2 June 10:00 - 12:00 CEST | Online

Digitisation of European SMEs - Challenges & Opportunities

The first episode of this series will look specifically at the digitisation of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, many do not grasp the benefits of digitisation. The EU’s Digital Compass includes the ambitious target to reach over 90% of European SMEs with at least a basic level of digital intensity by 2030, up from 60% in 2020. This is, therefore, not surprising that multiple Member States have prioritised SMEs digitisation in their respective NRRP.

While many Member States have already launched calls and have received pre-financing disbursements, the event will provide a platform for European SMEs to learn and exchange views with EU and national policymakers on the opportunity provided by RRF funds. It will also be an occasion to identify potential investment gaps related to the digitisation of SMEs in the EU and discuss how the RRF can help bridge those gaps.

Replays

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Welcome & Keynotes

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Panel discussion and Q&A

Agenda

10:00 – 10:05

Welcome Remarks

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Irena Bednarich
Vice President, International Government Relations, EMEA and APJ, HPE

10:05 – 10:35

Keynote Speeches

Gilles Thiebaut

Gilles Thiebaut
SVP and Managing Director, Northern Western Europe, HPE

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Carme Artigas

* via video message

Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence, Government of Spain

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Petr Očko
Deputy Minister for Digitisation and Innovation, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

10:35 – 11:30

Panel Discussion

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Moderated by: Irena Bednarich
Vice President, International Government Relations, EMEA and APJ, HPE

Antti Rivarii

Antti Riivari
Director-General, Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)

Heidi Cigan

Heidi Cigan
Senior Policy Officer “Digitalisation of Business”, DG CONNECT, European Commission

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Maciek Szcześniak
Vice President & General Manager, SMB and Mid-market, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Luc Hendrickx

Luc Hendrickx
Director Enterprise Policy and External Relations, SMEunited

Sebastian Prat

Sebastian Prat
CEO & Founder, Flexxible IT

11:30 – 12:00

Audience Q&A

Speakers

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Florika Fink-Hooijer

Director General, DG Environment

European Commission

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Brian Tippens

VP and Chief Sustainability Officer

HPE

josefine

Josefine Hintz

Officer
Sustainable Economy and Procurement

ICLEI

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David Peck

Associate Professor, Climate Design & Sustainability, Circular Built Environment and Critical Materials

Delft University of Technology

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Gareth Bevan

Senior Technologist, Sustainable Transformation

HPE

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Moderator: Sonja van Renssen

Energy Monitor

New Statesman Group

Gilles Thiebaut

SVP and Managing Director
North-Western Europe

HPE

gustav kalbe

Gustav Kalbe

Deputy Director of Directorate C & Head of Unit, High Performance Computing and Quantum Technology

DG CNECT, European Commission

Utz Uwe Haus

Utz-Uwe Haus

Head of HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab

HPE

Kimmo Koski

Kimmo Koski

Managing Director

CSC - The Finnish IT Center for Science

Michael Resch

Prof. Dr. Michael Resch

Director of the HLRS

HPC Centre Stuttgart

Irena Bednarich

Moderator: Irena Bednarich

Director, Corporate Affairs, EMEA

HPE

Partners

Event Platform

This event will take place using Forum Europe’s virtual solutionFor more details on our virtual solution, please visit forum-europe.com.