Digital Kit for SMEs: an opportunity for digital transformation
Laia Ordoñez
24/03/2022
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Thanks to European funds and the Government's Digital Agenda, you can get access to a Digital Kit for SMEs and transform your business.
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It is always good news when aid is available to SMEs and the self-employed. Entrepreneurship is a rather complicated task in these times, so you have to be alert to any opportunity, such as these digital kits.We are going to see what they are, who can apply for them, how much they cost and how they can help you to move forward without mistakes in the digital transformation of your business.
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State of digital transformation in Spain
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Do we really need to drive digitalization? Is our situation that bad? Well, actually the question is not so much that we are bad as that our development is somewhat uneven. DESI report of the European Commission ranks us as the 9th country in our environment (out of 27).
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On paper it is not bad, even in some indicators we stand out clearly above the average, as we can see in this other table that represents the relative results for each of the four dimensions analyzed: human capital, connectivity, digital technology integration and digital public services.
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As we said, we see that, at the level of connectivity and public services, we stand out. The weakest point is in the companies since, for example, 38% of them have neither the competences nor the basic development in digital competences, and only 24% are within eCommerce.Conclusion: it is necessary to bring SMEs to the level of digital development of the Spanish and European population.
SME Digital Kit approved
For months now, work has been underway to allocate an item of European recovery funds to help small and medium-sized enterprises to digitize.In the end, all this was settled on in the Digital Kit. It will be distributed in several series of public aid depending on the size of the companies, starting in mid-March 2022 with businesses that had on average between 10 and 49 employees during the year 2021. -
What does the Digital Kit for SMEs consist of?
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It is a way to modernize businesses from digital solutions and services. We start by making this nuance because it is important: the vouchers that are issued cannot be used to purchase equipment or "physical" infrastructures.
However, applicants who obtain their Digital Kit, will be able to invest in different categories, obtaining service for a total of 12 months. These areas are:- Web site and Internet presence
- E-commerce
- Social Media Management
- Customer Management
- Business Intelligence and Analytics
- Process Management
- Electronic Invoicing
- Virtual Office
- Secure Communications
- Cybersecurity
As you can see, many aspects are covered, from designing your online store to optimizing it for SEO, shielding its security or enhancing the management tools. -
Who can apply for the SME Digital Kit?
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The criteria requested are minimal: basically to be up to date with payments to the Administration (ICO credits do not count in this sense) and to be within one of the 3 defined segments:
- Segment I: companies with between 10 and 49 workers on average during the previous year. This process is already open.
- Segment II: companies with between 3 and 9 workers on average during the previous year. This is expected to be the next to be available.
- Segment III: self-employed workers without any hired personnel or companies with up to 2 workers.
How much money do I get with the SME Digital Kit?Each of the items has a maximum amount that can be requested depending on the segment in which it is located. Segment I (10-49 employees) has an associated amount of 12,000 euros, segment II (3-9 employees) is endowed with up to 6,000 euros and segment III (0-2 employees) has a maximum grant of 2,000 euros.However, this money will not be handed over to you at any time. It will be the Administration itself that will make the payment to the service provider or digitizing agent, charged to the voucher generated. What you will have to pay, bear in mind, is the VAT of services. This aspect is never bonusable. -
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How to apply for the Digital Kit?
Once you make sure you meet the requirements and are clear about the solutions you are interested in, you can do it yourself: just go to Acelera PYME program website to register. You are also asked to complete a digital maturity self-diagnosis test (it is simple and does not take too long).You will then have to access the process with a digital certificate or a permanent key from the Cl@ve program.Another option is to use an intermediary or volunteer agent who manages the application directly with the digitalizing agent who is the service provider (in many cases they are, or can be, the same). -
What about you, are you going to apply for your Digital Kit? Do you think it is a good opportunity? If you are interested, do it now because they are limited!
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Images| Unsplash, linked sites.