How Germany’s capital city promotes digitization in companies

In an extremely unbureaucratic way, the federal state of Berlin provides financial support to companies in the form of the Digital Premium to promote digitization in companies.

The Digitalprämie Berlin with OMH is available to SMEs, i.e. small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as solo self-employed persons who carry out their main occupation in Berlin.

Digitization for sustainable competitiveness

The Digitalprämie Berlin is basically aimed at advancing the processes of digitalization. In many cases, solo self-employed and SMEs do not have the appropriate financial resources and established structures to master the entry into the digital transformation.

However, the funding provided by the state of Berlin is intended to help companies make major investments in innovative digital technologies, for example to realize the further development of existing business models or to optimize the security of IT structures.

The Digital Premium Berlin thus plays an extremely important role when it comes to increasing the future viability and competitiveness of companies based in Berlin.

What can the funding be used for?

The digital bonus consists of grants that must be used for specific digitization measures. The subsidies do not have to be repaid.

In SMEs, the topics of employee qualification, IT security and digitization are often put on the back burner because the financial resources for the necessary investments are simply not available. However, there are non-negligible competitive advantages to be gained by investing in digital business models.

Thus, the Digital Premium Berlin represents an extremely attractive financial incentive for solo self-employed persons and SMEs to focus more strongly on the digitization of their operating structures. In addition, there is a great deal of help in the funding program when it comes to professionally meeting the sometimes high demands associated with the digital transformation.

Specifically, the financial support can be claimed for the expansion of digital management, production and work processes, for example. For example, the grant can be used to purchase 3D printers, digital cash register systems, digital merchandise management systems or CAM systems.

In addition, companies benefit greatly from claiming the digital bonus if they use it to establish digital working time recording, a CRM system, digital payroll accounting or professional management information systems in their company.

The financial support can also be used to increase the level of security of IT structures. For example, investments can be made in penetration tests, digital site protection or ISMS. It should also be noted that consulting and training services are also eligible for support. For example, companies can have employees trained as data scientists or digital transformation managers and attend workshops on digital business models.

The amount of funding under the digital premium

SMEs and solo self-employed persons based in the German capital Berlin and employing no more than 249 people can take advantage of the grants under the digital premium to further digitize their business processes. The amount of the subsidy is up to 17,000 euros.

However, the amount of the subsidy in each individual case always depends on the size of the company. However, a maximum of 50 percent of the eligible costs are financed on a pro-rata basis. Applications for funding are generally only approved if the costs for material expenses exceed 2,000 euros. Another requirement is that the respective measure must be implemented within a period of six months.