Both the current challenges on the labor market in the regions of the project partners and the requirements in the value chains involved were taken into account. The participants agreed on the importance of digitization, which, as a cross-sectional technology, breaks traditional value chains and will play a more or less pronounced role in all industries in the future. As exemplary value chains, the project partners dedicated themselves in this workshop specifically to the fields of “wood & furniture”, “mechanical engineering” and “mechatronics, electronics & automation”.

In some countries in the Danube region, there is still a noticeable need for qualifications with regard to digitization, especially in regions that are characterized by typical production sectors. Mentoring programs and the qualification of experts in innovative areas such as engineering, automation and robotics – depending on the needs of the respective Danube region and its target groups – could provide support here.

At the end of the workshop, the participants presented their results in the plenary session. Prerequisites for the elaboration of the individual transformative projects were supra-regional cooperation, the exhaustion of common capacities and resources as well as the involvement of at least two SMEs from two countries per value chain.

14 partners and five associated strategic partners from the countries of the Danube region are involved in the EU project. The digital start-up initiative Upper Palatinate, in which R-Tech GmbH acts as lead partner, is represented as a project partner from Germany in addition to the Mechatronics & Automation cluster.