In connection with the previous BeDigital project, Compare developed a digital knowledge platform that included a self-assessment tool that companies could use to measure their digital maturity.
To manage and further develop this, Compare initiated the two parallel projects Digital Consultancy in the Public Sector (DROS) and Digital Consultancy in Regional Collaboration (DRRS), which were funded by the European Agricultural Fund and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth. The projects have aimed to help small and micro enterprises in rural areas to increase their digital maturity through the COACH tool.
The tool is based on the KTH Innovation Readiness Level model and results in a spider diagram, which enables visual measurability that allows companies to visualise their digital maturity and thus measure their progress very clearly.
Digital Counselling in the Public Sector has focused on the “train the trainer” approach, i.e. coaching future coaches in how to use the measurement tool. The project has targeted the public sector, and primarily business developers in Värmland’s municipalities who work with support to companies in each municipality.
The idea was to teach them how to coach small and micro businesses in rural areas in how to measure and develop their digital maturity using the COACH tool. During the course of the project, it became clear that time is a major challenge in terms of the business developers’ ability to coach. Within the project, Compare therefore also began to target Värmland cluster organisations that help companies with development. One example is Visit Värmland, which works with smaller tourism companies in rural areas.
In addition to the coaching tool, the project has also worked with other forms of regional business support via Region Värmland’s Timbanken service and innovation cheques that companies can use to obtain grants for development in various areas.
Ingrid Ivars, Innovation Manager at Compare, presented DROS and DRRS at the Europe in my region event at Karlstad Innovation Park on 8 May 2024
Digital Counselling in Regional Collaboration has been a collaborative project with Sandbacka Science Park in Gävleborg focusing on cross-regional collaboration on digital counselling for small and micro businesses in rural areas.
Since both Värmland and Gävleborg largely consist of rural areas, there is a similar need to help smaller companies in that environment to develop their digital maturity in order to become more competitive.
Together with Sandbacka, Compare has investigated the scalability of the COACH tool within the project. By revising the questions and information, among other things, the project partners have jointly optimised the tool so that it can be disseminated to more regions and scaled up to include other areas.
Here are some of the representatives from Compare and Sandbacka Science Park who worked on the DRRS
The work that has taken place within the projects has resulted in a solution that is cross-project and sustainable in the long term, as the tool will now live on within Compare’s new project MIGHTY, which is one of Sweden’s European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH). MIGHTY will focus on the digital and sustainable transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing industry and public sector.
Within the EU EDIH programme, there is a more complex tool for measuring digital maturity, a so-called DMA (Digital Maturity Assessment). One added value identified with the COACH tool is that it can be applied as a training tool for businesses to use the more complex EU tool.
