The Kit Digital program passes into a new phase marked by questions about the fate of its funds and the difficulties reported by the digitalization agents. While Red.es highlights the program’s positive results and the satisfaction of the beneficiary companies, the professionals responsible for implementing the technological solutions are calling for changes in management. The question now is whether the available resources will enable a new phase of digitalization for Spanish small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
So, four years after its launch, the Kit Digital continues to generate debate. One of the great public programs for modernizing the Spanish business fabric now faces a stage in which it’s not only about awarding aid but about analyzing results, resolving outstanding issues, and determining how the resources that have not yet been committed will be used.
According to a Red.es resolution dated March 4, the program stood at €1,053.9 million in uncommitted funds, roughly 33% of the total budget across its five calls, which amounted to €3,197.6 million.
This is a March budget snapshot rather than a figure updated to October, but it raises an important question: could these funds serve to give a second chance to the SMEs that did not take advantage of earlier calls?
The Association of Adhered Digitalization Agents (ADAS), which represents 862 companies and professionals linked to the program, believes it is essential to clarify the destination of these resources and that any new initiative incorporate the lessons learned over the past years.
The regulations contemplate reinvesting the funds
One of the key questions is that the continuity of investments does not depend solely on the will of the digitalization agents.
The Order TDF/39/2026 explicitly contemplates reinvesting unspent budget leftovers, even after 2026, in actions within the corresponding investment of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. This provision also appears in the update to the Ministry for Digital Transformation’s Subsidy Strategic Plan, published in May 2026.
However, this does not mean that a new call has been announced or that the more than €1 billion is automatically available for new aid. To do so, it would be necessary to specify the funds, the conditions, the beneficiaries, and the implementation schedule.
ADAS believes that a potential new phase should also serve to review the categories of subsidizable solutions and the amounts of the aid, adapting them to the current technological needs of small businesses.
Two different views on the Kit Digital results
The contrast between the institutional evaluation and the criticisms from agents is particularly striking. In its impact assessment, Red.es presents a a positive balance for the program, as noted at the start of this article. According to the published results, more than 80% of the digitalization agents say their activity has increased since joining, and beneficiaries give an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 for the services received. In addition, 88% of surveyed agents anticipate signing new agreements.
These figures show that Kit Digital has helped energize the market for technology services and bring digital tools to businesses that otherwise might have delayed adoption.
But the positive assessment of the services does not erase the administrative problems raised by the sector. ADAS says numerous agents continue facing payment delays, lengthy justification processes, and remediation requests that, at times, do not clearly specify which documentation must be corrected.
The association focuses especially on the second justification phase, which requires proving the maintenance of services for twelve months. According to Red.es data provided in March, €1.232 billion had been paid for the first phase, compared to €324 million for the second.
Although both figures are not directly comparable as indicators of delays due to different execution and justification timelines, they illustrate the volume of money still tied to the final processing of the services.
The real challenge: turning subsidies into effective digitalization
Another data point worth considering is the number of vouchers that were not used. Of the 903,788 vouchers awarded as recorded in the March resolution, 137,024 had expired and 41,862 had been relinquished. Taken together, they account for nearly 20% of the vouchers awarded.
That does not necessarily mean that all those companies were left undigitized. In fact, Red.es’ own documentation notes that some beneficiaries whose vouchers expired or were relinquished subsequently applied for another aid.
However, the figures highlight the importance of examining the barriers that hinder a granted subsidy from becoming an implemented technological solution. In this sense, digitization should be measured not only by the number of vouchers approved but also by their effective use and the benefits the integrated tools bring to business activity.
The association says it filed a request for information on June 12 regarding the program’s execution and the destination of its leftovers. In the absence of a response within the legal timeframe, it referred the matter to the Council for Transparency and Good Governance, where, according to information provided by ADAS, it remains under review.
Beyond this process, the association is calling for a permanent roundtable with Red.es to address administrative issues, establish greater predictability in payments, and participate in designing future improvements.
The debate arrives at a pivotal moment for Spanish small businesses. Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, automation, and data management are reshaping their technology needs, while a large portion of the business landscape still struggles to finance certain investments.
Therefore, the future of the Kit Digital should not be limited to deciding what to do with the remaining funds, but also to determining how to ensure that any potential new phase is more agile, efficient, and useful for SMBs.
