About our project

Across North-West Europe, a gap is widening. While innovation hubs rapidly adopt AI, many SMEs in rural “hinterland” regions are being left behind. These smaller businesses, often the backbone of local economies, face a double challenge: AI is evolving fast, bringing new risks around security, compliance, and regulation, while at the same time offering major opportunities to improve competitiveness.

Yet today, fewer than 1% of SMEs are actively engaging with AI, despite a clear interest in its potential. At the same time, the EU AI Act is increasing pressure on SMEs to develop AI literacy and responsible use. Local Authorities are expected to support this transition, but their digitalisation strategies often lack a strong AI focus.

This is where Boost AI comes in.

Boost AI is designed to help smaller SMEs in hinterland regions build their AI capacity, while also strengthening how Local Authorities support SME digitalisation. The ambition is clear: to reduce regional digital and AI disparities across North-West Europe by making AI accessible, practical, and safe for smaller businesses.

The strength of Boost AI lies in its transnational collaboration. Three Research Institutes bring together complementary expertise—on SME-focused AI tools, legal and ethical frameworks, and future-oriented insights. Together with project partners, they co-develop practical solutions that can be used across regions.

At the core of the project are two key instruments:

• AI Toolkit, built around four toolsets: AI self-assessment, AI literacy planning, AI risk management, and AI competitiveness. 
• A structured training programme with four courses, designed to equip Business Support Organisations, Local Authorities, and SMEs with the knowledge and skills they need.

Through these tools and training, BSOs and Local Authorities will directly support 120 small SMEs (typically with 3 to 20 employees and under €15 million turnover) helping them become more resilient and confident in their use of AI.

But Boost AI goes beyond individual support. Partners will also co-develop a Strategy and Action Plan to ensure that results can be scaled and embedded long-term, enabling wider rollout through BSOs and Local Authorities.The project focuses on three sectors present across all regions( agrifood, hospitality, and small-scale manufacturing) where AI offers clear opportunities. This targeted approach helps reach SMEs that are often harder to engage, while ensuring that solutions remain transferable and adaptable across regions.

What makes Boost AI truly innovative is its clear focus on AI, its alignment with the EU AI Act, and its ability to make high-level AI expertise accessible to smaller businesses. In doing so, it directly addresses one of the key challenges facing Europe today: ensuring that no region is left behind in the transition to an AI-driven economy.