Consolidation of the Network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs with reinforced AI focus)

The DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-EU-EEA-09-CONSOLIDATION-STEP call is a funding opportunity under the Digital Europe Programme, aimed at consolidating the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) with a focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This forthcoming call has a total budget of €79.2 million, which is distributed as €46.8 million for 2026 and €32.4 million for 2027, with an expected allocation to 51 grants.

Eligible applicants for this restricted call include existing EDIHs that are either currently co-financed by the Digital Europe Programme or hold a Seal of Excellence. The application process is restricted and takes place in a single-stage submission format, with opening planned for November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026.

The EDIHs are expected to support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mid-caps, and public sector organizations, providing key services in four main areas: testing prior to investment, training and skills development, access to financing, and networking and ecosystem building. The emphasis is placed on using AI technologies to enhance competitiveness and facilitate digital transformation across various sectors including health, transport, and manufacturing.

Each EDIH is expected to operate with an annual budget between €1 to €2 million, funded 50% by the DIGITAL program and requiring matching contributions from national governments or private sources. The call supports the operational maturity of existing hubs, focusing on international cooperation and expansion of services offered by these innovation centers.

Applications will be evaluated based on excellence, impact, and implementation quality, contributing to an estimated success rate of 21-25% of applications received. Successful EDIHs will act as regional hubs facilitating local access to advanced digital technologies and providing support for broader European AI initiatives.

The initiative aims to ensure comprehensive geographical coverage of EDIH services throughout the EU and associated countries, thus strengthening European competitiveness, facilitating digital and green transformations, and supporting strategic autonomy in technology development.

The DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-EU-EEA-09-CONSOLIDATION-STEP call, under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL), aims to consolidate the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) with a reinforced focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This call falls under the "EDIH AI Continent" initiative. It utilizes DIGITAL-SIMPLE DIGITAL Simple Grants and a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based [DIGITAL-AG] model. The call is forthcoming with a single-stage deadline model. The planned opening date is November 4, 2025, and the deadline for submission is March 3, 2026, at 17:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome of this call is to support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations within specific geographical areas through EDIHs. These EDIHs are expected to extend their impact beyond their immediate regions and may choose to focus on specific client groups such as SMEs or the public sector. Selected projects will provide four core types of services: testing before investing, training and skills development, support to find investments, and networking and access to innovation ecosystems. These services will address a wide range of digitalization needs, from mainstream technologies and AI capacities to specialized technologies, delivered seamlessly and accessibly. The EDIHs will complement existing regional and national initiatives, collaborate with EU AI Innovation infrastructures, and serve as central points for companies and the public sector, guiding them through their digital journey and connecting them with relevant AI innovation infrastructures. The call aims to consolidate a balanced network of EDIHs across Europe, ensuring broad regional coverage, addressing the needs of both public and private sectors across all economic sectors, fostering cross-regional collaboration, and offering a wide range of digitalization services. EDIHs will conduct Digital Maturity Assessments for their clients using tools provided by the Commission and DTA, delivering services that lead to greater digitalization and AI adoption.

The objective of this call is to strengthen the EDIH network to meet local, regional, national, and European digitalization needs. EDIHs will continue to provide a complete set of services, including necessary infrastructure, focusing on specific areas and covering the digital transformation needs of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations. A reinforced focus will be placed on the transformative potential of AI technologies. The consolidation of the EDIH network is expected to support the deployment and uptake of European AI technologies, solutions, and tools, as well as other crucial digital technologies, while upholding Union values and a human-centric perspective. The network will also harness green digital technologies to advance Europe’s climate and environmental goals, enhance industrial resilience, and boost strategic autonomy. The EDIH network will help bridge technology gaps and support competitiveness and economic convergence, especially with its enhanced presence in countries associated with Digital Europe.

Each EDIH will provide services based on specific expertise, supporting the digital transformation of the local private and public sectors, with a particular emphasis on the development, training, deployment, and uptake of European AI. This specialization should leverage existing local competencies. The EDIH network will promote and facilitate digital transformation through four types of services: testing before investing (access to technical expertise and experimentation facilities, especially for AI), training and skill development (upskilling and reskilling for AI adoption), support to identify and access financing sources, and fostering innovation ecosystems and networking opportunities. EDIHs are expected to provide all four types of services, with varying weights in their service portfolios. Services must be provided openly, transparently, and non-discriminatorily, targeting SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations conducting non-economic activities. EDIHs will act as access points to the broader European EDIH network, helping stakeholders find support from other EDIHs when needed. They will also support companies and public actors from other regions and countries and serve as contact points for AI innovation infrastructures like AI factories, AI-on-demand platforms, and TEFs. They will offer a first-line AI help desk, providing information on compliance with the AI Act and ensuring the adoption of strategic technologies for an AI-driven Europe. EDIHs will provide experimentation facilities and demonstrators related to their specializations, allowing SMEs, mid-caps, and the public sector to test technologies, assess their environmental impact, and evaluate their feasibility before investment. They will also provide access to finance services, including information on public and private funding sources and investors.

