The issue of digitisation of society and, in particular, of the manufacturing sector has strategic significance both within the national planning of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the European planning related to the Horizon Europe project.

Below is an overview of the two most interesting initiatives on the topic to keep an eye on, with invitations/calls being already activated for such initiatives or will be activated in the coming weeks: the DTF and the Digital Europe programme (we already covered them here).

DTF – Digital Transition Fund

A “DTF – Digital Transition Fund” has been established as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. With a funding of € 300 million, the Fund is tasked with enhancing the National Innovation Fund and aims to foster the growth of supply chains, SMEs and start-ups that carry out innovative projects in the areas related to artificial intelligence, cloud, healthcare, Industry 4.0, cybersecurity, fintech and blockchain.

Over the 2023-2025 three-year period, the Digital Transition Fund will be tasked with selecting investment proposals from 250 companies in accordance with market best practices. Of the entire amount allocated, 40% of the resources are reserved for (direct and indirect) investments to be made in the regions of the South.

The Digital Transition Fund is managed by CDP Venture Capital SGR on behalf of the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.

To learn more, visit the Digital Transition Fund page

Digital Europe

The Europe-wide Digital Europe programme sets out to increase the Union’s core digital capabilities with a focus on the key areas of artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, advanced computing, data infrastructure, governance and computing, as well as on their deployment and better use in crucial sectors such as energy and environment, manufacturing, agriculture and health.

As part of Digital Europe, the European Union has recently made available two Work Programmes covering the 2023-2024 two-year period with a total budget of € 1,284 million (€ 909.5 million for Digital Europe and € 375 million for Cybersecurity, respectively). The first calls for the new Work Programmes will be published during the following spring-summer and will be extended to companies, public administrations and other entities from EU member states, EFTA/EEA countries and those associated with the Digital Europe program. In most cases, the programmes will require co-funding from other sources to the extent of 50% of the project cost, thus doubling the amount of investment available.

To learn more about the programme, visit the dedicated page