DMA-Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) framework used in the context of the EDIH network is a new framework developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) for measuring the digital maturity of EDIH customers across Europe in different timings with a goal to measure the efficiency of EDIHs provided services. The customers can be either Small and Medium-sized Enterprises-SMEs (and midcaps) or Public Service Organisations (PSO). 

The Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) framework captures the level of digitalisation and then calculates a digital maturity score for the responding company/organisation overall and by dimension. This is done on the basis of a questionnaire assessing the following 6 categories/dimensions:

For SMEs: 1.) Digital business strategy; 2.) Digital readiness; 3.) Human-centric digitalisation; 4.) Data management; 5.) Automation & Artificial Intelligence; 6.) Green digitalisation.

For PSOs: 1.) Digital strategy & investments; 2.) Digital readiness; 3.) Human-centric digitalisation; 4.) Data management & security; 5.) Interoperability; 6.) Green digitalisation.

An outline of the DMA framework is presented in the table below:

The rationale behind the creation of the new DMA framework to be used by EDIHs is that measuring the digital maturity status of an entity and its evolution over time (e.g. comparing its status before and after the EDIH substantial intervention) will provide an indication of the effectiveness of the EDIH's intervention and, at an aggregated EU level, of the effectiveness of the EDIH policy initiative. The purpose of the DMA is to monitor the digital transformation of entities that received support from EDIHs (SMEs/PSOs). 

In summary the DMA framework is used to measure:

• the DM level of EDIH customers before any EDIH intervention

• the efficiency of services provided by EDIHs to their customer base

• the contribution of the EDIH programme to EU policy priorities

Therefore, the DMA framework is not only a tool dedicated to measure the digital maturity of SMEs/PSOs but also a policy monitoring tool for the EDIH community. 

The assessment of digital maturity of EDIH's customers (SMEs/PSOs) with the DMA framework is based on a questionnaire in the form of an online tool on the EDIH Network portal. This online tool should be used by EDIHs to record and manage their customers’ DMAs. 

With an easily navigable interface, the DMA Tool enables EDIHs to keep track of their SMEs/PSOs and their various DMAs in a single space. Depending on the type of their customers EDIHs should select between using the tool for SMEs or the tool for PSOs.

Only authorised EDIH members are able to access and use the DMA Tool. The EDIH coordinator can grant access to the EDIH Network portal to other users (see how to manage users in the following link). 

SMEs and PSOs (EDIH customers) do not have direct access to fill in the DMA online. 

Useful information on the use of the DMA tool is available on the Knowledge Hub on the EDIH Network portal: https://european-digital-innovation-hubs.ec.europa.eu/knowledge-hub, more precisely under Guidance Documents and Overview – Digital Maturity Assessment. The material is continuously updated and enriched, including guidance documents on the usage of the DMA Tool.

Check additional frequently asked questions and answers below. 

More detailed information regarding the DMA methodology and framework can be found on the following link: DMA Guidance document for EDIHs (JRC).

One of the objectives of the EDIH work programme and the relevant European Commission investments is to improve the digital maturity of European SMEs and PSOs. 

The DMA is the main tool used to measure this improvement; therefore, it is important to understand whether the investment is effective and in order to determine the focus of investment for the second part of the programme. The European Commission plans to start another round of EDIH projects for 4 more years following the end of the initial 3-year contracts.

For more information on the objective and added value of the DMA please also check Q 1.2.

The base digital maturity level of every beneficiary organisation should be investigated before the EDIH intervention through services begins. The DMA should be fully completed three times for each substantial intervention that an EDIH customer (SME or PSO) receives:

• T0 = before EDIH intervention (a point of time not longer than 6 months prior to EDIH
  support start)

• T1 = 1 year after T0 (if the EDIH intervention is still running, wait until it is concluded. It should be applied no later than 3 months after EDIH support has been delivered.)

• T2 = 2 years after T1 (a further point of time not earlier than 18 months and not longer
  than 24 months after EDIH support has been delivered)

The use of the DMA is mandatory before any substantial intervention of an EDIH with an SME/PSO. The services that EDIHs will provide aim to improve the level of digitalisation of SMEs in the long run, so in every such case you should use it. EDIHs should use their own judgement to decide whether a service requires a DMA, as it will vary on a case-by-case basis.