The admissibility conditions include proposal page limits and layout, which are described in section 5 of the call document and Part B of the Application Form in the Submission System. Eligible countries are described in section 6 of the call document, along with other eligible conditions. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion criteria are detailed in section 7 of the call document. The submission and evaluation processes are described in section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual. Award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are outlined in section 9 of the call document. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is in section 4 of the call document. The legal and financial setup of the grants is described in section 10 of the call document.

The call document and annexes include the call document itself, application form templates (with the standard DEP application form available in the Submission System), model grant agreements (MGA) including the DEP MGA, and additional documents such as DEP Work Programmes, DEP Regulation 2021/964, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, guidance on ethics self-assessment, classification of information in Digital Europe projects, rules for legal entity validation, LEAR appointment and financial capacity assessment, the EU Grants AGA (Annotated Model Grant Agreement), the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, the Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget overview indicates a budget of 32,400,000 EUR for the year 2027 and 46,800,000 EUR for the year 2026. The call follows a single-stage submission process. The opening date is November 4, 2025, and the deadline is March 3, 2026. The indicative number of grants to be awarded is 51.

Partner search announcements are available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests on the Funding & Tenders Portal. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated in the topic header. For help, applicants can contact CNECT-DIH@ec.europa.eu. Additional resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, the IT Helpdesk, and the Online Manual.

In summary, this call aims to consolidate and strengthen the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, with a particular focus on AI, to support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations across Europe. It provides funding and resources for EDIHs to offer a range of services, including testing, training, access to finance, and networking, to help these organizations adopt digital technologies and AI solutions. The call emphasizes collaboration, regional coverage, and alignment with European values and environmental goals.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicants are European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). These EDIHs are expected to support the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations.

Funding Type: The funding type is a DIGITAL Simple Grant, specifically a DIGITAL Action Grant Budget-Based.

Consortium Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required. However, given the nature of EDIHs and their role in coordinating various services, it is likely that a consortium or a network of partners is necessary to deliver the required services.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes regions within the European Union and Associated Countries. The call specifically mentions EDIHs aiming to cover all regions of the European Union and Associated Countries.

Target Sector: The target sector is broad, encompassing the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations across all economic sectors. There is a particular focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, green digital technologies, and the broader uptake of digital technologies.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity targets regions within the European Union and Associated Countries.

Project Stage: The project stage is consolidation and strengthening of existing EDIHs. The call aims to build upon the increased experience and capacities of existing EDIHs.

Funding Amount: The total budget is divided into 32,400,000 EUR for 2027 and 46,800,000 EUR for 2026. The indicative number of grants is 51.

Application Type: The application type is a single-stage open call.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rate cannot be determined from the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) aimed at consolidating the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). The call, titled "EDIH AI Continent (DIGITAL-2026-EDIH-EU-EEA-09)", seeks to strengthen the performance and capacity of EDIHs to meet local, regional, national, and European digitalisation needs. The primary focus is on supporting the digital transformation of SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations within the European Union and Associated Countries, with a reinforced emphasis on the development, training, deployment, and uptake of European AI technologies.

The selected EDIHs are expected to provide four core types of services: (1) Test before invest, offering access to technical expertise and experimentation facilities, particularly for AI-related services; (2) Training and skill development, providing training sessions for upskilling and reskilling the workforce in digital and AI technologies; (3) Support to identify and facilitate access to potential financing sources for digital transformation; and (4) Fostering an innovation ecosystem and networking opportunities.

Each EDIH will act as an access point to the broader European network of EDIHs, ensuring that stakeholders receive the necessary support, regardless of where it is available in Europe. They will also serve as contact points for AI innovation infrastructures, offering a first-line AI help desk to businesses and public sector organizations, including information on compliance with the AI Act.

The call has a total budget of 32,400,000 EUR for 2027 and 46,800,000 EUR for 2026, with an indicative number of 51 grants to be awarded. The application process is a single-stage process, with the planned opening date for submissions on November 4, 2025, and a deadline of March 3, 2026.

In essence, this call is designed to enhance the existing EDIH network, ensuring that SMEs, mid-caps, and public sector organizations across Europe have access to the resources and expertise needed to successfully navigate their digital transformation journeys, with a particular emphasis on AI adoption and green digital technologies.