COM³ Support Model
Small businesses in rural areas are especially vulnerable to rapid technological changes and often face shortages in infrastructure and competencies. The COM³ support model helps you – as an intermediary – to empower local companies and create a rural digital ecosystem.
Discover the COM³ Model ➜
Our support model offers practical guidance and tips for municipalities, regions, and business support organisations seeking to assist rural SMEs. Based on the best practices and lessons learned from pilot regions involved in the COM³ project, the model provides a comprehensive framework for supporting local companies, covering key areas such as skill development and networking. While not every tip may be applicable in all contexts, the model offers a range of options to choose from, providing inspiration and guidance to intermediaries looking to help businesses in rural areas thrive in a digital world.
Our support model offers practical guidance and tips for municipalities, regions, and business support organisations seeking to assist rural SMEs. Based on the best practices and lessons learned from pilot regions involved in the COM³ project, the model provides a comprehensive framework for supporting local companies, covering key areas such as skill development and networking. While not every tip may be applicable in all contexts, the model offers a range of options to choose from, providing inspiration and guidance to intermediaries looking to help businesses in rural areas thrive in a digital world.
Where to start?
Digitally enalbled SMEs make rural areas more attractive places to live, work and invest in. To provide the best support possible, local and regional authorities, therefore, need to understand their wants, needs and challenges to foster a dynamic and welcoming digital ecosystem. But where to start? First of all, it is important to look at the context and make an internal inventory of the support structure in the region.
Get inspired
COM³ partners conducted surveys and in–depth interviews with key stakeholders to understand the needs of municipalities and assess existing support initiatives.
Get the skills
Try these training solutions to understand companies and their ecosystem.
Create connections
Small businesses in rural areas are often isolated and don’t have as many opportunities and meeting places to connect as companies in urban areas. Local and regional authoritites have the potential to reduce their isolation by acting as a connector.
Let the companies learn from each other, get inspired, improve and develop by sharing resources and experiences.
Get inspired
COM³ partners in Vinje or at the University of Stavanger create meeting arenas for companies to learn from each other
Get the skills
As intermediary, you have various tools to help companies connect (e.g., business networks, digital hubs, meeting arenas)
Leverage data
Data is a powerful resource not only to better understand regional companies, but also to leverage economic development in a whole region
Get inspired
COM³ partners not only learn how to identify and share relevant data with companies, they also promote open data as a source of product and service development
Get the skills
As intermediary, this is crucial that you learn how to share data and how to protect it
Improve skills and awareness
Small businesses in rural areas are espacially vulnerable to the rapid technological changes and they face shortages in competencies. Tailor-made coaching and training measures can helt them to thrive.
Get inspired
Get the skills
Try these training solutions to understand companies and their ecosystem
Guide your companies
Supporting SMEs, especially in rural areas, often requires going above and beyond to address their unique challenges and requirements.To overcome these challenges, municipalities, regions, and business support organisations must be creative and adaptable, offering a range of tools and support services to help rural SMEs succeed.
Get inspired
The COM³ partners in the various pilot regions tested innovative solutions to guide companies on their way to to digital transformation.
Get the skills
To design solutions, COM³ partners relied on different approaches such as design thinking methods or a triple helix model model.
Assess your impact
As municipalities, regions, or business support organisations, it is essential that you assess the impact of your support programs on rural SMEs. This allows you to determine whether your efforts are truly making a positive difference for these businesses. It also helps you identify areas for improvement in your support programs, enabling you to better serve the needs of local companies.
Additionally, by regularly assessing impact, you can gather valuable data and evidence to support future funding requests and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders. Ultimately, this approach ensures that your resources are being used effectively and efficiently to promote the growth and success of rural SMEs. This helps you to establish an improvement cycle.
Get inspired
COM³ partners conducted surveys and in–depth interviews with key stakeholders to understand the needs of municipalities and assess existing support initiatives. By the end of the project, they realised a new business survey to assess their impact
Get the skills
the COM³ Quick-Win Strategy gives you keys to assess the impact of business support measures on companies
