Each EDIH will provide services based on a specific focus and expertise, which will support the local private and public sector with their digital transformation with particular focus on support to development, training deployment and uptake of European AI. This specialisation can be strengthened over time and should make use of existing local competencies in this area.

The EDIH network is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the digital transformation of SMEs and public services through four types of services:

• Test before invest: providing access to technical expertise and experimentation facilities, in particular to AI-related services.
• Training and skill development: offering training sessions to SMEs and public services for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce.
• Support to identify and facilitate access to potential financing sources to support digital transformation.
• Foster an innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities

Each EDIH is expected to provide all four types of services. They can however have different weights in the overall services portfolio. The services will be provided on an open, transparent and non-discriminatory basis and will be targeted mainly to

1. SMEs and mid-caps and/or
2. public sector organisations conducting non-economic activities.

Each EDIH will act as an access point to the European network of EDIHs, helping local companies and/or public actors to get support from other EDIHs in case the needed competences fall outside their remit, ensuring that every stakeholder gets the needed support wherever it is available in Europe. Reversely, each EDIH will support the companies and public actors from other regions and countries presented by other EDIHs that need their expertise.

The EDIHs will also serve as contact point for the AI innovation infrastructures as described above, notably the AI factories, AI-on-demand platform and TEFs, and offer a first-line AI help desk to businesses and public sector organisations, including basic information on compliance with the AI Act as well relevant sources of further information and ensuring a broad adoption of strategic technologies supporting the development of an AI continent.

Each EDIH will make available the relevant experimentation facilities and demonstrators related to its specialisation. SMEs, mid-caps, and the public sector will be able to test the technologies proposed, including where relevant their environmental impact, and the feasibility of applying these technologies to their business before further investing in it. Likewise, EDIHs will harness the potential of green digital technologies, advancing Europe’s collective climate and environmental goals.

EDIHs will also provide access to finance services including providing information and facilitating access to public and private funding sources as well as to public and private investors.

The EDIHs will be active in networking with other hubs, sharing best practices and specialist knowledge, in bringing companies into contact with other companies of their value chain, and in seeking synergies with innovators and early adopters that test solutions in novel experiments and can foster the adoption of digital technologies, and notably AI, in working and business environments in a more human-friendly way. EDIHs will also play a brokering role between public administrations and companies providing e-government technologies.

In all the networking activities, EDIHs will be supported by the Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) and therefore it is compulsory that EDIHs participate actively in the relevant support activities of the Digital Transformation Accelerator, such as matchmaking, training, and capacity building events. The Digital Transformation Accelerator in cooperation with the Commission will also host tools, such as the Digital Maturity Assessment Tool, and have the role to centralise overall Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the network, and therefore each EDIH will report the necessary information to the DTA. EDIHs are encouraged to make use of the digital tools provided but are also free to use their own tools. However, interoperability with the EDIH network tools is a requirement, so that users of the EDIHs will have a seamless experience.

DTA will organize events and activities for the network of EDIH, to share information and experiences, train, build cohesion. EDIHs should foresee active participation in those events and activities.

The EDIHs should closely collaborate with the AI factories as well as with the High-Performance Computing competence centres, the Cybersecurity centres, the AI Testing and Experimentation Facilities, and other EDIHs seeking complementarities in view of supporting companies and public sector organisations with their digital transformation. To the extent possible, the EDIHs should use the AI solutions of European start-ups and SMEs and/or those provided and stemming from EU projects, including from AI on Demand Platform. Where relevant, the EDIHs will facilitate access for their customers to the EuroHPC AI-optimised supercomputers. They will also help SMEs fine-tune available AI solutions to their business needs and use cases by providing, wherever needed, also access to AI training.

EDIHs will maintain structured long-term relationships with the relevant local actors like regional authorities, industrial clusters, SME associations, business development agencies, incubators, accelerators, chambers of commerce, and partners of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), Cybersecurity Centres and Startup Europe by offering joint investor-related events, organising common trainings, workshops or info days, referring SMEs from EEN to EDIHs and from EDIHs to EEN according to their specific needs. It is expected that local actors planning mutual support with a local EDIH will sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a proper governance of their collaboration.

Additionally, EDIHs will serve as an interface for the European Commission to support the implementation of specific sectorial policies, SME policies and eGovernment policies. This will imply that EDIHs specialised in a specific sector could be consulted on policies related to their sector of competence and could participate in specific actions.

EDIHs will design operations to achieve sustainability level beyond the implementation and will indicate how they will build local capacity, foster community ownership, and integrate the initiative into their ecosystems.