COM3 - Building competencies for competitive companies

COM³ is a change of mind-set with a focus on the mediatory role of local & regional authorities for improving the tech-readiness of rural businesses and exploiting local potentials for rural innovation and smarter growth. COM³ gives rise to tech-enabled and tech-branded rural areas built on their local environmental, socio-economic and cultural assets. The vulnerability of rural businesses and their uncertainty to the rapid technological changes along with shortages in infrastructure and competencies keep them often unable to effectively adopt fast evolving technologies. To overcome this, COM³ provides a unique model for local and regional authorities and enables them to create a dynamic environment for rural businesses in utilizing basic and advanced digital techs. The COM³ training & coaching model, connected hubs and matchmaking & mapping initiatives combined with a comprehendible set of regulatory, finance and security guiding measures & training will provide the structures needed to protect vulnerable small businesses and to create 9 tech-enabled and tech-branded rural areas in the NSR. COM³ partners test the jointly developed solutions in 9 regions from 7 NSR countries. They create a NSR roadmap and platform for digitalization of rural businesses and build a cross-border community around it. This will result in a 15% increase of tech adoption for rural businesses followed by an increase of the share of ICT in the local/regional GDPs in the pilot regions.

COM³ project partners are jointly developing a support model, which strengthens and empowers local and regional authorities and business support organisations in their role as facilitators for the tech-adoption of local rural enterprises. But what are actually the most important needs and challenges of rural businesses in the North Sea Region when it comes to tech-adoption? In a series of local design thinking workshops in the COM3 pilot regions, local and regional authorities, rural businesses and business support organisations will come together to capture an in-depth understanding of the SMEs’ needs in the area. COM3 project partners will further explore the needs and barriers of rural businesses by means of an online survey. The knowledge gained in the design thinking workshops and survey will then form the basis for building a support model that responds to the identified needs and challenges. This support model will consist of guiding measures, targeted coaching as well as training solutions. As part of the COM3 support model, it is foreseen to develop training solutions in the following topical areas: Rural digital entrepreneurial ecosystem, Using local capacities in developing tech-enabled & tech-branded regions, Regulatory support & access to finance, ICT security concerns, Connected hubs concept.