02 April, 2025

On April 2nd, the BOCOD project (Boosting Continuity and Digitalisation of Rural Businesses) officially launched with a virtual kick-off meeting, bringing together core partners and associate partners from Ireland, Finland, and Iceland. The meeting marked the start of a three-year Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) project aimed at strengthening business continuity and digitalisation across rural and peripheral regions.

Led by Dr. Brenda Lynch from The Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence, the event also included contributions from Dr. Niall O’Leary (Hincks Centre) as chair and Mr. Christopher Parker of the NPA Programme Secretariat.

Dr. Lynch provided an overview of the project’s evolution from the previous Interreg NPA EBoost project initiative and introduced the three work packages, with a strong emphasis on delivering innovative, scalable solutions for rural SMEs.

Highlights include plans for mapping regional support systems in Work Package 1 led by Munster Technological University (Ireland), delivering targeted digital training in Work Package 2 led by Lapland UAS, (Finland), and piloting business continuity training programmes for rural SMEs in Work Package 3 led by Business Joensuu (Finland).

The event concluded with a shared sense of momentum and a clear path forward to support rural entrepreneurship through innovation, digitalisation, and cross-border collaboration.

Stay tuned for updates as the BOCOD project unfolds. 

Dr Brenda Lynch,

Academic Researcher, Hincks Centre for Entrepreneurship Excellence