Digital Innovation Hubs and portfolio of their services across European economies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2757Keywords:
Digital Innovation Hubs, clustering, innovation ecosystem, digital transition, Industry 4.0, digitalizationAbstract
Research background: Digital ecosystems in Europe are heterogenous organizations involving different economies, industries, and contexts. Among them, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are considered a policy-driven organization fostered by the European Commission to push companies’ digital transition through a wide portfolio of supporting services.
Purpose of the article: There are DIHs existing in all European economies, but literature needs more precise indications about their status and nature. The purpose is to study a distribution of DIHs and differences in portfolios of DIHs’ services across European economies. Therefore, the paper wants to deliver more precise data on effects on national and European policies. This is required to define their final role and scope in the complex dynamics of the digital transition, depending on regional context and heterogeneity of industries.
Methods: Data on 38 economies was collected from the S3 platform (on both existing and in preparation DIHs) and further verified by native speaking researchers using manual web scrapping of websites of DIHs identified from S3. To find potential similarities of digital ecosystems in different economies as emanated by the existence of DIHs, clusterization (Ward’s method and Euclidean distances) was applied according to the services offered. Economies were clustered according to the number of DIHs and the spread of DIHs intensity in different cities. The results were further analyzed according to the scope of the provided services.
Findings & value added: The applied clustering classified European economies in four different sets, according to the types of services offered by the DIHs. These sets are expression of the different digitalization statuses and strategies of the selected economies and, as such, the services a company can benefit from in a specific economy. Potential development-related reasons behind the data-driven clustering are then conjectured and reported, to guide companies and policy makers in their digitalization strategies.
Downloads
References
Asplund, F., Macedo, H. D., & Sassanelli, C. (2021). Problematizing the service portfolio of Digital Innovation Hubs. In L. M. Camarinha-Matos, X. Boucher & H. Afsarmanesh (Eds.). Smart and sustainable collaborative networks 4.0 (pp. 433–440). Springer International Publishing.
View in Google Scholar
AvianWe. (2023). Atal innovation mission (AIM). Retrieved from https://aim.gov.in.
View in Google Scholar
Avotra, A. A. R. N., Chengang, Y., Sandra Marcelline, T. R., Asad, A., & Yingfei, Y. (2021). Examining the impact of e-government on corporate social responsibility performance: The mediating effect of mandatory corporate social responsibility policy, corruption, and information and communication technologies development during the COVID era. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 737100.
View in Google Scholar
Badicu, A., Iordache, G., Suciu, G., Daniel, M. H., Sassanelli, C., Terzi, S., & Gorm, L. P. (2021). Deploying the smart energy tool for investment simulation inside the HUBCAP Sandbox. In 9th international workshop on simulation for energy, sustainable development & environment (pp. 18–26). Aarhus: Aarhus University.
View in Google Scholar
Bartolini, L., Gropas, R., & Triandafyllidou, A. (2017). Drivers of highly skilled mobility from Southern Europe: Escaping the crisis and emancipating oneself. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(4), 652–673.
View in Google Scholar
Beaudry, P., & Green, D. (2002). Population growth, technological adoption, and economic outcomes in the information era. Review of Economic Dynamics, 5, 749–774.
View in Google Scholar
Capello, R., Lenzi, C., & Panzera, E. (2023). The rise of the digital service economy in European regions. Industry and Innovation, 30(6), 637–663.
View in Google Scholar
Clark, J., & Doussard, M. (2019). Devolution, disinvestment and uneven development: US industrial policy and evolution of the national network for manufacturing innovation. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 12(2), 251–270.
View in Google Scholar
Costa-Soria, C., & Sassanelli, C. (2022). The D-BEST based service portfolio configuration for incubator ecosystems. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3214.
View in Google Scholar
Crupi, A., Del Sarto, N., Di Minin, A., Gregori, G. L., Lepore, D., Marinelli, L., & Spigarelli, F. (2020). The digital transformation of SMEs – a new knowledge broker called the Digital Innovation Hub. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(6), 1263–1288.
View in Google Scholar
Da Silva, V. L., Kovaleski, J. L., Pagani, R. N., Silva, J. D. M., & Corsi, A. (2020). Implementation of Industry 4.0 concept in companies: Empirical evidences. International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 33(4), 325–342.
View in Google Scholar
De Carolis, A., Macchi, M., Negri, E., & Terzi, S. (2017). Guiding manufacturing companies towards digitalization a methodology for supporting manufacturing companies in defining their digitalization roadmap. In 2017 international conference on engineering, technology and innovation (ICE/ITMC) (pp. 487–495). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
View in Google Scholar
DeepL (2023). DeepL Translate: The world’s most accurate translator. Retrieved from https://www.DeepL.com/.
