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🔍FOCUS on DigitUp action plan!

DigitUp acted as a mapping of needs in SME managers and self-entrepreneurs in relation to digital transformation.
To obtain the information needed, the desk research has put forward 3 areas of interest:
👉Status quo of digital transformation in business sector
👉Support and obstacles to digital transformation
👉Exploitation of BIC technologies: Big Data, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity

🎯The European Union aims to achieve a 75% digitalization rate for SMEs by 2030, but there are significant discrepancies between EU members. The lack of digital transformation in SMEs makes them less competitive than larger companies, leading to a brain drain phenomenon and negatively impacting the economy.

The COVID-19 pandemic initially forced SMEs to quickly digitalize, but subsequent economic weakness caused a decrease in investment. The lack of infrastructure, awareness, support, capital, understanding of cybersecurity, and human capital are major obstacles to digitalization, and not only private but also public services require adaptation.💻

✨Depending on our critical findings, we are proposing resolution means via DigitUp Project:
1. Develop assessment tools for digital skills measuring
SMEs will be provided with instruments, training sessions and support materials that will allow them to regularly assess their workers’ skills. As such, gaps in skills will be easily identified and tackled.

2. Provide free access to high quality and up-to-date information, material, training, support
SMEs will have an equal opportunity to learn, access and implement the program’s offer into their practice. The program itself will also be regularly updated with the latest developments in digital transformation to guarantee accurate data.

3. Ensure the access to and use of innovative teaching and learning practices by the users
Time and resources will be invested in advertising the teaching method through trainings and social events so that all SMEs have an equal opportunity to benefit from the innovative practices.

#DIGITUPproject#euprojects#erasmusplus

As part of the Smart and Skills project, the objective of the this first phase is to provide teachers with engaging digital materials targeted specially for SEN students (students with special necessities) created by the partners. 

This teaching being developed by the partners materials will tackle the issues of everyday life by putting it in the context of cooperative learning. Smart and Skills partners want to help create teaching methods that are effective and adapt to today’s technology as a form of education, with the ultimate goal of implementing the developed materials.  

Let’s shape the future of education together! 

Newsletter #1: Introducing DigitUp!

Take a look at our first newsletter, where we outline the mission and goals of DigitUp! We’re excited to embark on this journey, empowering SMEs with the digital skills to thrive in today’s economy.

Have you ever heard of digital footprints before? In simple words, every time you visit a website, make a search, post on social media, or send an email, you leave behind a piece of information that can be collected and tracked. This information can be used to understand your online habits and activities. Digital footprints are the record of your activities on the internet. 

In March 13.03.2023 – 19.03.2023, Behave Your Prints project invited young people to attend a training in Tirana, Albania. This 5-day training included activities aimed at making participants better understand digital footprints and see what could be the consequences for their entry into professional life. 

In total, 24 young people coming from 6 different countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia) attended this training.

On March 28-29 2023, the third project meeting of VET3D project was held by EILD partner, in Athens, Greece. The meeting gathered partners from the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Latvia.

This meeting offers the opportunity to discuss further VET3D platform (Project Result 3), which will be available on a web interface mainly (but not only) for students and teachers of secondary vocational schools.

The project partners discussed the structure, structure of the portal, design, and above all the relevant content with the aim of creating a portal that will be of real help to these target groups in developing soft skills with a view to entering the labour market after graduation.

On the 16th on February, Smart & Cooperation Skills project partners met in Nicosia, Cyprus at Centre for Social Innovation’s headquarter.

This Transnational Project Meeting was the 3 meeting gathering partners from the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Italy, Poland, and Spain.

Project Management and Implementation aspects, as well as development of the Digital Didactic Pills (Project Result 1) and Training course kit for teacher (Project Result 2) has been addressed, enabling partners to have fruitful discussions and prepare their next steps.

In December, Agora’s Final Conference took place in Cluj-Napoca’s former Casino.

Territorial partners shared their learning experiences from the AGORA project. The conference was a public moment of reflection at the end of this 30 months of Agora’s journey.

DigitUp project is divided into 5 stages: 5 Work Packages! Thanks to an adaptable Gantt Chart, we are able to organize all these steps through the 2-year project.

Taking into consideration that digitalization offers diverse advantages and benefits for SMEs, DIGITUP project is going to facilitate this procedure by implementing several activities such as the development of:
• Online assessment tool in which SMEs’ managers and self-entrepreneurs can define, measure and assess their digital skill levels
• Training course to improve their knowledge capacity
• Online platform for a serious game
• Policy brief upon the digital skills for VET educator

The WP1 – Project Management will last the entire project, to assure the quality of the different activities implantation.

The other Work Packages, which are following each other through time, are:
– WP2 – Online assessment tool for the measurement of digital skills levels
– WP3 – DigitUp training course
– WP4 – E-learning platform & Serious game for SME’s managers and self-entrepreneurs
– WP5 – Dissemination & Exploitation

Stay tuned to learn more about the continuity of these different Work Packages!

#DIGITUPproject#euprojects#erasmusplus

Erasmus  +  project VET3D partnership held international discussion on December 1, 2022.

The discussion aimed to map the actual situation, problems, and possible solutions in the VET sector in project countries. Project partners introduced the meeting participants with the main results from project research in VET sector from Result 1 and Result 2 as well as discuss the actual problems and challenges in VET sector. 

In total 22 participants from partner countries, namely, Italy, Latvia, Greece, Czech Republic, discussed VET sector challenges. The lack of teachers, also teachers’ ability to transfer soft skills across all learning dimensions, and students’ ability to socialize and build collaboration onsite or in presence was mentioned today as are to be improved as not VET students mainly represent Gen Z and digital socializing manner is more common. Soft skills integration into daily curriculum based on a certain soft skill framework was one more dimension today. Students’ engagement in after-class activities like common projects, camps, and gaming could be also soft skill promoter, but students may lack time and motivation to stay after a long learning day at school. 

The international experts were introduced with Result 1 “DIGICOMP 3D PARTNERSHIP REPORT-  research on the key competencies and soft skills model in Vocational Education and Training for VET students” available on a project web page https://vet3dproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/VET3D-IO1Report-Final-.pdf 

The international experts’ meeting is one of Result 2 “3 Dimension learning model for VET”   activities, finalizing soon in December 2022. The R2 report will be available in January 2023. 

Project VET3D aims to promote soft skills in formal, non-formal, and work-based learning in the VET sector.

Please visit the project web page at https://vet3dproject.eu/ and follow project on FB page https://www.facebook.com/VET3D-Project-109531734918907