DIH TERA

DIH TERA (Digital innovation hub TERA) is a consortium that functions as a one-stop-shop and provides companies with the possibility of enhancing their competitiveness concerning their business/production processes, products or services by using digital technologies. DIH TERA is based on technological infrastructure (Competence Centre – CC) and provides access to the latest knowledge, expertise and technologies for providing support to companies in the implementation of pilot projects, testing and experimenting with digital innovations. The hub provides business and financial support for introducing innovations, if necessary, through the value chain, and acts as the first regional contact point that strengthens the innovation ecosystem.

The DIH TERA consortium consists of organisations based in East Croatia, among which there are constituents of the two East Croatian universities and development agencies from all five of the region’s counties, as well as business support institutions and renowned Croatian SMEs with extensive knowledge and experience in the IT sector and digitalisation processes. The coordinator is an SME with a not-for-profit clause, established by theJosip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek-Baranja County and the City of Osijek.

All the partners undertake not to make profit from the activities implemented within the DIH, in compliance with the not-for-profit clause.

DIH TERA operates not only on regional but on the national and international levels as well. It cooperates with international consortia and initiatives, bringing companies closer to service providers from other regions. The members of the DIH TERA consortium participate in numerous international projects, programmes and networks, such as D-Rural, Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Horizon2020, KAM (Key Account Management), Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), KETGATE, KET4CP, MobiliseSME, Time Machine, EIT Food, Erasmus+, Interreg, Danube Transfer Centres (DTC), Open Innovation System of the Adriatic-Ionian Region network, ECMI (European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry), Crowdhelix.

Key services:

Test Before Invest: the services encompass digital maturity evaluation, demonstrational activities, evaluation and simulation for digital transformation, support for integration and adaptation of different technologies, testing and experimentation with digital technologies, technology transfer, development of mobile and web applications.

Skills and Training: workshops, seminars, in-house education and training.

Access to Finance:the services encompass connecting companies within the EEN network, creating and publishing clients’ profiles in the EEN database, advisory services regarding business internationalisation on the EU market, a consultancy in defining project proposals for financing, directing entrepreneurs to cascade financing of R&D activities and prototype financing, connecting entrepreneurs with international networks of R&D institutions.

The process:

An analysis of justification and needs is performed on the expression of the client's interest and the need for entrepreneurial support. To this end, an evaluation and support team shall be set up, involving relevant experts from the consortium's partner institutions. The experts are tasked with preparing a work plan (consultancy support, education, prototyping, testing, preparing project proposals for other sources of funding and other activities according to the profile and needs of the project). In the initial phase, the work of DIH TERA focuses on activities that can significantly improve business through digitalisation, such as building sustainable food supply chains through the digital transformation of agriculture, which includes the use of artificial intelligence in quality control systems, the use of blockchain technologies un certification and labelling of food products, the use of GIS/GPS technologies in precision agriculture development, use of additive production to shorten the time required for product and packaging design, personalised nutrition and functional food production, as well as other unspecified activities. Based on the connections with other international consortia and initiatives, the range of technical competencies and services is significantly expanded.