The EU-funded "DigiTeRRI" project, which has been underway since January 2020 in Styria, is focused on a central, hot-button future topic: digitalisation and the related effects on humans & the economy.
The project's purpose is developing roadmaps for regions undergoing the transition from a traditional industrial region to become a digitalised region. The project concentrates on three European territories: the regions of Hochsteiermark (North Styria) and Obersteiermark (Northeast Styria), the Värmland region in Sweden and the Region Grand EST in France. The characteristics the regions have in common are their strength in metallurgy and metal processing, machine building or the paper industry, while they also have many universities and research institutions, which together with the private economy promote innovations based on research.
The challenge the regions face is creating transparency regarding the upcoming changes awaiting civil society and the economy in this transformation process. Based on this, a shared strategic path must be set for this decisive transformation process. The roadmap provides the opportunity to anticipate future developments by foresight. A responsible structuring of European regions of the future pivots on finding answers with the involvement of a wide range of representatives from civil society and stakeholders. In addition, measures are to be derived and implemented to make the regions successful and promote a sustainable direction of digitalisation. Important pillars of the project are that the regions learn from and communicate with each other. The successful implementation of the measures is to make the three territories into European "model regions."
Partners for the Hochsteiermark and Obersteiermark regions are Standort und Marketing Bruck an der Mur GesmbH (Business Location and Marketing Inc. of Bruck/Mur), the Centre of Applied Technologies Leoben and Montanuniversität. The spokesperson for the Hochsteiermark and Obersteiermark regions in the project is the Industrial Liaison Department. The DigiTeRRI project is led by AIT Forschungsgesellschaft GmbH in Vienna; it has a period of 3 years with a funding volume of approx. EUR 2 million. Further project partners are Norland Research Institut (NO), WEDO (ES), Paper Province (SE), Karlstads University (SE), Värmland Regionalvertretung (SE), Grand E-Nov (FR), University of Lorraine (FR) and Materialia (FR).
Funding information:
The project is sponsored by the H2020 Programme for research and innovations of the European Union under GA number 873010.
Project start: 01/01/2020
Project period: 36 months
Funding: approx.. EUR 2 Mio
Go to project homepage: DigiTeRRI
Contact at Montanuniversität as spokesperson for the Obersteiermark and Hochsteiermark region:
Industrial Liaison Department, Dr. Brigitte Kriszt
