From now on, inter-company vocational training centres can receive higher grants for digital equipment. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy will fund up to 90% of investment provided that it serves further and advanced training. The aim is to improve the quality of further vocational training of employees of SMEs.

State Secretary Dr Ulrich Nussbaum said: "The digitisation of the economy is a huge opportunity, but also a challenge for SMEs and the crafts sector. Skilled workers must make even more use of advanced and further training measures to keep pace with changes. In this context, the master craftspersons and managers in companies play a key role. They take the decisions about the level of digitisation of businesses. We help enterprises to further train their skilled workers in the context of a nation-wide network of vocational training centres. We want these centres to be equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The new funding will make this possible and accelerate investment in digital equipment. We succeed in providing digital expertise to enterprises by means of modern vocational training centres."

You can find the list of eligible equipment and application forms (in German) on the website of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control.