60% grant: South Tyrol's digitalization aid until 2028
btlabs Core · Jul 23, 2026
There's one thing too few small businesses in South Tyrol talk about: the provincial government is putting real money on the table so you can set your business up digitally. Up to 60 percent of the costs back — and not as a one-off, but as a programme running until 2028. Hardly anyone uses it. That's a shame, because the moment is better than ever.
What's funded — in plain terms
The Province of Bolzano supports the digitalization of micro-enterprises with a grant of up to 60 percent of recognised costs. Eligible are projects with expenses between €2,000 and €15,000. The grant is what's called de-minimis aid under EU regulation — the usual framework for this kind of support.
Eligible to apply are micro-enterprises with their seat and business-register entry in Bolzano: sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations, as well as consortia and cooperations of at least two businesses — from crafts, industry, trade, services or tourism. In practice, the typical South Tyrolean business.
The official point of contact is the provincial platform civis.bz.it. There you'll find the exact conditions and — importantly — the current submission deadline. Check it there before you plan: the deadline is set anew each year.
What "digitalization" really means here
Here, digitalization means your business gets a digital foundation that gathers your facts and content in one place, publishes them in several languages and makes them readable for the new generation of search — not just a new till or accounting program. The decisive point many overlook: what gets funded are projects that make your business digitally fit for the future, and today that's more than a fast site.
Exactly that kind of project is eligible. Bring your scattered tools together into a single source of truth and you don't just build order — you build something the province co-finances by half.
Why right now is the right moment
Right now is the right moment because only 8.2 percent of small and medium businesses in Italy use artificial intelligence, even though around 70 percent already have a basic level of digital intensity. A look at the numbers makes clear why timing matters. The European digital report shows for Italy: around 70 percent of small and medium businesses have a basic level of digital intensity — but only 8.2 percent use artificial intelligence (EU Digital Decade, Italy report 2024). That's the gap that matters now: your customers are starting to ask AI assistants — and those who appear there with the right facts win.
The grant is the lever to make this leap before everyone else does. If you wait for the competition to move first, you pay the full price — and play catch-up. If you act now, you take back up to 60 percent — and the head start on top.
The honest advice
No overhead, no army of consultants: the first step is a look at civis.bz.it to check the deadline and conditions for the current year. The second is the honest question of which digital project really brings your business something — not which one is in fashion. And if that project is a foundation that makes you visible and independent: all the better that the province covers half of it.
Want more than just the grant — you want to know what it takes to turn your business into a digital foundation that customers actually find? Talk to us — in a no-obligation conversation, we'll show you what that looks like for your business.
Frequently asked questions.
Are there grants for digitalisation in South Tyrol?
Yes. The Province of Bolzano supports the digitalisation of micro-enterprises with a grant of up to 60% of recognised costs, for project expenses between €2,000 and €15,000 — as de-minimis aid, running until 2028. Eligible are micro-enterprises in crafts, trade, services and tourism registered in the Bolzano business register. The exact conditions and current submission deadline are on the official provincial platform civis.bz.it.
What does GEO get me — why should my website be cited by AI?
When more and more people get their answers straight from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI, whether you get found is no longer decided by your Google ranking alone — but by whether the AI names you as a source. That is exactly what GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) does: it prepares your content so AI systems read it correctly, understand it and cite it in their answers. The benefit is concrete: you get recommended when a potential customer asks the AI for a provider like you — with clear, independently readable statements, structured data and machine-readable formats. If you're not visible here, you simply don't exist for this growing group of searchers.
Has classic SEO become obsolete with AI search?
No. Google AI overviews mostly cite pages that already rank well classically. SEO remains the ticket in — AI optimisation (GEO) is the extension with citable answers, structure and visible authority.
