CDREUROPE

SMEs in all sectors find themselves obliged to digitalise production and organisation. Digitalisation can bring a wealth of benefits, but also opens them up to many risks. These range from data privacy and cyber security, to ethics of data and technology. They range from digital inclusion, job substitution / insecurity, to energy use with big data.

Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) is a set of practices and behaviour that help an organisation to use data and digital technologies in a way that is socially, economically, technologically, and environmentally responsible. In theory, it sounds obvious. In practice, it is not so easy to achieve, particularly for SMEs.

Public support is, thus, required to ensure that the digital revolution is accompanied by an awareness of its socio-economic and environmental threats and by practical tools and support systems that can ensure even the smallest SMEs can de digitally responsible.

CDR EUROPE takes up this challenge. We group 10 partners from 9 EU regions. Originally the project included 8 partners, after the Restricted Call for enlargement the partnership has been extended with two Discovery Partners from Serbia and Montenegro. The partners represent different levels of digitalisation, economic fabrics and CDR maturity levels, but all committed to ensuring that SMES reap the benefits of responsible digitalisation. Partners merge varied expertise on relevant topics, which range from public measures to support SME digitalisation processes, cyber security, environmental impacts of digitalisation, to digital social inclusion, to name but a few. The project also involves 2 Associate partners.

Using the International CDR Manifesto as a starting point, we implement an interregional exchange approach that takes us through stages of Consolidating Concepts, Understanding Challenges and Seeking Answers, towards Being the Change: achieving policy improvements and monitoring impact. 4 regions design and test a Pilot Action supporting CDR uptake in SMEs and we use results to feed into change in all partner territories.

CDR EUROPE supports better regional development policies for CDR uptake in SMEs, with extensive socio-economic impact on our territories.