Based on the European Digital Compass, the digital compass of Tampere region defines an agenda for a decade with measurable strategic goals in four key areas: 1) Increasing the population digital skills and the number of digital professionals, 2) secure, efficient, and sustainable digital infrastructure, 3) digitalisation of companies and 4) digitalisation of public services. The initial development phase was completed in spring 2022. The work was coordinated by the Council of Tampere Region with close cooperation with a large group of stakeholders including Business Tampere. The digital compass roadmap provides a set of activities and responsible organisations for the next 4-5 years and sets targets for the work on a regional level. The learnings from embrAIsme Tampere will contribute to the further development of focus are 2) developing the digitalisation of companies (SMEs) with a special focus on fostering AI-driven capabilities, business potential and new innovative technological solutions and services in SMEs. During the forthcoming 3 to 7 years, the primary focus will be on enhancing the digital capabilities of local SMEs, augmenting their capacities, and mobilising them to generate value and business opportunities through data and artificial intelligence (AI). Considering the longer-term perspective, spanning over the next decade, the overarching objective is to establish mechanisms that underpin systemic change driven by digital technologies.

In the Madeira Regional Programme 2021-2027, IDE IP-RAM will target Priority 1 A (Madeira + Intelligent and Competitive: Knowledge and Innovation), S.O. 1.2 (Take advantage of digitisation for citizens, companies, research entities and public authorities). In this programme, investments are directed towards companies in an approach that guarantees the cross-training of the regional business fabric for the new challenges of digitalisation, namely through the integration of digital technologies in companies that promotes digital skills, allows efficiency gains, reaches new markets/market segments, and optimises production processes and workflows. The mobilisation of this Specific Objective aims to create the necessary conditions to accelerate the orientation of the business fabric, in particular SMEs towards the digital transition, accelerating the spread of good practices, the awareness of entrepreneurs and the training of companies for the incorporation of new digital technologies in production processes and products. Among the typologies of actions supporting digitisation in companies, it is worth mentioning the adaptation of business models through the use of ICT, the sharing of knowledge around i4.0, platforms for electronic commerce or business that implement hybrid models, and the increased use of digital technologies from modelling and simulation of products and processes to AI passing through flexible robotics in addition to alterations in almost all company processes.

The National programme promotes the uptake of AI across the society and economy based on the concept of innovation cycle. It identifies ten goals, ranging from setting up a dynamic ecosystem for research, innovation, and deployment of AI, to strengthening international cooperation. Measures include maintaining the skills to build human capacity and preparing for labour market transformation. The national programme covers three dimensions related to capacity building:
1. Providing knowledge that is needed for the research and development of AI.
2. Providing knowledge that is required to use AI in the workplace.
3. Providing understanding and awareness of AI services and products for everyone, including lifelong learning.
In 2023 and 2024, we will implement two measures related to education. First, we will support a programme for digital education and literacy of the widest population to increase digital literacy, including AI-literacy. Second, we will support a digital education programme for children in elementary and high school and university students to learn about the development, applications, and use of AI. These programmes will run until 2025, when we will review them and prepare new ones for the following years. In 2024, we will also prepare the National program for AI after 2025. In this context, we will need to expand the measures to improve capacity building and education. In addition to that, the EDIHs in Slovenia will assist SMEs in using AI.

The main goals of the Programme IfJG ERDF/JTF 2021-27 are to enable sustainable growth and contribute to the decoupling of growth and resource consumption in the economy as well as to sustainably strengthen the competitiveness of Austria and its regions and create employment.
Digitalisation, which includes the uptake of artificial intelligence and smart data, is an integral topic within this policy instrument, especially addressed within priority axis 1 (innovation), priority 1.3 (increasing the sustainable growth and competitiveness of SMEs and creating jobs in SMEs), measure 2 (promoting innovative and productive investments in companies). The measure is intended to help Austrian companies introduce state-of-the-art digital technologies and thus eliminate the deficit with regard to the integration of digital technologies.

The programme aims at achieving smart and sustainable growth of the Bulgarian economy as well as the implementation of industrial and digital transformation. The support envisaged is aimed at helping overcome the identified challenges and problems concerning the development of Bulgaria by addressing the relevant needs according to the goals and priorities laid down in the strategic documents of national level. As an instrument for the implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2021-2027, the programme will contribute to achieving the following policy objectives (P.O.) set at European level:
P.O.1: "A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smarter economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity" through the following specific objectives:
- Specific objective (i) development and strengthening of research and innovation capacity and introduction of modern technologies
- Specific objective (ii) reaping the benefits of digitalisation for citizens, companies, research organisations and public authorities
- Specific objective (iii) promoting sustainable growth and competitiveness of SMEs and job creation, including through productive investment
The support needed for the implementation of AI technologies in business is only mentioned in the list of Investment needs - market failures, identified needs and activities aimed at addressing the needs in relation to Policy Objective P.O.1.

Launched by Aragon Region in October 2022, EAIA aims to establish the conditions at regional level that will enhance the adoption of AI by the regional ecosystem by analysing and improving the mechanisms strengthening the ties between researchers, developers, and application sectors. An AI regional ecosystem will be developed to face challenges in areas such as political science, economics, sustainability, and urban studies.
Furthermore, EAIA aims to promote:
- Initiatives interested in capitalising on the potential of AI to strengthen industry and the regional economy, and also to develop new employment niches and new skills.
- Interest in reflecting on the future and necessary Human-Machine interaction, and the governance models of AI that will help to shape the future.
ITAINNOVA, as regional public body in charge of different innovation and tech. policies, was the leader and coordinator of the development of this key regional government strategy. It was supported by Aragon EDIH, which is one of the 12 Spanish EDIHs selected by European Commission to be part of the EU network of EDIHs, and we just launched our activity as EDIH in January 2023 (3 years funded project under the DIGITAL programme). Thus, we have both the policy instrument (EAIA) and the tools (Aragon EDIH actions, ITAINNOVA Strategic Innovation Dept. activities) to coordinate the EAIA implementation over the regional innovation ecosystem.

The West Regional Enterprise Plan (REP) is developed by regional stakeholders and focuses on undertaking collaborative initiatives that can help realise enterprise growth and job creation in each of the nine regions across Ireland. They are an important part of the Programme for Government commitment to achieving more balanced regional enterprise development.
The West REP to 2028 will:
- complement and translate national enterprise policy in a regional context
- facilitate collaboration regionally to address prioritised ecosystem gaps and opportunities, and help achieve targets in each region
- use collective insight and resources, and available regional funding, to progress initiatives to enable enterprise growth and job creation.
Led by the WDC, in conjunction with a Regional Steering Committee, one of the Strategic Objectives the West Regional Enterprise Plan to 2028 is going to build on is to ‘Facilitate an equitable digital and green transformation in the West’ which includes an increase the uptake of the advanced digital technologies in SMEs – specifically under Policy Action 7.1: ‘Leverage the European (…) ecosystem to progress adaptation of the artificial intelligence (…) technologies by the industry and public sector’. This is particularly relevant in the West region of Ireland that, as region in transition, lags the other more developed regions of Ireland and indeed of Europe.