Europe’s Unwavering Support in Times of Crisis
We live in an unprecedented times, who would have thought that after two long years of global Covid-19 pandemic halting the world in lockdowns we will wake up by the artillery shots of a Russian attack on Ukraine? Yet, the EU stands united in its unwavering support for Ukraine. So far, the Team Europe, which consists out of the EU and its Member States and the European financial institutions made €43.5 billion available and although majority of the funds have been allocated to macro financial assistance to address urgent needs on the ground and into humanitarian assistance, the vision of post-war Ukraine is slowly but surely appearing on a horizon. In that picture, Ukraine is EU-ready so concurrently to the every-day fight against the aggressor, the other fight takes place - it’s the tedious process of reshaping country’s social and economic landscape so once, not if, Ukraine wins the war, it will be welcomed to join its European Family.
Laying the Foundations for a Digital Ukraine:
Digitalisation of the industry and adoption of the newest technologies are the expected to be the key elements of the future Ukrainian economy. But the experience of implementing principles of Industry 4.0 within the European Union shows that just having funds and technology available is often not enough as entrepreneurs lack knowledge, connection and guidance on how to implement it at their factory floor. Digital Innovation Hubs have emerged as a bridge between the European Commission, the technology providers and end users - local SMEs. Thus, EC has invited the Ukrainian DIHs to join the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, through the Digital program and so far 15 have shown interest in applying.
The Path to European Digital Integration
Submitting the application is just the beginning of the journey though and in order to be selected, the EDIH wannabies need to go through a scrutiny process. Fortunately there are many organisations willing to help. German Development Cooperation or The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has established a special program nurturing the selected DIHs with consulting and financial aid. FundingBox Accelerator has won its seat and recently became the company responsible for supportng them in conceptualising, creating and piloting the Euoropean Digital Innovation Hubs in Ukraine. Within the next year and a half, our colleagues will support Ukrainian Digital Innovation Hubs with our expertise in application process, communication, management and cofinancing.
Empowering Local Innovators
Recently, three of them, namely Graciela Garrido, Katarzyna Barnaś and Antonio Jose Castro have physically met with the participants in Lviv where they conducted a three days comprehensive training on DIH management, accessing funding, . Additionally, Ola Sawicka Green has conducted an online communication training. It was also a first offline meeting for the hub representatives and an opportunity to network within the group and with external experts. Stressed but motivated and hopeful, they strive to improve themselves to be able to bring back the opportunities to their local communities where the needs are dire.
“Participation in the workshop organized by GIZ and Funding Box for EDIH candidates from Ukraine was the starting point for involvement in the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs. The knowledge gained from the workshop was extremely important for our consortium in drafting the application due to the valuable information on how to shape the EDIH work to be successful. (...) In a nutshell, the workshop was a kind of preparation for the Birthday of Ukrainian EDIHs. I do believe that this year Ukraine will become a full-fledged member of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, and largely due to the assistance of GIZ and Funding Box.” - Olena Voroshylova | Grant Manager from Ukrainian Startup Fund
Fostering Change
Our team also has a special place in their hearts for this project. In the today’s world one does not often get the chance to truly make a difference and projects like Digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Eastern Partnership countries (namely Ukraine) get all of us grounded. At FundingBox we believe that it is technology and innovation that will help us solve the problems of tomorrow starting from today but often our activities are farfetched. Working together with Ukrainian EDIH hopefuls changes this paradigm because empowering digitalisation leaders, and that’s how we view leaders of Ukrainian Digital Innovation Hubs, gives us a chance to contribute to the visible and at most needed change happening at our fingertips.
“Ukraine’s place is in Europe, Ukrainian people with their courage but also sweat and tears are constantly outperforming themselves and thus proving that they are worthy joining the rest of the European Family. It is our duty to support them in their pursuit for digital transformation, providing them with access to the technology and know-how which shall transform the way they live and work.” - Mayte Carracedo, Chief Ecosystem and Impact Officer at FundingBox Group.
