Trace the route service – Diagnostics and digitalization plans for SMEs in the primary sector
About this good practice
Trace the route is a service offered by Galician EDIH Datalife. The service aims to help Galician micro and small enterprises in the primary sector (agriculture, livestock, wood-forestry and marine-industry) with their digitalization process. Adapted to the characteristics of the target companies, the EDIH staff contact companies individually and proactively to inform about the service, visiting them in their premises. The DMA follows the same principle.
The main objectives of the project are: Pushing forward digital transformation of those companies with bigger difficulties to face it. The methodology for the provision of the service consists of 6 main steps: 1. Selection of companies based on their interest 2. Analysis about the selected companies and their processes, in close collaboration with them 3. Conducting digital maturity assessments: Digital strategy and readiness, automation and artificial intelligence, people-centric digitalization, data management, green digitalization and barriers to digitalization 4. Co-definition of digital transformation strategies and digitalization plans 5. Identifying Support: Suppliers and Financing.
The information gathered through the analysis of the companies and the Digital Maturity Assessments serves to develop a database on the level of digitalisation and needs in this regard of the sector as a whole.
Resources needed
Datalife has had a financial agreement with annual budget with the Galician Innovation Agency in order to support the setting up of the EDIH and to implement services, such as Trace the route. The main resource needed to implement it is staff with knowledge on primary sector and digitalisation.
Evidence of success
In an initial pilot experience, 20 Galician SMEs received a digital maturity diagnosis. The dissemination of this experience attracted the interest of other companies and 80 additional diagnosis have been carried out with an updated and improved methodology and the service has been kept active. Furthermore, the diagnosis has been used by some of these companies to implement individual digitization processes, which is contributing to Galicia S3 priority “digitization of the primary sector”.
Potential for learning or transfer
Trace the Route has proven to be a valuable instrument to stimulate the digitization of the smallest SMEs in rural areas and provide them the same quality service as to any other company. The main differentiating element is the fact that the EDIH outreaches the micro SMEs and works with them in their own premises, stimulating the interest in digitization through the diagnosis made jointly with them. This crucial as most staff in micro SMEs do not have the time to visit EDIH premises or attend events, which are not directly linked to their core activity.
The initiative has easy and clear transfer potential to territories with the same type of structure in the primary sector (micro or even family SMEs), including farming, forestry and fishing. Nevertheless, the methodology could be adapted to the digitization of micro SMEs in other economic sectors in rural areas too.
Finally, the methodology could work well to stimulate the awareness on digitization in sectors more reluctant to do it.