evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Slovenia's SME Digitalisation Voucher System (SPS / DIHS)

Slovenia · Ljubljana · See the Slovenia profile · See the Ljubljana profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Since 2019, Slovenia's national digitalisation-voucher system has co-financed digital marketing, strategy, competency and cybersecurity projects for SMEs — over 5,577 vouchers approved by mid-2022, mostly to micro-enterprises, modelled on Ireland's Trading Online Voucher scheme.

5,577
Vouchers approved (cumulative) (2019–June 2022)
70 %
Approved vouchers going to micro-enterprises (2019–June 2022)
62 %
Approved vouchers for the digital-marketing track (2019–June 2022)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SPS) & Digital Innovation Hub Slovenia (DIHS)
Period
2019–2025
Region (NUTS)
SI04
Keywords
SME digitalisation, digital marketing, cybersecurity, business grants

Context

Since 2019, Slovenia's Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SPS) and the Digital Innovation Hub Slovenia (DIHS) have run a national voucher system that co-finances up to 60% of an SME's costs (max €9,999.99 per voucher) across four tracks: digital marketing, digital strategy, digital competencies and cybersecurity. The scheme was explicitly adapted from Ireland's Trading Online Voucher good practice.

Objectives

The programme aims to accelerate SME digitalisation across marketing, strategy, digital competencies and cybersecurity by lowering the upfront cost of adopting digital tools and services.

Activities

SMEs apply for vouchers of up to €9,999.99, co-financed up to 60%, to purchase services from accredited providers across the four tracks; the scheme runs in successive annual calls.

Results

By June 2022, SPS/DIHS records analysed in a University of Ljubljana study (Pjević & Indihar Štemberger, 2023) show 5,577 vouchers approved — 70% to micro-enterprises, 25% to small firms and 5% to medium firms — with digital-marketing vouchers the most requested (62%) and cybersecurity the least (5.5%). Interviews with 14 recipient SMEs and 3 accredited service providers found the vouchers pushed most firms to digitalise faster and at greater scope than they otherwise would have.

Conclusions

The scheme continued into new calls through at least 2025, showing durability, but a third of interviewees flagged heavy documentation requirements, and the most popular marketing voucher call has at times closed within an hour of opening due to demand outstripping the annual budget — signalling that funding availability, not SME appetite, is now the binding constraint.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — Individual vouchers are capped at €9,999.99 with up to 60% public co-financing; aggregate public spend across 5,577+ approved vouchers (2019–2022) would run to several tens of millions of euros, though no single audited total programme budget figure was found in the sources reviewed.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Running continuously since 2019 in successive annual calls, with the scheme still open into 2025; not a time-limited pilot.
Staffing & skills
Delivered jointly by the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the Slovenian Enterprise Fund (SPS) and Digital Innovation Hub Slovenia (DIHS), drawing on a market of accredited external service providers (3 of whom were interviewed in the cited study).

Conditions for success

  • Co-financing up to 60% of costs (capped at €9,999.99 per voucher) lowers the barrier for micro and small firms with limited digitalisation budgets.
  • A pre-vetted network of accredited service providers gives SMEs a trusted supplier pool rather than requiring them to source digital services independently.

Common failure modes

  • A third of interviewed SME recipients flagged heavy documentation requirements as a friction point.
  • The most popular (digital-marketing) voucher call has at times closed within an hour of opening because demand outstrips the annual budget, rationing access rather than expanding funding to meet demand.

Where it fits

Governance type
national government programme (Ministry of Economic Development and Technology plus implementing agencies SPS/DIHS)
Scale
national (Slovenia-wide)
Income level
high-income (Slovenia, EU member state)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes Digital Europe Programme

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Similar practices you may find useful