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Making Use of Circular Economy Strategies in Central Denmark

EDIH


The Central Denmark European Digital Innovation Hub, in short CD-EDIH, is designed to support regional actors utilising data for overcoming the sustainability challenges and the environmental impact of their manufacturing, production and consumption value chains.


Denmark launched several successful initiatives in 2020 and 2021 to ensure open data and more public services that are digitalised, user-friendly and accessible to all citizens and companies. However, there is still growing need to strengthen digitalisation based on access to data and to help with the green transition in the region. It may often be difficult for enterprises to get access to relevant data because of the voluntary basis and the lack of knowledge to provide, collect, store, use and share information while protecting intellectual property and complying with GPDR, that leads to limited data and problems to build assessment tools. Also, the available sources do not often allow for the comprehensive assessment of circular economy aspects such as changes in material stocks, waste generation and servitization of commodities. And, although Denmark has made a lot of progress on granting access to public data through different  initiatives, companies are still behind on maximising the potential of data.
CD-EDIH aims to bring together all the existing capacities in the region, such as services and infrastructure, to become a one-stop-shop for any small and medium-sized enterprise, mid-cap and public sector organisations that strives for using data-driven intelligence. This will lead to a significant technological boost, leveraging circular economy approaches for achieving economic impacts: improved durability of products, new products and services, reduced risks as well as enhanced energy and resource efficiency. Ultimately, to contribute to the region's path to sustainability and implementing smart city and circular economy initiatives in its broadest sense.
The hub is based on the strengths and focus of the Central Denmark Region, especially the  agriculture and the food industry, manufacturing, and digital technologie, hosting 72.098 companies at all. The region is the second largest in the country, covering 19 municipalities with a population of 1.3 million people. CD-EDIH will bring together facilities, expertise and experience of ten partners and engage in collaboration agreements with nine other clusters - to raise digital maturity and unlock circular economies.