S3HubsinCE aims to strengthen the competencies of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) in Central Europe (CE) regions. This objective is pursued by sharing experiences and methodologies among the project partners, creating a transnational network connecting enterprises, research centres and political authorities from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Slovenia. The established network will allow the creation of a transnational support structure based on regional DIHs.

To this purpose, the following three main phases were defined:
– SHAPE! Transnational Structures for Common RIS3 Knowledge & Innovation Exchange;
– SYNERGISE! Transnational Digital Innovation Hubs for RIS3 Action;
– SPREAD! Transnational Policy Learnings for RIS3 Excellence.
Concerning the SHAPE phase, the aim is to determine and analyse the priority needs of the different CE areas and, given this background, to structure the Navigation Crews, representing the network reference points for the specific priority.
Namely, ten priority areas were identified starting from interviews with the different Target Groups (LE, SME, RTD, Universities & Policy Makers) in each region:
– A.I. for Data Analytics, Complex Simulation and Modelling
– A.I. for Machine Vision
– A.I. for Predictive Maintenance
– Factory & Process Automation
– DI&I Machinery
– Advanced & Smart Materials
– Industrial IOT
– Innovation in a Circular Economy
– Digital Marketing
– Design & Engineering for Additive Manufacturing

More specifically, one navigation crew was defined for each priority area, taking into account the competencies of each partner and the needs of the relevant CE region.
To build an effective ecosystem, the identification and the exploitation of tools that enable connectivity and sharing with both project partners and stakeholders as well as among navigation crews is crucial. In this respect, during the SHAPE phase, the definition of the IT toolkit was considered necessary to concretely and sustainably improve the connections within the network. In this project, two innovative digital communication platforms have been tested: ASANA for communication and sharing within navigation crews; DIHNet for communication and sharing within the entire network.
The collected information and the related critical analyses performed in collaboration among the partners constitute the foundations on which the Joint Strategy and the Transnational Action Plan defined in the SYNERGISE phase were structured and finally implemented through the actions planned in the framework of the SPREAD phase.