Background information

The digitalisation of society and industry poses challenges and creates opportunities for the industrial sector, which will have to adapt its processes, products and business models. Meeting these challenges successfully will generate a new industrial model in which innovation is collaborative.

In order to increase industrial added value and skilled employment in the industrial sector, and to promote the industrial model of the future in Spanish industry, the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs has been designing a series of support programmes for industrial companies in order to face their digital transformation with more guarantees.

Companies that (will) develop productive industrial activity within the NACE activities framed in Section C (10 to 32) are eligible to take part in these programmes.

Content of measure

The Spanish government strategy ‘Industria Connectada 4.0' (Connected Industry 4.0) responds to a triple objective:

• Increasing industrial added value and skilled employment in the industrial sector.
• Promoting the future industrial model for the Spanish industry, in order to develop the next industrial sectors of the Spanish economy and increase its growth potential, while increasing the local offer of digital solutions.
• Developing differential competitive levers to enhance Spanish industry and boost its exports.

In order to achieve these objectives, the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs has been designing a series of support programmes for industrial companies in order to face their digital transformation with more guarantees:

*HADA: The Advanced Digital Self-Diagnosis Tool (HADA) designed by the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs, is an online application that, through a questionnaire, allows companies to obtain an assessment of their state of digital maturity.

*ACTIVA Industry 4.0: This is a specialised and personalised consultancy programme, carried out by accredited consultants with experience in the implementation of Industry 4.0 projects, using the methodology developed by the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs. This programme provides companies with a situation diagnosis and a transformation plan.

*ACTIVA Financing: This action pursues the support of projects that promote the digital transformation of industrial companies while contributing to the improvement of their environmental sustainability as a consequence of this digitalisation. With regard to the instruments and characteristics of the aid, the support is in the form of a mixed loan and grant format. The total financing to be granted, nominal loan plus grant, will be a maximum of 80% of the bankable budget.

*ACTIVA Startups: This programme supports collaboration between emerging companies/startups and consolidated companies with innovation potential. Its aim is to promote innovation and the growth of new generation companies, through the development of collaborative environments and boosting their digitisation. This initiative is articulated through calls for proposals that may include two types of aid. On the one hand, financial aid to enable companies to meet the costs arising from the innovation process. On the other hand, aid in kind, consisting of an accompanying programme for the beneficiary companies, with individualised advice and specific training on key aspects to address the proposed objective.

*ACTIVA Cybersecurity: This is a specialised and personalised consultancy programme, carried out by specialised consultancy firms with experience in the implementation of cybersecurity projects, using the methodology developed by the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs. The main objective of this programme is to offer an analysis of the current situation of the company in terms of cybersecurity in order to know its level of security and the preparation of a specific Cybersecurity Plan for the company with a personalised design of actions to improve cybersecurity.

*ACTIVA Growth: is a specialised and personalised consultancy programme, carried out by accredited consultancy firms with experience in the implementation of industrial growth projects, using the methodology developed by the General Secretariat for Industry and SMEs. This programme provides companies with a situation diagnosis and a Growth Plan focused on one of the six areas of potential growth of the company: innovation, human resources, operations, digitalisation, marketing and commercialisation and finance.

*Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH): This programme is aimed at SMEs wishing to innovate through the implementation of digital technologies. Funding is available for Spanish SMEs to obtain the following services: i) Initial advice for the implementation of technologies (maximum amount €10,000); ii) Testing and experimentation, including technology proof of concept (maximum amount €20. 20,000); iii) Training for the acquisition of basic skills for the implementation and subsequent management of the technology (maximum amount of €5,000); iv) Advice on finding funding for the implementation of the technology (maximum amount of €5,000); v) Support for access to innovation networks and ecosystems (maximum amount of €5,000). In total, the maximum equivalent amount of services received by the SME is €30,000.

Use of measure

In November 2023, the Spanish government earmarked €9.63 million to boost SME cybersecurity, with the Activa Ciberseguridad programme. The government estimated that this aid would impact up to 4,500 small and medium-sized enterprises nationwide.

In July 2023, the Spanish government announced the call for the granting of aid to industrial SMEs within the ‘Programa Activa Industria 4.0’. The budget of the call was €24.4 million to help more than 3,300 industrial SMEs throughout the national territory. The individualised amount of aid in kind, understood as the gross grant equivalent, will be €7,400 per beneficiary company.

In July 2022, the Spanish Government announced that the annual call for applications for the ‘Activa Financiación’ initiative has received 129 applications from a total of 116 companies, for an amount of €64 million.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Local / regional government	Employer National funds Regional funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Informed
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The Connected Industry 4.0 initiative involves the participation of a large number of actors to ensure its success: research centres, technology parks, industry, clusters, social agents, public administration and other public bodies. The Connected Industry 4.0 strategy involves the implementation of different lines of action, under a predefined governance model determined by the Public Administration. Social agents can form part of this governance system. Specifically, most of the governance bodies include a representation of the main agents involved: central and local public bodies, industrial and technological companies and associations, research and teaching centres, social agents, and all those experts in the development of Industry 4.0 from the business world, the Public Administrations or the scientific and university spheres.

There is no information available on the specific social partner organisations that have expressed views and/or have been involved.

Views and reactions

Broadly speaking, although the social partners generally see the Industry 4.0 revolution as an opportunity, some trade unions have some fears. From the trade union side, in general, there is some fear that robots will replace people and reduce employment. Machines can achieve a drastic reduction in costs, with higher productivity; this leap could generate a great social divide, with more inequality and injustice, but also a new renaissance for humanity, with an intelligent distribution of work and the liberation of long working hours.

No particular views from employers’ organisations side have been identfied.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 01 January 2018: Blanco Diaz, R. (2018), 'Industria Conectada 4.0: un nuevo impulso'. Calidad: Revista mensual de la Asociación Española para la Calidad, Vol. 2, 2018 (dialnet.unirioja.es)
• 28 October 2022: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (2020), 'Industria Conectada 4.0', web page (www.industriaconectada40.gob.es)
• 28 October 2022: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (undated), 'HADA - Herramienta de Autodiagnóstico Digital Avanzada', web page (hada.industriaconectada40.gob.es)
• 28 October 2022: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism (undated), ACTIVA Industria 4.0, web page (www.industriaconectada40.gob.es)
• 28 October 2022: Escuela de Organización Industrial (2019), 'Programa Activa Industria 4.0. Convocatoria 2019', web page (www.eoi.es)