View in Google Scholar
Dutta, S., Lanvin, B., Wunsch-Vincent, S., & León, L. R. (2022). Global innovation index 2022: What is the future of innovation-driven growth? (Vol. 2000). WIPO.
View in Google Scholar
EC (2010). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A Digital Agenda for Europe COM/2010/0245 f/2. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0245.
View in Google Scholar
EC (2018). The Digitising European Industry initiative in a nutshell | Shaping Europe’s digital future. Retrieved from https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/lib rary/digitising-european-industry-initiative-nutshell.
View in Google Scholar
EC (2023a). Digital Innovation Hubs. Smart Specialisation Platform. Retrieved from https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
View in Google Scholar
EC (2023b). European Digital Innovation Hubs | Shaping Europe’s digital future. Retrieved from https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/edihs.
View in Google Scholar
Georgescu, A., Avasilcai, S., & Peter, M. K. (2021). Digital Innovation Hubs—the present future of collaborative research, business and marketing development opportunities. In Á. Rocha, J. L. Reis, M. K. Peter, R. Cayolla, S. Loureiro & Z. Bogdanović (Eds.). Marketing and smart technologies (pp. 363–374). Springer.
View in Google Scholar
Georgescu, A., Mihaela, T., & Avasilcai, S. (2022). Digital transition, Digital Innovation Hubs and economic development—an EU case study. In F. Lungu (Ed.). Proceedings of the review of management and economic engineering, 8th international management conference (pp. 300–307). Todesco Publishing House.
View in Google Scholar
Georgescu, A., Tudose, M. B., & Avasilcăi, S. (2023). Digital Innovation Hubs: SMEs’ facilitators for digital innovation projects, marketing communication strategies and business internationalization. In J. L. Reis, M. K. Peter, J. A. Varela González & Z. Bogdanović (Eds.). Marketing and smart technologies (pp. 307–330). Springer Nature.
View in Google Scholar
Haidar, H., Sassanelli, C., Costa-Soria, C., Ortiz Bas, A., & Doumeingts, G. (2024). Developing performance indicators to measure DIH collaboration: Applying ECOGRAI method on the D- BEST reference model, Enterprise interoperability X. In Proceedings of the I-ESA conferences, (pp. 1–10). Cham: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
Hidalgo-Ternero, C. M. (2021). Google translate Vs. Deepl: doi:. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 6, 154–177.
View in Google Scholar
Hryhorash, O., Chentsov, V., Nurgaliyeva, A., & Hryhorash, T. (2020). State funding of higher education as a factor of ensuring its quality: Experience of the European countries. Public and Municipal Finance, 9(1), 60–69.
View in Google Scholar
Kagermann, H., Lukas, W.-D., & Wahlster, W. (2011). Industrie 4.0: Mit dem Internet der Dinge auf dem Weg zur 4. industriellen Revolution. VDI Nachrichten, 13(1).
View in Google Scholar
Kašparová, M., & Barva, J. (2018). Data analysis of European Union states: Youth behavior in digital world. Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice, Series D: Faculty of Economics and Administration, 26, 102–113.
View in Google Scholar
Kuczewska, J., Garbin Praničević, D., Borowicz, A., & Talaja, A. (2023). The digital transformation process in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic: A study in Poland and Croatia. Management, 28(2), 27–41.
View in Google Scholar
Lamperti, S., Cavallo, A., & Sassanelli, C. (2023). Digital servitization and business model innovation in SMEs: A model to escape from market disruption. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 70, 1–15.
View in Google Scholar
Leidner, D. E., & Kayworth, T. (2006). Review: A review of culture in information systems research: Toward a theory of information technology culture conflict. MIS Quarterly, 30(2), 357–399.
View in Google Scholar
Liu, T.-C. (2022). Digital policy in European countries from the perspective of the Digital Economy and Society Index. Policy & Internet, 14(1), 202–218.
View in Google Scholar
Macedo, H. D., Sassanelli, C., Larsen, P. G., & Terzi, S. (2021). Facilitating model-based design of cyber-manufacturing systems. Procedia CIRP, 104, 1936–1941.
View in Google Scholar
Małkowska, A., Urbaniec, M., & Kosała, M. (2021). The impact of digital transformation on European countries: Insights from a comparative analysis. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 16, 325–355.
View in Google Scholar
NASCOM (2023). NASSCOM | The trade association of Indian IT BPM industry. Retrieved from https://nasscom.in.
View in Google Scholar
Nicoletti, G., von Rueden, C., & Andrews, D. (2020). Digital technology diffusion: A matter of capabilities, incentives or both? European Economic Review, 128, 103513.
View in Google Scholar
Nikou, S., De Reuver, M., & Mahboob Kanafi, M. (2022). Workplace literacy skills—How information and digital literacy affect adoption of digital technology. Journal of Documentation, 78(7), 371–391.
