Public funds help in the digital transformation of enterprises

Kinga Ładachowska, expert of the European Funds Competence Centre at Bank Millennium

Digitalisation and automation of processes are increasingly an important direction for companies' investments. The wider recognition of the benefits is partly due to the spread of AI-based technologies, but is often also part of improvements related to sustainability and resource conservation, which are usually not possible without advanced digital solutions. Autumn in subsidies will also pass under the sign of this type of undertakings. Entrepreneurs can now support themselves with public funds, which allow to increase the appetite for this type of projects and to share the risk between the investor and the intermediary institution in spending the funds. Particularly noteworthy are the calls for proposals for automation and robotisation in enterprises, which complement the tax relief for robotisation, operating since 2022.

The first of them is a call from the National Recovery Plan addressed to large enterprises: A2.1.1 Investments supporting robotisation and digitalisation in enterprises. It is a response to the needs of the economy in the context of production automation, transformation towards industry 4.0, implementation of solutions based on modern algorithms and real-time data collection. Examples of activities that will be covered by the grant under this competition include digitalisation of processes, cloud technologies, modern digital platforms, intelligent production lines, digital security and reduction of negative impact on the environment through the use of digital technologies. The competition has no industry restrictions and, importantly, the subsidy is non-refundable. The factor limiting the interest in the competition can only be the minimum value of the project set at as much as 8 mln PLN.

The second option is the competition "Automation and robotisation in SMEs" implemented under the European Funds for Eastern Poland Programme. The programme is addressed to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises from the Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Mazowieckie voivodships, excluding the Warsaw capital region. The scope of possible investments is similar to that in the call for proposals from KPO, but the maximum value of co-financing is PLN 3 million. The form of the project submitted by a company should reflect the diagnosis of investment needs made in the technological audit. The result of the audit is the so-called road map, which indicates the purpose and scope of the project that is necessary to transform the company towards industry 4.0. The range of costs that can be financed includes both investment activities, i.e. purchase of automatic machines, robots and other machinery and equipment, but also the purchase and implementation of software, and even the necessary advice and training of employees. The challenge of the competition is to cover the financing of the investment with a conditional grant, i.e. one whose repayable part depends on the revenues generated from the project. However, this should not be an obstacle for companies rationally planning investments.

In addition to calls for proposals aimed at digitalisation, activities related to computerisation and digitalisation can be financed by companies in the European Funds for Modern Economy Programme, in the so-called SMART Path. However, it is not possible to apply for funding for digitalisation itself, because it can only be an additional scope of the project. The main purpose of these competitions is to finance the development and implementation of new solutions, which are innovations at least at the national level. The extension of ongoing calls by more than 4 months, i.e. postponing the closing of the competition to the end of October, will certainly contribute to a larger number of submitted applications. The pool of funds available under the ongoing competitions has not been increased, which will translate into greater competition between the companies taking part in them.

There are many opportunities to develop the company with the help of subsidies, and the competition schedules for 2024 show that there will be no shortage of them in the future. The key to success should be to prepare a development plan that takes into account the current and future needs of the company, so as to effectively prepare for reaching for public funds.