SMEs innovation-oriented services in AS are fragmented and lacking in adaptability towards the specifics of companies of the area and the request of a more sustainable and flexible approach to businesses. Multiple forces – social, technological, competitive-combined with the Alps specificities make today’s challenge for small businesses to adapt and grow even more complex for AS SMEs, already weakened by physical and cognitive distance from innovation centers. The Design Thinking (DT) process can help start a new wave of business innovation through collaboration, new decision making process and more sustainable added value creation without overturn the strong link to the territory that characterizes the companies in this area, combining both technological and non-technological elements. A systemic and strategic vision is missing, which should be created starting from the development of stronger framework conditions for design (www.designpolicy.eu). The opportunity with DesAlps is to create a fertile framework for boosting DT approach on SME services, through the analysis of the impact that it can bring and the creation of a mutual cooperation among intermediaries and policy makers toward this task. SMEs, intermediaries, stakeholders and Policy Makers will benefit from the shared methodologies and will empower the impact of this innovation process thanks also to the connection with S3 of each territory as it will have a thematic approach centered on sustainable living linked to relevant enabling technologies and services in order to maximize the impact on the already existing policies and generation of new ones. Information added on 2020-06-01, regarding the mitigation of the effects of COVID-19 (the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2019) (English language only): Thanks to the Design Thinking method, companies can adapt quickly to emerging demands from their clients. In 2019, the project DesAlps helped a web agency to revise their business model and turn into digital voice assistants programmers. This company now fully benefits from the technological boom around contactless modes.
