Digital Scaling for Social Enterprises: Empowering Impact and Innovation (DIGI SEII) is a three-year initiative that started on September 2, 2024. Funded by the EU under the SMP-COSME 2023-SEED program, this project is designed to equip social enterprises (SEs) and their support organizations (SESOs) with essential digital tools and skills to scale their operations and enhance their impact.
Empowering Social Enterprises Through Digitalization
About
Why Digitalization for Social Enterprises?
Digital transformation is reshaping the way businesses operate, innovate, and grow. For social enterprises, embracing digital tools is key to increasing efficiency, expanding reach, and fostering resilience. However, many SEs and SESOs struggle with limited digital skills, resources, and infrastructure. DIGI SEII directly addresses these challenges, ensuring that SEs leverage technology to thrive in the digital economy.
Our Approach
DIGI SEII offers a unique hybrid learning model that combines e-learning, face-to-face workshops, peer-exchange opportunities, mentorship, and networking activities. AI-powered skill assessments help create personalized learning pathways, ensuring that participants receive training tailored to their specific needs. Beyond knowledge-building, the project directly integrates digitalization into SEs’ scaling strategies. The “train-the-trainer” model ensures that SESOs can continue providing digitalization support long after the project’s conclusion, promoting long-term sustainability and impact.
Our Target Reach and KPIs
The DIGI SEII project is ambitious in its scope. Over the course of the project, we aim to:
➡ Deliver 45 local, national, or regional capacity-building activities.
➡ Train 260 individuals from social enterprises and SESOs.
➡ Provide direct financial support to 260 SEs.
➡ Facilitate 144 coaching, mentoring, and advisory sessions for both SEs and SESOs.
➡ Organize 12 transnational training activities during the project.
➡ Engage 50 social enterprises in a hackathon designed to foster digital innovation.
In addition to these quantitative targets, we aim to achieve a 20% increase in participants' understanding of key training topics and expect to see a 3% annual increase in the number of social enterprises reporting investment in digital tools to scale their operations.
Partners and European collaboration
DIGI SEII is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
DIGI SEII is led by the Euclid Network, in collaboration with underneath partners. These partners bring diverse expertise from various social enterprise ecosystems, creating a project with strong European and transnational significance.
Contribution to EU policies
The DIGI SEII project directly contributes to several EU policies, including the European Green Deal and the Transition Pathway for the Social Economy. By aligning with the EU’s priorities on digitalization and sustainability, the project will play a key role in supporting social enterprises as drivers of social innovation and economic resilience.