CNA HUB 4.0

CNA Emilia-Romagna has always been active on innovation issues and, in 2017, it established a widespread network of 10 Digital Innovation Hubs at regional level (CNA HUB 4.0), making the opportunities of the "Enterprise 4.0" National Plan (now Transition 4.0) available to SMEs. CNA HUB 4.0 facilitates access to services and tools for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the digitalisation era, and represents the key tool for accelerating the digital transition and stimulating the demand for innovation in the production system, thus strengthening the level of knowledge and awareness on the opportunities offered by digitalisation. Since 2023, CNA Emilia-Romagna CNA HUB 4.0 has also being offering SMEs services with a focus on sustainability. In line with the National Industry 4.0 Plan and the Smart Specialization Strategy of Emilia Romagna, which aims to build an increasingly dynamic, competitive and capable area, able of relaunching employment by improving the efficiency of its structures and its knowledge system, CNA Hub 4.0 aims to create and maintain a strong connection with the main players (research laboratories, companies, Emilia Romagna Region, innovation centers, Clust-ER, ...) in order to promote both the generation of knowledge, both technological and organizational innovation, capitalizing on skills and relationships. CNA HUB 4.0 also provides companies with real intervention plans, based on tools and check-ups, that meet their needs. Among these we find the indexes of the level of technological maturity created specifically for SMEs, useful for accompanying them towards transformations and changes. To guide companies in understanding their digital maturity, in identifying priority areas of intervention and in using the incentives provided by the Enterprise 4.0 Plan, CNA HUB 4.0 coordinates a network of 10 Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) which represent the points of local access to tools, services and reporting useful for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises within the Industry 4.0 programme. Since 2015, CNA Emilia-Romagna has been part of Enterprise Europe Network and of the Consortium SIMPLER, a project co-financed under the European Union's program for the competitiveness of SMEs (COSME). The aim of the network is to offer SMEs services in the fields of sustainability, innovation, digitalisation, internationalization and resilience. CNA Emilia-Romagna is a partner in an international path for the development of innovative products and services for the care of the elderly. The project: “NOTRE – Novel methods improving production innovation potential with examples of senior care-related solutions” (started March 2023 – ending February 2027), financed by the European Program INTERREG EUROPE, is made up of a public and private partnership. The NOTRE project aims to stimulate the improvement of regional policies in favor of SMEs by developing new products and services (including digital) for the care of the elderly. Alongside this, the project will strengthen the relationship with research structures (Centres and Laboratories) for the implementation of tests on the validity and effectiveness of the technologies, products and services created. CNA Emilia-Romagna - CNA HUB 4.0 is partner of the Competence Center BI-REX (Big Data Innovation & Research EXcellence), one of the high specialization centers for Industry 4.0 selected by the Italian government in June 2018. It is also, together with the Competence Center BIREX (LP of the project), partner in the project "BIREX++ - HPC&Big Data processing for sustainable digital manufacturing" (starting 2022-ending 2025). The project financed by MIMIT with PNRR resources, to support industrial innovation investments, sees the BI-REX Competence Center as its leader. This project, of which CNA Emilia-Romagna is a partner, unites companies, Digital Innovation Hubs, Italian universities and the most important players in the Data Valley to support SMEs through innovation services on the topics of HPC, Big Data and Cloud Computing, Applied AI and enabling technologies Industry 4.0. Best 4.0, financed under the InterReg-Italy-Croatia framework, sees a partnership made up of 8 partners. This project (starting 2024-ending 2026) aims to support the introduction of I4.0 processes in the sectors of the Blue Economy of companies in the cross-border area, through the support of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) and centers for innovation. CNA Emilia-Romagna is also a supporter of and participates in the stakeholder group of the ER2digit project (funded by the PNRR), one of the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIH) selected in Italy and candidate for the next European call of the Digital Europe program to be part of a European network of around 200 EDIHs. ER2digit was created under the impetus of the Emilia-Romagna Region, and thanks to the active role of ART-ER, in partnership with LEPIDA and CINECA, is an access point to the offer of the regional ecosystem of digital innovation. ER2digit will provide services aimed at Public Administrations and their suppliers, in particular by encouraging a strategic use of data for the improvement of public services and their interoperability for the benefit of citizens, businesses and other stakeholders. As part of the PNRR - for the selection of digital innovation hubs, CNA Emilia-Romagna and the national Legacoop led by the PICO Foundation presented the project and will launch "DIGITAL ACE - Artisanal and Cooperative Enterprises" a project which will see the participation of 32 territorial structures at a national level to provide digitalisation services to SMEs throughout Italy. At a regional level, CNA Emilia-Romagna is a partner in two projects: AvantCRAFT project - Development of innovative methodologies for safeguarding the heritage of craftsmanship and artisanal processing techniques (Action 1.1.2 "Support for collaborative research projects of research laboratories and universities with businesses" funded by the PR-FESR 2021-2027 of the Emilia-Romagna Region), which intends to start a synergistic and strategic collaboration aimed at building a digital archive of artisan knowledge, thanks to the use and experimentation of digitalization and advanced simulation. The second project financed by "Promotional projects in favor of crafts": “Newtopia - Sustainability and digitization laboratory for craft businesses" (started in March 2023-ending in December 2024), which sees the CNA system and its territorial structures as actors, aims to facilitate, enhance and accompany companies towards the quality and craftsmanship of the products offered, and at the same time to invest in increasingly sustainable and efficient production processes, combining traditional, manual techniques with digital techniques, capable of minimizing energy consumption and related costs.