Digitization and sustainability are the two main challenges that the European Union has identified for the future of companies in the coming years. Under this premise, the Teruel Association of Digitalization and New Technologies Companies (Aediter) sensitized and raised awareness among SMEs and the self-employed this Tuesday in Andorra about the importance of having a technological innovation strategy and a roadmap that allows them to face these challenges.

The conference was held within the framework of the Innoruta of the Technological Institute of Aragon (ITA) that reached a region in the midst of a process of economic transformation. They also organized Cepyme Aragón and Teruel, and the Teruel Chamber of Commerce, with the collaboration of the Andorra-Sierra de Arcos Region, the Andorra City Council and the Andorra-Sierra de Arcos and Bajo Martín Business Association.

The president of Aediter, Javier Gamón, gave a presentation in the stage space of the Casa de Cultura to promote the digitization of companies and explained what the Digital Kit aid consists of.

It is a grant program financed by European Next Generation funds within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The aid is intended for small businesses, micro-businesses and the self-employed. In other words, structures with less than 50 employees that will be able to implement digital solutions through a subsidized bonus that will vary between 2,000 and 12,000 euros, depending on the size of the mercantile company and the digital solution that it implements.

Catalogue

Companies can choose from a catalog that includes website investment and Internet presence, e-commerce, social media management, customer management, business intelligence, virtual office services, process management, electronic invoicing, secure communications, and cybersecurity.

To get closer to this service, SMEs and the self-employed can go to the offices of the Chamber of Teruel, as well as consult all the information at www.acelerapymeteruel.com.

Gamón explained that these grants are “useful for the digital transformation of our companies, especially SMEs and micro-SMEs”. The program is not only based on “providing more computers or hardware elements” but also focuses on “processes and people”. This is where the role of Aediter professionals comes into play, who try to reach all the economic sectors of the province to guide companies in these digitization matters.

“There is concern” and many companies are making use of the Digital Kit, because “the digitization process is something that is surpassing us” and concerns “from the self-employed to the largest company,” he concluded.

Ideal for micro-SMEs

The president of Cepyme Aragón, María Jesús Lorente, explained that SMEs, “especially micro-SMEs, are the true fabric that we have in our Autonomous Community” and it is convenient to remove “the fear” that they may have “of the terms of innovation and digitization ” .

The transformation, Lorente said, goes “far beyond having the Internet and a computer” but tries to “implement improvements in production processes or services, adapt them to current circumstances and reach many more people and in a more innovative way ” to ultimately improve billing.

“We cannot be left behind, the digital and innovation gap cannot affect us. It was a topic to be used by all of us in our roadmap, but the pandemic has accelerated the process. We are less afraid to be in the cloud, digitize and open up to the outside to reach more potential customers”, she concluded.

The conference was used within the framework of the ITA Innoruta, which began a year ago to help Aragonese SMEs to define a roadmap that will allow them to tackle digital transformation with guarantees.

The director of the ITA, Esther Borao, intervened accompanied by the Pepper robot to put all the aid programs for SMEs and entrepreneurs on the table. “Innovation is necessary for there to be more economy in Aragon,” said Borao, who determined the technological bonds with a 50% aid in projects with an investment of up to 15,000 euros.

A town of the future

The president of Cepyme Teruel, Juan Ciércoles, thanked ITA and Cepyme Aragón for taking the conference to Andorra, “a town of the future where we are going to try to bring digitalization closer to existing companies” and those that are yet to come, he said.

The acting mayor, Joaquín Bielsa, expressed his satisfaction that there are digital service companies in the area “that can accompany and provide coverage for the development that is intended to be installed” in Andorra “and that is going to be a reality”. He urged “knowing how to take advantage of the opportunities” offered by the “sustainable and circular economy” to “give greater value to our economy, and more to micro-SMEs that establish territory”.

The president of the Andorra-Sierra de Arcos Region, Marta Sancho, explained that the Tourism Sustainability Plan in which they work pays attention to the digitization and innovation of companies, so there will be training for hoteliers.

Finally, the president of the Business Association, Roberto Miguel, said that “digitization and sustainability are as important for those who come as for those of us who are already here” and called on “the businesses that are resisting in the area” they can “compete on equal terms”, building product loyalty and improving production processes.