The Andalusian SMEs will be able to access until next January 31 to a line of aid in kind for digital transformation, granted by the Junta de Andalucía. In this program, more than 180 companies in the region are addressing their digitization process.
These incentives make available to SMEs two specialized consulting services at zero cost to boost their businesses by defining a personalized digital plan, selecting the most appropriate tools for each business and accompanying them in the implementation of priority actions. These aids can be accessed by any self-employed person or small and medium-sized company with less than 250 workers that is active in Andalusia and is granted in order of arrival of applications.
The Minister of the Presidency, Interior, Social Dialogue and Administrative Simplification, Antonio Sanz, has underlined «the importance and need for SMEs to adapt to the digital era, because only then will they be more competitive and more secure. The future of each one of them will depend to a large extent on this.” Thus, he has assured that from the Andalusian Government “we consider it a priority to give this impulse to the modernization of small and medium-sized companies, for which we work intensely with aid of this type.”
The call has received so far 570 applications from SMEs and the self-employed that seek to modernize their businesses with the specialized consulting services offered by the Digital Agency of Andalusia. Of these, more than 30% are already immersed in this advice that guides and accompanies them on their path to digitization.
Expert advice to level up companies in Andalusia
The two types of consultancy in which this aid is specified are related to clientele and transformation 360. The first, whose term will remain open until January 31, 2023 or until the budget is exhausted, focuses on helping companies improve their presence on the Internet and social networks, boost online sales, learn to attract and retain the clientele with marketing tools, as well as exploring technological solutions that help to better understand and manage their clients. The maximum duration of this service is five months.
The second block of aid is made up of the 360 transformation aid, which seeks to boost competitiveness by bringing digitization to all areas of the company and whose application period has already ended. More than half of the applications received so far (53%) and of the companies that are currently receiving aid (56.7%) have opted for the 360 transformation consultancy.
With this eight-month consultancy, companies will improve their productivity and efficiency thanks to the automation and optimization of day-to-day processes.
The most active provinces both in number of requests and in SMEs that already enjoy the service are Malaga and Seville, which concentrate half in both cases. However, applicant and beneficiary companies from all the provinces of Andalusia have registered. The call, 80% co-financed by the FEDER programme, has a global budget of 2.9 million euros, of which almost half has already been committed.
Applications to obtain aid must be completed electronically through this link.