Hybrid Steering Committee Meeting BOOST4BSO

It is already clear that the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly affecting the market situation. However, the digitization cannot save the whole economy, it has an undeniable role in mitigating economic consequences. Particularly SMEs are being forced to focus on new markets and customers as well as to adopt new ways of production. Digitization, implementation of ICT technologies and also a new concept of servitization can be the only possibility for many SMEs to remain in business. The project Boost4BSO is ready to support this change, as it delivers a new competence pack as a set of tools that can increase the competences of business support organizations and thereby ease the implementation of the Industry 4.0 in SMEs. 

Originally, the first steering committee meeting was planned in Prague, but due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was impossible for the whole project team to meet there. Therefore the whole project consortium decided to organise a Hybrid-SC-Meeting in Linz, Upper Austria. Friuli Innovazione, STEP RI and FH OÖ had the oppurtunity to visit the lead partner Business Upper Austria in Linz. The Cluster Mechatronics and Automation Bavaria, MESAP, Silesian Automotive and Adv. Manufacturing Cluster and  AVO participated online. Also the represeantatives of the Interreg CE Joint Secreatriat – Ms Jana Válková and Mr Damir Fak joined the first day online. 

All Project partners discussed the layout of the BSO competence pack, so this will be an efficient tool for BSOs in supporting their SMEs towards Industry 4.0. In the second semester, the first wave of rolling out the BSO competence pack will be launched exclusively for the project partners. The subsequent feedback loop will help to improve the knowledge and competence transfer to further BSOs.