.

The financial contribution of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development for the implementation of these contracts is EUR 5.1 million.

In order for Croatian EDIHs to be able to use the funds of the European Commission, in 2020 the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development conducted a public call for the selection of national candidates for EDIHs, and ultimately four Croatian EDIHs entered the financial envelope and signed contracts on co-financing projects with the European Commission.

Sharing knowledge makes society better and the economy more competitive
Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipović said that EDIH is an example of cooperation between the private, public and scientific sectors, a form of cooperation whose work brings benefits to the whole society and the whole community.
"Sharing knowledge makes society better and our economy more competitive," said Filipović.
Rector of the University of Rijeka, Snježana Prijić Samaržija, said that the EDIHs were conceived in such a way that the public and private sectors together help transfer knowledge, skills and competences to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.