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Gartner Reports

"Digital Now" (Digital Jetzt) is the new federal funding programme, promoting the digitalisation of SMEs

The "Digital Now" funding programme was launched by the federal government as investment support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make it easier for SMEs to implement digitalisation. As the successor to the "Go Digital" funding programme, which stopped accepting new applications on 1 June 2021, the new "Digital Now - Investment Support for SMEs" ("Digital Jetzt - Investitionsförderung für KMU") funding programme provides grants for investment in small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as grants to traders and professionals.

The grants are specifically earmarked for investments in digital technologies and in digital qualifications for employees. The programme is designed to support SMEs and traders with digital transformation. The objective is to support greater investment by SMEs in digital technologies and employee qualifications, using digital business models to improve opportunities on the market and to strengthen the innovative capacity of employees within companies, improving digital business processes and IT security.

The funding modules at a glance

  • The "Investment in digital technologies" module promotes investments in digital technologies and related processes and changes in companies.
  • Digital technologies include in particular hardware and software for internal and external networking, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud applications, big data, sensor technology, 3D printing, IT security and data protection.
  • The "Investment in the qualification of employees" module is aimed at supporting companies with training for their employees to use digital technologies and thereby raising awareness of the opportunities offered by digitalisation.
  • Eligible qualification measures include development and implementation of a digital strategy at the company, as well as IT security and data protection, but also digital working and basic skills generally that are in demand. 

What conditions must your company meet?

Who can apply for the grant:

SMEs from all sectors, including traders and professionals, can apply for funding, provided they have at least 3 to 499 employees and are planning digitalisation projects such as software and hardware investment or employee qualifications.
When applying for funding, the company must submit a digitalisation plan explaining the entire digitalisation project, the nature and quantity of qualifications, the current status of digitalisation at the company and the goals to be achieved with the investment. The company must be able to prove that the funds have been used. The project must not have started at the time of funding approval and must be implemented within twelve months of approval. The company must also have a permanent establishment or branch in Germany, where the investment is made.

Good to know:

The funding is a grant that does not have to be repaid. Companies have a maximum of 12 months to implement their funded digitalisation project. The grant is paid out after passing a check on the use made of the funds. The funding is scheduled to run up to and including 2023.

For more information, please see the official webpage for the funding programme: www.bmwi.de