Completion of the ‘SME 4.0 Competence Centre for Communication’ project

Driving digitalisation forward and providing guidance on this, highlighting specific courses of action, bringing scientific findings into everyday business life and making them applicable – these were the objectives set by the Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Centre for Communication. The project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, came to an end at the end of February. The results: in addition to 19,000 employees from over 12,000 businesses, 4,800 advisers and multipliers were supported in providing even better guidance to SMEs through the digital transformation. A great deal of support material also remains availableonline for all who are interested.

SMEs in the digital transformation

The key areas of the work were those changes brought about by digitalisation that directly affect people in various roles. “Digital transformation is driven primarily by customers,” explains Prof. Dr Pia Sue Helferich. The communications expert argues that there are high expectations of digital processes in both business-to-business (B2B) transactions and in dealings with end customers: “Information about products and services is increasingly sought online, and customers often want digital services such as an online shop.” The pandemic has accelerated this trend. Employees’ needs for digital collaboration have also changed rapidly. The problem facing many SMEs is that “they know action is needed, but often do not know where or how to start with digitalisation,” says Helferich.

Resources for business support

The consortium has collaborated with numerous organisations, such as chambers of commerce and industry, chambers of crafts and trade, and business associations, and has provided around 800 opportunities for talks and workshops in partnership with them. This has resulted in several hundred specialist articles, guides, self-study modules and checklists, which can still be found on the website of the Communication Competence Centre. Due to the pandemic, almost all events have been held online for the past two years. Accordingly, the programme has included opportunities for leadership in digital transformation, virtual collaboration, business model development and digital marketing, amongst other topics. Thirty-six companies have also received long-term support as part of a pilot scheme.

Free opportunities on digitalisation and sustainability

Thanks to public funding, all opportunities for SMEs were provider-neutral and free of charge – just like the opportunities provided by other competence centres within the Mittelstand-Digital initiative. The new project,the ‘Mittelstand-Digital Centre for Future Culture’, builds on the work of the Communication Competence Centre. The Digital Centre, which has already been launched, aims to support SMEs through the two major transformations: digitalisation and sustainability. The work of the former Communication Competence Centre remains accessible.

An article by Simon Colin and Valerie Neumaier