View in Google Scholar
Niu, F. (2022). The role of the digital economy in rebuilding and maintaining social governance mechanisms. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 819727.
View in Google Scholar
Paschou, T., Rapaccini, M., Adrodegari, F., & Saccani, N. (2020). Digital servitization in manufacturing: A systematic literature review and research agenda. Industrial Marketing Management, 89, 278–292.
View in Google Scholar
Piątkowski, M. J. (2020). Expectations and challenges in the labour market in the context of Industrial Revolution 4.0. The agglomeration method-based analysis for Poland and other EU member states. Sustainability, 12(13), 13.
View in Google Scholar
Popović, A., Đukić, M. I., & Milijić, A. (2022). Smart economic development in European countries. European Journal of Applied Economics, 19(1), 42–54.
View in Google Scholar
Quadrini, W., Gladysz, B., Terzi, S., & Sassanelli, C. (2022). Using the D-BEST reference model to compare Italian and Polish Digital Innovation Hubs. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3214.
View in Google Scholar
Raj, A., Dwivedi, G., Sharma, A., Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, A. B., & Rajak, S. (2020). Barriers to the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies in the manufacturing sector: An inter-country comparative perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 224, 107546.
View in Google Scholar
Razzetti, S., Gusmeroli, S., Terzi, S., & Sassanelli, C. (2022a). L-BEST: Adding legal and ethical services to manage Digital Innovation Hubs portfolios in the artificial intelligence domain. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3214,.
View in Google Scholar
Razzetti, S., Gusmeroli, S., Terzi, S., & Sassanelli, C. (2022b). METHOdology for DIH: Adding the remote macro-class to the D-BEST reference model. CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3214.
View in Google Scholar
Rikap, C., & Lundvall, B.-Å. (2021). AI policies and politics in China and the US between techno-globalism and techno-nationalism. In C. Rikap & B.-Å. Lundvall (Eds.). The digital innovation race: Conceptualizing the emerging new world order (pp. 145–163). Springer International Publishing.
View in Google Scholar
Rissola, G., & Sörvik, J. (2018). Digital innovation hubs in smart specialisation strategies. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162257008.pdf.
View in Google Scholar
Rivera-Trigueros, I. (2022). Machine translation systems and quality assessment: A systematic review. Language Resources and Evaluation, 56(2), 593–619.
View in Google Scholar
Roba, G.B., & Milos, M. (2023). Digital transformation of SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In N. Kryvinska, M. Greguš & S. Fedushko (Eds). Developments in information and knowledge management systems for business applications. Studies. Systems, Decision and Control. Cham: Springer.
View in Google Scholar
Robey, J., Eberts, R. W., & Voytek, K. (2019). Estimating the impacts of business assistance programs: The case of the manufacturing extension partnership and multi-year estimates. REMI Annual Users’ Conference. Retrieved from https://research.upjohn.org/presentations/63.
View in Google Scholar
Rüßman, M., Lorenz, M., Gerbert, P., Waldner, M., Engel, P., Harnisch, M., & Justus, J. (2015). Industry 4.0–the future of productivity and growth in manufacturing industries. BCG. Retrieved from https://www.bcg.com/publications/ 2015/engineered_products_project_business_industry_4_future_productivity_growth_manufacturing_industries.
View in Google Scholar
Sachs, J., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Woelm, F. (2022). Sustainable development report 2022. Cambridge University Press.
View in Google Scholar
Sánchez-Bayón, A. (2023). Digital transition and readjustment on EU tourism industry. Studies in Business and Economics,18(1), 275–297.
View in Google Scholar
Sarangi, A. K., & Pradhan, R. P. (2020). ICT infrastructure and economic growth: A critical assessment and some policy implications. Decision, 47(4), 363–383.
View in Google Scholar
Sarraipa, J., Zamiri, M., Marcelino-Jesus, E., Artifice, A., Jardim-Goncalves, R., & Moalla, N. (2023). A learning framework for supporting Digital Innovation Hubs. Computers, 12(6), 6.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., & Ferreira, J. (2022). How can the D-BEST model support the SMEs Digitisation? CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 3214.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., & Terzi, S. (2022a). Building the value proposition of a Digital Innovation Hub network to support ecosystem sustainability. Sustainability, 14(18), 18.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., & Terzi, S. (2022b). The D-BEST based digital innovation hub customer journey analysis method: Configuring DIHs unique value proposition. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 14, 1–24.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., & Terzi, S. (2022c). The D-BEST reference model: A flexible and sustainable support for the digital transformation of small and medium enterprises. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 23(3), 345–370.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., Arriga, T., Zanin, S., D’Adamo, I., & Terzi, S. (2022a). Industry 4.0 driven result-oriented PSS: An assessment in the energy management. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 12(4), 4.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., Panetto, H., Guedria, W., Terzi, S., & Doumeingts, G. (2020a). Towards a reference model for configuring services portfolio of Digital Innovation Hubs: The ETBSD model. In L. M. Camarinha-Matos, H. Afsarmanesh & A. Ortiz (Eds.). Boosting collaborative networks 4.0 (pp. 597–607). Springer International Publishing.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., Razzetti, S., Quadrini, W., Gusmeroli, S., & Terzi, S. (2022b). Digital Innovation Hubs proposing digital platforms to lead the SMEs digital transition. In Proceedings of the workshop of I-ESA’22. Interoperability for Enterprise Systems and Applications.
