Small and medium-sized companies make up 99 per cent of the number of companies in Norway and account for almost half of the economic activity. These companies are very important for employment and settlement throughout the country, and especially in rural areas. At the same time, globalization, digitalisation, automation, etc. represents a continuous need to uphold and strengthen competitiveness. If Norway is also to succeed in a transition to a greener, smarter and more innovative business sector, it is crucial that these companies take part in and are a driving force for such a development.
We see that many companies have a lack of experience and scarce resources when it comes to green transition processes. This often stops them from to further develop their ideas and concretizing needs together with professionals. The key to achieving this is that a strong and lasting relationship is established between Norwegian small and medium-sized companies and the R&D sector.
The overall goal of the project is to help small and medium-sized companies in Central Norway to digitize, automate and become more sustainable. In collaboration with Sparebank1 SMN, we help companies to realize or develop an idea that can, for example, reduce costs, create new products, streamline production or open up completely new business models. The initiative offers financial support from the bank's "Samfunnsutbytte" in combination with expert expertise from SINTEF.
For more information about the scheme, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_uTTn-eJAA&t=1s
https://www.sparebank1.no/nb/smn/om-oss/samfunnsutbytte/stotte-til-gronn-omstilling.html