Red SAT: Driving the digital transformation of Asturias

Adopting new technologies in companies requires careful planning and a choice of solutions tailored to the real needs of each business; hasty or unsuitable adoption can generate resistance to ICT instead of boosting competitiveness. The SAT Network responded to this need by offering close, sustained technology support, delivered through a network of physical centers spread across Asturias.

The project's objectives were to:

• Identify the real digitization needs of Asturian SMEs and support them in their digital transformation.
• Offer personalized diagnosis, advice, and technology support for the efficient adoption of ICT solutions in business processes.
• Give the project a strong territorial component, serving as an instrument for other economic development programs of the regional government that required a presence across the territory.
• From 2018, align its activity with the Principality's Industry 4.0 policy and with smart tourism.

The SAT Network was structured around the following areas:

• Digital maturity diagnosis: analysis of the degree to which ICT is used and leveraged in different business areas (infrastructure, internal management, knowledge management, promotion, and security), using a CTIC-developed model with four levels of digital maturity (emerging, consolidated, competitive, and strategic).
• Individualized advice and support: personalized help in choosing and implementing the technology tools and services best suited to each company.
• Innovation support: awareness-raising, outreach, and training activities to encourage the adoption and consolidation of formal or informal innovation processes in the companies served.

IDEPA promoted and funded the SAT Network, with CTIC acting as the technical office in charge of managing the network and directly delivering its services, in collaboration with business centers and other business stakeholders in the territory. Over its history, the network came to serve more than 2,000 SMEs each year, supporting more than 10,000 companies since its launch.