DIH-World aims to accelerate the uptake of advanced digital technologies by European manufacturing SMEs in all sectors and support them in building sustainable competitive advantages and reaching global markets strengthening the capacities of regional DIHs, particularly in underrepresented regions across Europe. As intermediaries of successful local SME digital transformation, DIH World, aims at providing DIHs, access to harmonised tools, well proven technologies, effective methodologies, sound knowledge, smart investment sources, rich training assets and overall a vibrant innovation environment. The final aim is to accelerate the matureness of DIHs and the development of their collaboration capabilities, and avoid a DIH divide due to lack of access to technologies, skills, networks, investment and infrastructures with special emphasis in underrepresented regions; so they can capitalise and leverage on the European DIHs Networks their resources and facilities for the benefit of their local SMEs. This will be achieved thanks to the: DIH-World platform, that will provide a full coverage of the services needed by the DIHs and the SMEs willing to identify the right DIH for them, the DIH-Academy that will provide the tools to train DIHs and bring them to the next level, Open calls for experiments, that will provide sufficient technological support to SMEs and midcaps. As well as with a broad geographical coverage, with more than 26 countries to be covered in Europe including specific activities to involve regional and national actors in the DIH network.

The core of the project is focused on proposing sustainable processes from both an environmental and an economical point of view, being involved into the concept of circular economy. It is designed using an integrated biorefinery concept, which ensures a comprehensive use of material and energetic resources, while food residues are valorized, reusing valuable components at the farm and at industrial level. Innovative solutions to waste streams in the wine and fruit juice industries are looked for in this project, extracting medium to high-added value mixtures that are or can be used as ingredients, chemicals and additives in the food; chemical and cosmetic industries; or as plant immune-system elicitors in green-houses and farms, reducing the need for agrochemicals. Processes to value-added products from wastes are physical, chemical, physicochemical, enzymatic and microbiologic, and products will be tested for their antioxidant and plant immune system elicitor capacity, this latter at lab, pilot-plant and field scales. Therefore, the proposed strategies will reduce waste treatment costs, while improving economics at the food industry and farm levels. The consortium is well balanced considering the complementary scientific and economic background, expertise and capabilities (fundamental and applied research, laboratory, demonstration and production capacities, and public/industrial participation) of the partners to successfully address the ambitious project objectives. It is formed by eight partners from four European countries and comprises two universities (Complutense University of Madrid –Spain- and Université de Picardie Jules Verne –France-), two public research institutions (National Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology -Spain- and Paper and Fiber Research Institute –Norway-) and four SMEs (ASA Spezialenzyme –Germany-, ELYS Conseil SASU –France-, Plant Response , and Pago de Carraovejas –Spain-).