On 9 June 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the first calls for support for enterprise digitisation from the National Recovery Plan. Support in the form of subsidies for the purchase and implementation of advanced digital technologies is intended for businesses in Czech and foreign markets. Applications are being accepted from 16 June to 16 September 2022.
Call I Virtual Enterprise
The call is aimed at projects focusing on the investments or acquisition of new services in information and communication technologies - software and hardware. These investments must help bring about a significant progress in the digitisation of companies, e.g., support data automation and digitisation or a more efficient interconnection and management of company processes.
CZK 200 million is available for large enterprises, out of total funds for allocation of CZK 600 million. If there is an excess of good-quality projects, total funds may further be adjusted. The aid intensity for large enterprises is 20% of total eligible costs, throughout the entire Czech Republic. The maximum support amount per project is at least CZK 0.5 million, up to de minimis.
Call I Digital Enterprise
The call will support investments or the acquisition of new services in information and communication technologies. These investments must result in a fundamental change in the overall production process or an expansion of the capacity of an existing facility or an extension of the existing product range. Large enterprises will receive support only in the North-West, North-East, Central Moravia and Moravia-Silesia regions.
Planned funds for allocation are CZK 1.5 billion, with CZK 0.5 billion intended for large enterprises, but the overall allocation may further be adjusted. The aid intensity for large enterprises in the North-West region is 40% of total eligible costs, and 30% in the North-East, Central Moravia and Moravia-Silesia regions. Subsidies must amount to at least CZK 1 million and shall not exceed CZK 15 million per project.
Eligible costs
For both calls, eligible costs comprise costs incurred for tangible and intangible fixed assets, services, and other costs (e.g., software costs such as cloud services). At least 80% of total eligible costs must be expenditure falling under the category of advanced technologies and services, while the remaining 20% of the costs may be expenditure on basic technologies and services.