EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul: Nine entrepreneurs from the south of the country participated in the Digital Upgrade programme to develop their digital skills and learn more about innovations in business development

Nine entrepreneurs from the south of the country, who have businesses in agriculture and the food industry, participated in the Digital Upgrade programme to learn how they can transform their businesses with the help of innovations. At the end, the programme provided SME representatives with knowledge and information that will enable them to acquire, generate and disseminate technological and digital solutions related to process automation, sales, marketing, etc.

Thanks to the Digital Upgrade training sessions, entrepreneurs have already started implementing various work tools and applications.

“In order to keep our businesses afloat, it is necessary to keep up with modern technologies. We, today’s entrepreneurs, are lucky to be able to attend free training courses with valuable mentors. These opportunities to learn and obtain new information take us out of the daily operational routine in which we are caught and help us see our business from a different perspective, help us find viable solutions for current challenges and find opportunities for development. As an entrepreneur, I am amazed how much effort is made by the organizers to inform and support us. I hope there will be as many entrepreneurs as possible who will benefit from these opportunities and who will be brave enough and determined to participate in the proposed projects and implement the knowledge gained in their companies” says Natalia Arman-Matas, entrepreneur from the Cahul town.

The participants showed a particular interest in process automation solutions, as they allow them to save time and money, but also to increase the productivity index.

For some entrepreneurs, digitisation platforms were a real novelty, and for others – it appeared the need to raise the level of digitisation of employees. At the same time, Digital Upgrade focused on the importance of social networks as a tool to promote and increase sales.

At the same time, representatives of SMEs from the south of the country were helped to create business development strategies and had information sessions provided by experts in the field.

“There are many useful things that I learned during the tracking sessions. I definitely recommend such sessions, especially to those who are really determined to learn something new“, says Veaceslav Burlacu, beneficiary of the Digital Upgrade programme.

The totalisation of the results of the Digital Upgrade programme took place in Cahul, aiming to identify the needs of entrepreneurs.

Together with the participants of Digital Upgrade, the event was attended by Liliana Ceclu, the dean of the Faculty of Economics, Engineering and Applied Sciences of the “Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu” Cahul State University, who highlighted the role of the institution in supporting entrepreneurs, through counselling, offering the workforce, and creation of intelligent software for process automation.

“The universities of the Republic of Moldova are one of the important elements of the triangle of knowledge: education, research, innovation. This is a priority in the process of forming the current society, which allows the development of entrepreneurial teaching-learning and perfectly combines education with research-development-innovation, contributing to the development of a sustainable economy“, says Liliana Ceclu.

The Digital Upgrade programme was carried out within EU4Moldova: Startup City Cahul, a project implemented by ATIC and financed by the European Union in partnership with Sweden.

The programme aimed to provide a framework for learning and exchange of experience that would contribute to the development of human capital by strengthening the capacities of SMEs in the Cahul region, to stimulate the demand for innovative digital products and services in the region, as well as to encourage SME owners and managers to initiate digitisation programmes by attracting investments and grants offered for this purpose.