<p>I am pleased that excellent progress is being made on Made Smarter, the Government’s national industrial digitalisation programme.</p><p> </p><p>The Made Smarter Commission, co-chaired by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Juergen Maier brings together manufacturing leaders from across the sector to agree how UK manufacturing can benefit from the development and adoption of digital technology.</p><p> </p><p>The £20m North West pilot will support up to 3,000 manufacturing SMEs to adopt and exploit digital technology. There is a considerable level of interest from SMEs in the North West as well as from other regions. We will work with other regions to share the learning of the North West pilot and consider how the programme could be rolled out.</p><p> </p><p>At Autumn Budget, we announced £121m funding for the Made Smarter Digital Manufacturing Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, designed to transform the sector’s productivity. Beneficiaries of this programme, which is subject to a competitive process, will be announced in the coming months.</p>