For example, an EDIH does NOT have to run the DMA tool for a customer that will receive a one-day training service but they should definitely use it for a customer that will receive a service with an expected impact in their digitalisation level such as ‘test before invest’ (and many others).

When a new customer is registered, the corresponding DMA line will automatically appear on the DMA tool, but does not need to be filled in in the case of a non-substantial EDIH intervention. A filtering system allows the user to sort through customers which have filled in a DMA and those which have not. 

Is training a “de minimis” service? 

Deciding whether training is a “de minimis” service or not is case dependent. For example, if you organise a 6-month training course for 10 employees of a company it is difficult to consider it a “zero-value” service. On the other hand, a 1-hour training webinar could be considered as a “training” service but in most cases, it may not be efficient to record it in detail with a DMA as it can incur extra overhead costs, therefore it may be more efficient to consider it as “de minimis”. It is the EDIH’s responsibility to assess the specific service and make an appropriate judgement. 

Is there a Quantitative definition (€ or h) of “substantial intervention”?

There is no quantitative definition yet that is why we ask the EDIHs to exercise their own judgement. Because of their advanced technological profiles, we consider EDIHs capable to distinguish a “substantial” service with short- or longer-term impact to the digital maturity of their customers from one that has mostly an awareness creation and is informative in nature.

In the future a more quantitative definition may be introduced.

You need to register an entity as an SME or a PSO before you can perform the DMA. 

You can create startups and spinoffs as soon as they are registered as a legal entity in the respective country.

Are an explanation and recommendations of DMA results available? 

Within the first implementation of the DMA tool there was no provision for a detailed explanation of the results of the DMA tool but only the provision of quantitative scores (overall and per dimension). This was due to the fact that the ultimate goal of the tool is to assess the increase (or not) in digital maturity of EDIH customers and not to provide suggestions and recommendations. The latter task is considered as an EDIH task that will accompany their customer in their digital transformation journey.

However, we recognise the need to provide some qualitative explanation of the results and this is something that we are working at and will be available in one of the next versions of the tool. 

What is the practical use of the DMA test results for EDIHs?

As mentioned already under other questions in the FAQ, the DMA tool is providing a snapshot of the digital maturity level of EDIH customers in different timings. At the same time, it is used as a monitoring tool to assess the impact of the EDIH’s services in digitalising SMEs/PSOs. In the long run it will provide insights into the effectiveness of the EDIH policy initiative in increasing digital transformation of SMEs/PSOs in Europe. 

As a reporting tool, EDIHs are required to use the DMA for all of their customers to whom they will provide a substantial service to help them increase their digitalisation level. The EDIH will benefit from the DMA results as well by getting to know the digital profiles of their customers better and identifying strengths and weaknesses in the 6 digital dimensions that the DMA assesses. In this sense, the DMA tool can help both the EDIHs and their customers to better understand their level of digitalisation and how they score comparing with their peers. They will then identify together the potential services required to advance in their trajectory towards digital transformation. 

See previous reply under 2.5. 

Moreover, the EDIHs that already have their own specialised tool on measuring digital maturity of specific technologies/market sectors etc could use it to identify better more specialised customer needs and use the generic DMA tool mainly for reporting purposes. 

How can EDIHs encourage SMEs/PSOs to fill in the DMA?

See answer in 2.5 “What is the practical use of the DMA test results for EDIHs?”

No, it is not mandatory to fill the DMA questionnaire for all the customers, only for the ones receiving a substantial intervention from an EDIH.

This will vary depending on the individual EDIH and the services provided. It is up to the EDIH to decide whether a DMA is appropriate or keeping a simple record of the customer along with the service provided. In some instances, the completion of a DMA may not be deemed necessary. For example, for a two-hours one-to-one training session, or a half-day webinar delivered to one hundred customers, completing a DMA is not required. 

Yes, the DMA questionnaire will remain the same each time. This way it will be able to realistically capture the evolution of EDIH customers within the six digitalisation dimensions assessed. 

Can you tell the level of granulation of a sector in the comparative approach? Automotive may be divided into sub-sectors etc. 