View in Google Scholar
Sassanelli, C., Rossi, M., & Terzi, S. (2020b). Evaluating the smart maturity of manufacturing companies along the product development process to set a PLM project roadmap. International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 12(3), 185–209.
View in Google Scholar
Schweichhart, K. (2016). Reference architectural model Industrie 4.0 (RAMI 4.0)-an introduction. Publikationen Der Plattform Industrie, 4(0).
View in Google Scholar
Semeraro, C., Lezoche, M., Panetto, H., & Dassisti, M. (2021). Digital twin paradigm: A systematic literature review. Computers in Industry, 130, 103469.
View in Google Scholar
Silva, R., Mamede, H., & Santos, A. (2022). The role of digital marketing in increasing SMEs' competitiveness. In Proceedings of the 19th international conference on smart business technologies (pp. 93–100). Science and Technology Publications, Setùbal.
View in Google Scholar
Skare, M., de las Mercedes de Obesso, M., & Ribeiro-Navarrete, S. (2023). Digital transformation and European small and medium enterprises (SMEs): A comparative study using digital economy and society index data. International Journal of Information Management, 68, 102594.
View in Google Scholar
Ślusarczyk, B. (2018). Industry 4.0: Are we ready? Polish Journal of Management Studies, 17.
View in Google Scholar
Steers, R. M., Meyer, A. D., & Sanchez-Runde, C. J. (2008). National culture and the adoption of new technologies. Journal of World Business, 43(3), 255–260.
View in Google Scholar
Stojanova, S., Cvar, N., Verhovnik, J., Božić, N., Trilar, J., Kos, A., & Stojmenova Duh, E. (2022). Rural Digital Innovation Hubs as a paradigm for sustainable business models in Europe’s rural areas. Sustainability, 14(21), 14620.
View in Google Scholar
Teixeira, J. E., & Tavares-Lehmann, A. T. C. P. (2022). Industry 4.0 in the European Union: Policies and national strategies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 180, 121664.
View in Google Scholar
Toader, E., Firtescu, B. N., Roman, A., & Anton, S. G. (2018). Industry 4.0 in the European Union: Policies and national strategies. Sustainability, 10(10), 10.
View in Google Scholar
Turja, T., & Oksanen, A. (2019). Robot acceptance at work: A multilevel analysis based on 27 EU countries. International Journal of Social Robotics, 11(4), 679–689.
View in Google Scholar
Ward, J. H. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58(301), 236–244.
View in Google Scholar
Weiß, G. B., Pietraroia, D., Sassanelli, C., & Macedo, H. D. (2023). Manufacturing process simulation in a hybrid cloud setup. In 2nd international conference on innovative intelligent industrial production and logistics (pp. 49–58). Setùbal: Science and Technology Publications.
View in Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, W. (2020). Socio-economic potential of cities belonging to the Polish National Cittaslow Network. Oeconomia Copernicana, 11(1), 203–224.
View in Google Scholar
Xianbin, T., & Qiong, W. (2021). Sustainable digital economy through good governance: Mediating roles of social reforms and economic policies. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 773022.
View in Google Scholar
Xu, R., & Wunsch, D. (2005). Survey of clustering algorithms. IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, 16(3), 645–678.
View in Google Scholar
Zaharia, M., & Balacescu, A. (2020). Digital economy and society. Comparative cluster analysis of EU states. Journal of Applied Computer Science & Mathematics, 14(1), 30–36.
View in Google Scholar
Zamiri, M., Ferreira, J., Sarraipa, J., Sassanelli, C., Gusmeroli, S., & Jardim-Goncalves, R. (2021). Towards a conceptual framework for developing sustainable Digital Innovation Hubs. In 2021 IEEE international conference on engineering, technology and innovation (ICE/ITMC) (pp. 1–7). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
View in Google Scholar
Zenglein, M. J., & Holzmann, A. (2019). Evolving made in China 2025. Merics Papers on China, 8, 78.
View in Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Oeconomia Copernicana
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
