CDR EUROPE

Corporate Digital Responsibility in Europe

Duration: 1. phase 1.3.2023–1.3.2026 and 2. phase 1.3.2026–1.3.2027
Project webpage
Lead Partner: Arezzo Innovation, Italy
Partners:
- Regional Government of Tuscany (Italy)
- Prime Minister’s Office (Hungary)
- Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (Romania)
- Catalan Cybersecurity Agency (Spain)
- Cap Digital (France)
- Cork County Council ( Ireland)
- Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia (Finland)
Funding programme: Interreg Europe 2021-2027
Total budget: 1.92 million euros
Regional Stakeholder Group:
- Into Seinäjoki
- Leader Aisapari
- Leader Kuudestaan
- Leader Liiveri
- Leader Suupohja
- Sedu Vocational School
- Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences
- South Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment
- South Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce

The Project in Short:

The project describes and transfers good practices on Corporate Digital Responsibility among European partners. In the project, information related to CDR is also distributed and surveys are carried out to companies in the regions regarding the level of expertise in the subject.

CDR EUROPE encourages companies to consider social, economic, technological and environmental aspects in the production and use of digital technologies and processes, including:

Their relationship with people and society: privacy protection, digital diversity/inclusion and socially ethical practices;
Responsible management of economic impacts: replacing human jobs with digital technology, creating new digital jobs, sharing the economic benefits of digitalization with society.
Responsible Technology Creation: Artificial Intelligence Algorithms, Harmless Digital Technologies, Cyber Security and Responsible Data Validation.
Digital technologies and the environment: responsible disposal and recycling practices, extending the life cycle of technology and limiting energy consumption.

Good Practices

Interreg Europe projects produce good practices as part of improving regional development strategies and enhancing policy measures. The sharing and application of these practices across different regions enable the dissemination of innovative and effective solutions beyond borders.

From the region of South Ostrobothnia, the following has been selected as a good practice for the CDR EUROPE project:

DigiNet Project: The Digitalizing Business Networks (DigiNet) project is a joint initiative of the University of Vaasa and Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), implemented from 2023 to 2025. The project aims to promote the digitalization of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies and their networks in the South Ostrobothnia region. DigiNet is co-funded by the European Union.
- The project’s key objectives:
  - Increase awareness of the opportunities that digitalization offers for developing business processes in SMEs.
  - Provide concrete support for the digitalization of business networks, which can enhance efficiency and improve competitiveness.
  - Design and develop tools and platforms to support operational development.
- As part of the project, a free DigiNet test has been developed to help manufacturing companies assess the digitalization status of their networks, receive feedback, and identify clear areas for improvement. Completing the test takes approximately 10–15 minutes, and it allows companies to compare their situation with other respondents.

Project meetings

19-21 November Barcelona, Spain. The theme of the project meeting was the development of information security as part of responsible digitalization.

2-4 April 2024 Cork, Ireland. Project meeting in the beautiful Irish countryside in the framework of the CDR EUROPE project.

Project Partners meeting at Seinäjoki in October 2023

The representatives from the partners at the Project’s kick-off meeting on Arezzo, Italy, 4.5.2023.

Project news

Here you can find the International CDR Manifesto
CDR EUROPE project podcast
Project Youtube-channel
07/23: CDR Europe project visiting CDR Manifesto podcast.
10/23: 2nd CDR EUROPE Project Meeting hosted in South Ostrobothnia
11/23: Article about the latest project partner meeting at Seinäjoki, published in the “Greetings from South Ostrobothnia” -newsletter

Documents produced by the project

Here you can find summaries of the documents produced by the project. You can request the full document from us by email.

Interregional SWOT analysis
- The CDR EUROPE interregional SWOT analysis has compared the identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in adopting Corporate Digital Responsibility in the seven project regions.
- The aim of the SWOT analysis at regional level was to help partners understand their own starting points, and the interregional analysis aims to identify where the regions have similarities and differences.
  - Key strengths: progressively increasing awareness of cyber security and a focus on sustainability and reducing energy consumption.
  - Key weaknesses: lack of awareness of CDR and its different components, lack of indicators measuring the effectiveness of clean energy transition, lack of concrete measures on cybersecurity.
  - Key opportunities: EU level regulation, increased educational opportunities and growing attention to cybersecurity.
  - Key threats: lack of interest for CDR, misuse of AI, lack of transparency, international challenges.
Analysis of the Interregional SME Survey – Challenges of implementing CDR in SMEs in each partner region.