The sector classification used is taken from OECD. It cannot be adjusted to the individual country context. 

Yes, all DMA questions should be completed when running the tool. 

The latest version of the DMA questionnaire is always implemented in the online tool. Since the release of the online tool only minor changes have been introduced and the goal is that the online version will be stabilised and no changes will be done for at least one year.

The latest version of both questionnaires (SMEs and PSOs) in “paper” (.pdf) form are also available online in the EDIH portal together with the localised (translated) versions in all the EU languages, as well as in the languages of selected associated countries. (See next question for links.)

In the future, and taking into account the feedback that we will receive from EDIHs and their customers, updates/revisions of the tool may be made available to improve any weak points.

Can we get the algorithm to share an immediate report with the customer? 

A document describing the DMA scoring system and rules is available online (only English) here: DMA Guidance document for EDIHs (JRC)

The DMA questionnaires (one for SMEs and one for PSOs) are available in all the EU languages and languages of selected associated countries (in .pdf version) in the following links: 

• DMA Tool for SMEs — Guidance material
• DMA Tool for PSOs — Guidance Material

In order to run and provide an immediate report to a customer you should use the online tool available under the My EDIH section in the EDIH network portal.

Which data is used to present the comparison for country and industry?

The averages for country and industry sector are calculated based on the DMA data (currently) reported in the system, thus, data registered by all the EDIHs in the network. 

At the bottom of the customer’s DMA results page, their overall DMA result is compared with the averages of customers in the same sector and country, in the same sector in the EU as a whole, average of customers of the same size across the EU, the best result of a customer in the same sector and country and the average of all customers of this type (SME/PSO) which have undergone a DMA.

Please consider checking the DMA questionnaire for SMEs to identify which questions may touch upon integration into the supply chain or other specialised aspects.

How is the personal data of the company being protected? How is the analysis of the data anonymised? 

Who is allowed to analyse on the individual EDIH Level, regional or crossborder level?  The management of personal data is described in the privacy statement. Please note that there are 2 privacy statements for the EDIH network portal. 

General privacy statement

Accessible from the footer in the useful information section. This statement covers anonymous users, which are identified in the system only through their IP address.

Direct link here.

EDIH privacy statement 

This statement covers users which are identified in the system through their “EU-Login” identifier, and covers also the personal data of companies collected as part of the DMA section or the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) section – see part 4 “Which personal data do we collect and further process?” of the statement.

Direct link here.   

Privacy by design 

The EDIH portal, including the DMA applications for Digital Maturity Assessment and for the collection of Key Performance Indicators, has been designed to minimise the amount of data collected and to avoid data being misused. For this reason, very little data is collected about the SME during their interaction with the EDIH, and third parties do not have visibility on the details of the DMA or of the services received by an SME or a public sector organisation. This guarantees that companies which received services by EDIHs will also not be contacted by third parties. 

The DTA and the Commission will use DMA data in its efforts to assess the impact of the services provided by the EDIH Network, for example with respect to increasing the level of digitalisation of SMEs and PSOs and therefore contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Digital Decade targets. Reports on the assessed impact will be presented annually to the European Commission by DTA and will be based exclusively on average values of the DMA scores, presented for example in the form of business size-class, sector, country, and region. DMA data, including scores, from individual organisations will not be detailed in this annual reporting. 

For successful cases, in which high digital maturity increase is recorded and the DTA wants to establish contact with the respective organisations (SMEs or PSOs) to learn more, EDIHs will act as intermediate to contact the organisations. In such cases, any sensitive or personal DMA related data that could help for example to build a success story will only be disseminated following specific consent by the individual organisations.

A customer can ask their EDIH to delete all the data related to the organisation. 

Note! When a customer is deleted, any related DMA performed will also be deleted.

The public sector that the EDIH aims at supporting are public administrations as well as public sector organisations active in areas of public interest, such as health and care, education, judiciary, customs, transport, mobility, energy, environment, cultural and creative sectors (art. 8 DIGITAL regulation). 

Such public sector organisations are characterised by their establishment as legal entities, with the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character and financed for the most part by the State, regional or local authorities (see Article 2 of the Interoperable Europe Act article 2 (1) Directive 2019/1024 for a formal definition).

