Unicredit and Microsoft join forces to support the growth of SMEs in the digital world. The target? Strengthen and speed up the digital transformation paths already started by numerous Italian companies, in line with the Government's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr). The two partners announced the start of the project in a press release Together4Digital, a plan – they explain – “structured to support and train businesses, providing them with skills, technology, tools for sustainable, digital and financial growth”. More specifically, the parties propose to support companies in their digital transformation plans with targeted interventions and specific tools at several levels: from the evaluation of the digital investment from a financial point of view, with analysis of returns for the company in terms of new cash flows generated, to the financial support of the same investment.
The plan also envisages an offer of training courses by the Unicredit Banking Academy carried out following assessments carried out by companies on an ad hoc platform of Var Group and a proposal for digital solutions tailored to the needs and characteristics of businesses to support their sustainable growth The Togheter4Digital project falls within the scope of the interventions envisaged by the National Transition 4.0 Plan for which they are intended 18 billion euros and which provides for tax and financial benefits to support investments in technologically advanced goods, research and training 4.0. In particular, tax credits of up to 50% are envisaged to support investments in tangible and intangible capital goods functional to the digital transition, tax credits of up to 50% to support investments in Training 4.0 and digital skills and other facilitations.
The new project is part of the broader action plan structured by Unicredit in support of the Pnrr and which has led the bank to create a task force capable of assisting businesses on the 6 missions of the Pnrr.
finally, the press release recalls the recent study prepared by The European House – Ambrosetti in collaboration with Microsoft Italy, according to which between 2020 and 2030 digital technology will help to reduce emissions by up to 10% compared to 2019 levels, with an impact equal to the incremental one of renewable energies. In terms of economic sustainability, digitized companies are 64% more productive than companies that have not yet implemented digital transformation paths.
