ABSTRACT
The concept of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) as policy initiatives is quite recent and was formally launched in the European Commission (EC) Communication on “Digitising European Industry” (European Commission, 2016a). In this communication, a DIH is defined as helping “companies in the region become more competitive by improving their business/production processes as well as products (and services) by means of digital technology”. DIHs are described as actors that also support the development of the surrounding innovation ecosystem (European Commission, 2017). The design of the DIH should be based on regional needs and existing capabilities, connecting it to S3: “every DIH will have its own specialisation, in line with the smart specialisation priorities of a region. Through the networking of DIHs, competences not available within the regional DIH may be found in another DIH” (European Commission, 2017).
