Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)
Quick Facts
Email me updates on this grant
Get notified about:
- Deadline changes
- New FAQs & guidance
- Call reopened
- Q&A webinars
We'll only email you about this specific grant. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam.
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)💰 Funding Details
Funding Description
What the Grant Funds
* Establishment or reinforcement of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) with a dedicated, expanded focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI).
* Provision of the four mandatory service pillars:
1. Test Before Invest – access to demonstration facilities, AI experimentation, HPC testbeds, TEFs.
2. Training & Skills Development – reskilling/up-skilling programmes, short courses, AI compliance clinics (AI Act readiness), green-digital skills.
3. Access to Finance – investor matchmaking, grant/loan advisory, venture capital preparation, state-aid-compliant de-minimis schemes.
4. Ecosystem & Networking – brokerage events, cross-border collaboration, interface to AI Factories, AI-on-Demand platform, EuroHPC competence centres.
Eligible Beneficiaries
* Legal entities (public or private) established in EU Member States or Digital Europe Associated Countries.
* Single-applicant or consortia (recommended) consisting of: universities & RTOs, clusters, chambers of commerce, incubators/accelerators, public authorities, SME associations, HPC or cybersecurity competence centres.
* Cross-border trans-national hubs are eligible; each participating country must co-fund its share.
Funding Intensity & Budget Rules
* Total public funding: up to 100 % of eligible costs.
* 50 % financed by Digital Europe Programme (European Commission).
* ≤ 50 % to be matched by national/regional public sources (can include in-kind, ESIF, RRF, IPCEI, etc.).
* No fixed ceiling per project – national authorities notify the Commission of the amount they reserve; historic range: €3–€15 m EC contribution per hub over 3 years.
* Customers (SMEs/public bodies) may be charged market-conform fees for advanced or long-term services, provided State aid rules (de minimis / GBER) are met.
* Project duration: 36 months (recommended) with possibility of extension if foreseen in national co-funding decisions.
Cost Eligibility Snapshot
* Personnel, equipment depreciation, consumables, travel, subcontracting (limited), indirect costs (25 % flat-rate).
* Investments in small-scale equipment/demo lines are allowed if directly linked to the service catalogue (e.g., AI edge devices, robotic arms, GPU servers).
* VAT is ineligible unless non-recoverable.
Key Compliance & Policy Conditions
* Alignment with the AI Act, data governance act, cybersecurity & standardisation roadmaps.
* Interoperability with Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) tools (digital maturity assessment, KPI reporting).
* Demonstrable synergies & non-duplication with existing EDIHs and AI infrastructures.
* Sustainability plan showing economic viability after EU/national funding ends.
📊 At a Glance
Get Grant Updates
Get notified about:
- Deadline changes
- New FAQs & guidance
- Call reopened
- Q&A webinars
We'll only email you about this specific grant. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam.
🇪🇺 Strategic Advantages
EU-Wide Advantages & Opportunities under "Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)"
1. Pan-European Coverage & Territorial Cohesion
• Bridges digitalisation gaps by ensuring all NUTS-2 regions – including outermost and associated countries – gain direct access to high-end AI expertise.
• Accelerates convergence with Cohesion Policy goals (ERDF, Just Transition Fund), enabling smart-specialisation regions to leapfrog in AI adoption while avoiding duplicated regional investments.
• Creates cross-border hubs that tackle common challenges in border areas (e.g. supply-chain resilience, mobility, climate adaptation), unlocking untapped growth potential.
2. Critical Mass for AI Uptake & Compliance
• Offers SMEs/public bodies a single EU-wide entry point to experiment with AI, HPC, cybersecurity and data technologies – lowering transaction costs and time-to-market.
• Harmonises guidance on the forthcoming EU AI Act, data regulation, and standardisation, easing compliance and fostering trust in home-grown AI solutions.
• Multiplies demand for European AI-on-Demand Platform assets, AI Factories and TEFs, reinforcing strategic autonomy in key digital value chains.
3. Synergies with Flagship EU Infrastructures
• Provides privileged pathways to EuroHPC AI-optimised supercomputers and national HPC competence centres for compute-intensive testing.
• Channels SMEs toward InvestEU, EIC Accelerator, Horizon Europe IPCEI funding via the mandated "access-to-finance" service line, maximising leverage of EU blended-finance instruments.
• Integrates outputs from Digital Europe cyber-security, cloud and data-space projects, ensuring rapid diffusion beyond the original consortia.
4. Network Effects & Knowledge Spill-overs
• Mandatory collaboration through the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) institutionalises matchmaking and peer learning across >250 hubs, creating the largest public-private digital support network worldwide.
• Facilitates reuse of training curricula, digital maturity tools and demonstrators, decreasing marginal costs for new regions and sectors.
• Stimulates sectoral clusters (agri-food, health, manufacturing, public services) to co-develop interoperable use-cases that feed directly into European and international standards bodies.
5. Skills Mobility & Workforce Resilience
• EU-wide catalogue of micro-credentials and vocational modules (aligned with the Pact for Skills) enables rapid reskilling, strengthening labour mobility and inclusiveness.
• Promotes gender parity and youth engagement through uniform KPIs, improving diversity in the AI talent pipeline across Member States.
6. Green & Twin Transition Advantages
• Embeds environmental impact testing in "test-before-invest" services, supporting the Green Deal, Taxonomy Regulation and SME sustainability reporting requirements.
• Consolidated network can benchmark and disseminate energy-efficient AI models and circular-IT practices faster than isolated regional initiatives.
7. Data-Driven Policy Feedback Loop
• Common KPI framework (via DTA repository) supplies the Commission with near-real-time evidence on AI diffusion, skills gaps and investment needs, directly informing Digital Decade Targets, SME Strategy and industrial policy.
• Enables benchmarking of digital maturity across regions, guiding future EU Cohesion and RRF allocations.
8. Financial Leverage & Sustainability
• Blended co-funding (50 % EU / up to 50 % national) unlocks >€600 m total public funding (estimate) while requiring EDIHs to develop revenue models (service fees, membership, success-based finance coaching) that ensure post-grant viability.
• Aggregated demand makes private investors, VCs and banks more willing to create dedicated AI and deep-tech financing products at EU level.
9. Strategic Autonomy & Standard-Setting
• Positions Europe as a rule-maker rather than rule-taker in trustworthy AI, cybersecurity and data-space interoperability by promoting EU-born solutions across the single market.
• Strengthens Europe’s negotiating power in global forums (ISO, ITU, WTO) through demonstrated large-scale deployment of compliant, human-centric AI.
10. Inclusion of Associated & Outermost Regions
• Seal-of-Excellence fast-track ensures newly-associated states (e.g. Ukraine, Moldova, Western Balkans) integrate quickly, fostering economic convergence and geopolitical stability.
• Outermost regions (e.g. Canaries, Réunion) gain structured access to continental expertise, mitigating brain drain and stimulating local innovation ecosystems.
---
Strategic Take-Away:
The consolidation call transforms disparate regional digital hubs into an interoperable European powerhouse that simultaneously advances the Digital Decade, Green Deal and industrial sovereignty agendas. Applicants that articulate how they will exploit these EU-wide advantages—through cross-border service portfolios, AI-Act compliance support, shared KPI dashboards and sustainable business models—will be uniquely positioned for success.
🏷️ Keywords
Ready to Apply?
Get a personalized assessment of your eligibility and application strategy
See in 5 min if you're eligible for Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)