EFEC CSO Andrew Thomson is leading the final reporting on the EU Project, Futures By Design (FBD), before EFEC rolls out the UK FBD service in the summer.
Here he reflects on the key achievements of the EU FBD project.
FUTURES BY DESIGN (FBD) has helped small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to grow, become more productive, and innovate by improving their digital capabilities. They have done this by implementing various digital tools and strategies, such as customer relationship management (CRM) systems, social media marketing, data cleansing, digitizing systems, and finding new leads and customers. These projects have provided significant benefits to SMEs.
Overall, FBD has worked with over 900 SMEs, and around 250 of them have gone through a process called Data Jump-start, which is a self-evaluation. This process helps each SME understand its strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in comparison to other companies. It identifies opportunities to enhance their digital capabilities.
The EU FBD Team of the North Sea Region Programme
After completing the self-assessment, a report is created for each SME and their FBD advisor to analyse. Based on this report, a project is set up to build the SME’s digital capacity. Most SMEs then proceed with these projects to improve their digital capabilities.
Out of these projects, more than 120 SMEs achieved the growth, increased productivity, or innovation they were seeking. Each project was tailored to the specific needs of the company, based on their self-evaluation results. Although the projects were unique to each SME, there were common themes among them.
Additionally, the FBD project provided SMEs with an online platform called the Horizon Scanning Knowledge Transfer (HSKT) hub. This platform shared valuable insights about the latest advancements in the digital world and how they affected SMEs. So far, over 45,000 readers have benefited from these insights.
The successful projects undertaken by FBD have resulted in a wealth of case studies, which serve as a foundation for their ongoing work. FBD will continue their efforts in each of the five countries, with EFEC leading in the UK, assisting more and more companies on their digital entrepreneurship journey.