Small Mid-cap - An enterprise within the meaning of Article 1 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission SME Recommendation which 

(i) has up to 499 employees calculated in accordance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission SME Recommendation, and 

(ii) is not a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise as defined in the Commission SME Recommendation.

Large Mid-cap - An enterprise, as defined in Article 1 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission SME Recommendation whose number of employees is between 500 and 3,000 (with staff headcount calculated in accordance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Title I of the Annex of the Commission SME Recommendation). 

Only EDIHs from countries which have signed an association agreement for the Digital Europe Programme will have access to all the EDIH Network tools. 

Yes. The function to be able to delete a customer (SME/PSO) has been implemented.

Under the My EDIH space, click into the DMA Overview (either for SMEs or PSOS), click on the name of the customer you wish to delete, an option will appear at the top of the screen to “Delete” the customer. 

The function to edit a submitted DMA will be available in the coming months. For now, the DMA must be deleted and then re-entered. 

Yes, the bulk upload of SMEs and PSOs DMA is available. Please refer to the guidelines (instructions, templates and examples) here: Overview - DMA Bulk Import Tool | European Digital Innovation Hubs Network (europa.eu)

Can the CSV file be downloaded in other languages?

No, the csv headings are only in English.

No, the DMA tool is part of the JRC/EC platform, and the only way it can be used is through the EDIH Network platform. 

This is currently being discussed internally, more information will be available soon.   

Is it possible to interface with an SME via an API (Application 2 Application)?  

For the moment, only an import/export functionality is available. The development of an API is being discussed internally.  

This is currently being discussed internally, more information will be available soon. 

No, it is not foreseen to give the EDIH customers (SMEs and PSOs) direct access to the DMA Tool. 

Yes, it is possible to view the DMA submissions in a table format. In the My EDIH Space, click into Digital Maturity Assessment results overview (either SME or PSO). Here, the results are presented in a table and can be downloaded in Excel format by clicking the green “Download XLSX” button.

The sharing of customer is now available. If you try to create a SME or PSO to perform a Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) or record Performance indicators, and the SME or PSO is already created by another EDIH, you will receive the following message: "This fiscal registration number corresponds to an SME/PSO that is already registered with another EDIH. You may request access to this SME/PSO by contacting the helpdesk."  

You need to click on the hyperlink that will appear in order to inform the DTA Helpdesk and request to be added as an associated EDIH for that customer.  

See further guidance here: EDIH sharing SMEs and PSOs | European Digital Innovation Hubs Network (europa.eu)

Yes, see answer to 4.8.

Yes, the portal is developed using the standard user interface of the European Commission libraries. It can be used on other devices such as mobile phones, tablets etc.  

The DMA dashboard shows SME information and DMA results in one place. 

Yes, there is a filter function as well a search function in the DMA dashboard. 

There is no limit to the number of users per EDIH that can have access to the EDIH Network portal and the DMA Tool. The EDIH coordinator can grant access to the EDIH Network portal to other users (see how to manage users in the following link). 

Yes, the VAT number is available in both the aggregated Excel export of results and in the individual submissions. 

If the automatic geolocation fails while registering your customer on the DMA tool you can enter the coordinates manually in the Geofield in the EDIH profile. If you enter the values, you will not get the error on geolocation. This error message doesn’t prevent you from registering your customer.

The DMA questionnaires are available in all EU languages. Customer registration data should be provided in English. 

Not at this time. 

The DMA questionnaires (one for SMEs and one for PSOs) are available in the EU official languages and languages of selected associated countries (in .pdf version) in the following links: 

• DMA Tool for SMEs — Guidance material
• DMA Tool for PSOs — Guidance Material

The continuation of the EDIH programme is expected beyond the initial contract period 20222025. Each case will be reviewed by the European Commission.  

See also information provided in the table in Question 1.1 

Yes, all the information about the DMA framework, questionnaires and the scoring rules, are available here:         

The different language versions of the questionnaire are available online (see Question 5.3).

Note! Only EDIHs can use the DMA online tool. (Including Digital Innovation Hubs labelled with Seal of Excellence and registered in the EDIH catalogue.) The registration of a customer has to be linked to the completion of a service.

