On Tuesday, April 25, at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Minister Davor Filipović signed grant agreements for the implementation of the activities of the European Digital Innovation Centres (EDIH) with the leaders of four institutions that are leaders of the EDIH consortium, i.e. coordinators of each EDIH project. In front of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, which is the coordinator of the EDIH project AI4HEALTH, the contract was signed by the Director of the Institute dr. sc. David Matthew Smith. The contract for EDIH CROBOHUB++ was signed by the Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb prof. dr.sc. Vedran Bilas and for JURK EDIH mr.sc. Andreja Šeperac, Director of the Regional Coordinator of Sisak-Moslavina County.
For the project EDIH ADRIA, whose coordinator is the University of Rijeka, the contract was signed by the Rector prof. dr. sc. Snowy Prijic Samaržija.
“European Digital Innovation Hubs are an excellent example of cooperation between the private, scientific and public sectors, a form of cooperation whose work benefits the whole of society, the whole community. Thanks to funding from the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the European Commission, EDIH services will be free of charge, which will certainly be stimulating for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop. I expect that EDIHs will significantly contribute to the digital transformation of companies and the cooperation between the business sector and the scientific and research community and encourage the creation of high added value products and services", said Minister Filipović and congratulated all signatories of the contract.
As part of the event, the EDIH consortium coordinators presented the projects and activities they plan to implement by the end of 2025.
4 EDIHs in Croatia cover different areas
The specialisation of EDIH ADRIA is AI and high-performance computing in the areas of health and quality of life, transport and mobility, and energy and sustainable development. The EDIH AI4HEALTH project focuses on the application of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing in the field of medicine and health. EDIH CROBOHUB++ deals with artificial intelligence and high-performance computing and cybersecurity in the manufacturing industry, digitised agriculture, energy and the environment, as well as in public and state administration. JURK EDIH has focused on artificial intelligence "blockchain" and "IoT" and will cover the areas of video game development industry, medical rehabilitation, wood processing industry, construction industry and pharmacy.
The total value of Croatian EDIH projects is 10,842,265 EUR, and up to 50 EUR. % grants to co-finance their activities in the next seven years are provided by the European Commission under the Digital Europe Programme 2021. 2027-2027
In order for Croatian EDIHs to be able to use the funds of the European Commission, in 2020 the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development conducted a public call for the selection of national candidates for EDIHs, and finally four Croatian EDIHs entered the financial envelope and signed projects co-financing agreements with the European Commission. The other 50% grants for co-financing EDIH project activities were provided by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021. 20-2026 (NPOO) by the end of 2025. The financial contribution of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development for the implementation of signed contracts amounts to EUR 5,133,236.
The EDIH concept was developed by the European Commission with the aim of strengthening capacities in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, high-performance computing, the development of advanced digital skills, the digital transformation of public administration and the digitalisation of businesses and businesses. Croatian EDIHs are non-profit consortia that are part of the European EDIH Network. They are composed of stakeholders from the private and public sectors and will develop and provide services, primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises, but also to the public sector, in the field of innovation and digitalisation, with a special emphasis on advanced technologies.
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