Digitrans-Easy: Digital transformation the easy way

Helping business enterprises cross the digital transformation divide: That is the purpose of the new project DIGITRANS-EASY initiated by CENTOURIS, an institute of the University of Passau. The focus is on practice-driven continuing education for SMEs across Bavaria. The training programme caters to operational management employees and has the specific objective of supporting business enterprises in their bid to implement and use digital applications.

Especially in times of the coronavirus, when extensive personal customer contact becomes temporarily impossible, any changes occurring in customer behaviour and digital communication channels must be studied carefully. In the DIGITRANS-EASY project, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are shown how target group analysis works and what customer journey analysis options across the full breadth of communication channels are available for them to use. The aim is to give participating companies a better understanding of their customers' specific digital requirements. Various methods are explained, including customer surveys and eye-tracking experiments where the eye movements of the test persons are recorded while browsing the company website for example. The object is for enterprises to analyse the real needs and potential of their own business and to identify areas where digital technologies can be implemented. 

The material taught in the programme will be applicable even after the project has ended. "Our goal is to empower the participating businesses so that they can use and perpetuate their findings in a sustainable way. In practice, this will give rise to best practices for other businesses that are not as digitally inclined," says Dr. Stefan Mang, managing director of CENTOURIS. Small-structured study units and step-by-step multimedia instructions are provided to facilitate access to and implementation of digital applications.

In addition to the training material on classical online marketing tools, so-called servitisation is also very important: "It is becoming more common for companies to identify as service providers rather than as mere industrial manufacturers. A service-driven business model can thus serve as a unique selling point," explains Dr. Maria Diekmann, project manager at CENTOURIS. "These days, innovations that are purely product-based will likely not be able to convince customers and retain them for the long term."

The project receives REACT-EU funds within the framework of the 2022-2023 programming period. The European Union launched this programme to provide recovery funds in an effort to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. REACT-EU is short for "Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe" and the second largest recovery instrument within the NextGenerationEU.

Caption: The DIGITRANS-EASY project aims to specifically support small- and medium-sized enterprises in Bavaria in their drive to implement and use digital applications. (Photograph: Colour box)