Yes, it is possible to save a DMA as a draft and continue with another one for a different SME. 

Supporting materials are available online for filling out the DMA questionnaire (see 5.3. for example). EDIHs must decide how to collect the information from their customers. We recommend EDIHs to conduct a one-to-one session with customers in answering DMA questions. 

The bulk import of DMAs is now available. See question 4.3.

It is recommended that EDIHs conduct sessions with its customers dedicated to filling in the DMA, as most SME/PSOs will require guidance. EDIHs may share the downloadable pdf version of the DMA questionnaire with clients so they can prepare for the session and gather the required information. Support material provided by the DTA may be shared with clients to ease the process.  

Yes, DMA results may be shared with customers. The DMA is aimed at assisting companies to assess their digital maturity and to understand how they can improve it. Only the DMA results of the respective customer can be shared to the customer, not the data of other customers. 

If a customer wants to receive a substantial service from the EDIH, the DMA is obligatory. If the customer refuses to provide data for the DMA in T1 or T2, the EDIH will need to report this to the European Commission. The DMA obligations of the EDIH customer should be clarified in an agreement at the start of the service. 

There is no template for the agreement between the EDIH and their customer. This should be defined by the EDIH and does not need to be an official document. However, the company must be informed, at the beginning, of its obligations, in particular the provision of the necessary data for the completion of the DMA questionnaire. 

No, a company can be added only by one EDIH. The validation is done on the VAT number. See answer 4.9 on how to share a customer.  

The entire EDIH programme started later than expected, mainly for reasons linked to the administrative complexity of co-financing. Several EDIHs have asked for a prolongation of their project, which can be done through a grant amendment, but has to be discussed on a case-by-case basis with your project officer.

You should respect the privacy of the SME, but you can use the aggregate DMA results to discuss with other EDIHs and as a basis for collaboration. Of course, the DMA numbers will be very different across different regions and sectors, because the digital maturity of companies is very different in the various parts of EU, so you should always consider that the DMA results are not a way to measure if a customer is "better" than another one, and often will not be easily comparable (for example, if you look at SME across different sectors).

There is nothing in the regulation that prohibits an organization from being helped by two EDIHs. However, this has to be analysed on a case-by-case basis to understand the reason behind it. 

If an EDIH does not have the expertise to help an organization, another EDIH can provide a different service to the same organization. In this case both EDIHs should identify this organization as a client in the EDIH portal. 

Regarding the DMA questionnaire the following solutions should be followed (and applied with common sense, on a case by case based): 

• If the services provided by the two EDIHs are complementary and provided at the same time (simultaneously), only one DMA questionnaire should be filled. The two EDIHs can decide who should help the organisation to fill the DMA, maybe the EDIH with more contact with the organisation, or the EDIH that is providing the main service. 
• If the two EDIHs are providing the services in two different periods (the first service in 2023 and the second service in 2024 for example) then two DMA questionnaires should be filled (one for each service provided). 

Strategic guidelines for cooperation are available here in the Guidance Documents of the Knowledge Hub section of the EDIH Network portal. EDIHs may contact the Helpdesk if they would like further support in terms of cooperation and collaboration. 

The expected duration for completing a DMA questionnaire for an SME will vary on a case-by-case basis, but on average may last around 1 hour. Again, EDIHs are recommended to guide the customers on how to fill the questionnaire in a get-together session (that can be online) so that they can reply to inquiries and explain concepts that are not very clear or familiar to the respondents.

The DMA tool must be used before any substantial intervention by EDIHs to measure their customers’ digital maturity (and not only to the core test-before-invest services). 

If the access to finance services will have an impact in the digital maturity of an organisation, the DMA questionnaire will have to be filled. For example, if an organization will have access to funds (through the access to finance service) to buy digital machinery this will have an impact in their digital maturity and therefore the DMA tool should be used. 

If the funds will be used to hire new employees, then, in principle, this will not have a direct impact in the digital maturity of the organisation, so it will not be needed to fill the DMA questionnaire. 

The version you are using is the final version of the questionnaire. All comments we may receive are collected together for further consideration in future updated versions of the questionnaires.