Building Next-Generation of Globally Responsible Digital Entrepreneurs Erasmus Project

Project Title

Building Next-Generation of Globally Responsible Digital Entrepreneurs

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Environment and climate change; Cooperation between educational institutions and business

Project Summary

In order for the European Union to be successful in implementing and expanding open innovation as one of the main driver of its socio-economic growth, higher education institutions (HEI) must be able to produce independent, creative, entrepreneurial individuals, who understand inter- and multidisciplinary challenges of the socio-economic environment and as a result can contribute to open innovation in true convergence with technological growth. Following the latest societal, environmental and technological developments, the digitally driven QUINTUPLE HELIX context (university, industry, policy, society, environment) should be the driver of sustainable development and key growth mechanism for the EU. However, at the current stage, the EU lacks quintuple helix level co-creation to enable the implementation of the envisioned growth. To this end, higher education institutions play a critical role in this aspect by having the upmost need to capitalize on the quintuple helix stakeholders in order to properly co-create digital & responsible (socially & environmentally) entrepreneurship (DREP) curricula in order to 1) meet the EU’s long term vision of sustainable development and 2) trigger co-creation and co-evolution among the quintuple helix stakeholders .

One way of achieving a working quintuple helix to foster DREP is through co-creation, which is the cornerstone of open innovation practices in today’s society. However, open innovation needs to be focused, strategic, and tailored to the current needs of the stakeholders. Thus, universities need to enhance their curricula accordingly. Hence, open innovation and co-creation between academia and stakeholders will highly increase academia’s capacity of producing more market oriented curricula that will lead to graduates capable of being next generation leaders in responsible entrepreneurship.

In this context, DigiGrent responds to this need by developing an innovative, evidence-based transnational framework that has improved the knowledge and skills of academic institutions to produce more marked/startup oriented DREP curricula (IO1), reducing the barriers in this field. The project consortium comprises key academics, investors, industry & startup associations, and societal growth partners from different sectors who have co-created along with other quintuple helix stakeholders a DREP curriculum, which has been piloted through an open innovation and co-creation virtual learning environment (VLE) (IO3) online during three transnational co-creation & pitching events, held both face to face and online(IO4). In each one of them, 35 participants across Europe have pitched DREP business ideas and the quintuple helix stakeholders have co-created with them in order to shape a market-oriented venture; the co-creation also targeted the curriculum as mentioned before, as well as the VLE. The methodology for managing this quintuple helix co-creation which infuses each output/activitiy of DigiGrent has been related on a quintuple helix co-creation toolkit (IO2).

Some of the Key figures of DigiGrent are:
• Number of DREP curriculum co-created (1)
• Number of academic staff directly engaged in co-creation with quintuple helix staff (20)
• Number of non-academic staff directly engaged in co-creation with quintuple helix staff (15)
• Number of other academic staff from participating academic institutions that will use parts of the DREP curriculum (25)
• Number of academic staff from other EU academic institutions (that have courses related to DREP) that will incorporate findings of the project / the DREP curriculum: (15)
• Number of students from participating universities that have been piloted / taught using the DREP curriculum (totally or partially) (587)
• Number of students expressing their interest to pursue further studies or even startups related to the DREP curriculum (27)
• Number of quintuple helix stakeholders (academics, students, investors/startups, society, environmental organizations) engaged into using the VLE (350)
• Number of staff engaged from the participating quintuple helix stakeholders (30)
• Number of participants to the 4 multiplier events organized (181)
• Number of Local/national/European/international Governmental organizations institutions and technology transfer offices that will gain a best practice/model of an open innovation and co-creation framework for academia-quintuple helix in terms of DREP curriculum development (30).
• General third party public that has accessed the available outputs of DIGI-GRENT (through the project exploitation and dissemination efforts). We estimated a calculation of at least 15% of the dissemination target that has been reached, and who could potentially read/benefit from the outputs (5040)
• Number of startups engaged in advanced financing discussions with/from investors (1)

Project Website

https://digigrent.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 307660,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERIA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• KENTRO EREVNON NOTIOANATOLIKIS EVROPIS ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIREIA
• FUNDACJA ROZWOJU PRZEDSIEBIORCZOSCI
• UNIWERSYTET LODZKI
• FEDERACION EMPRESARIAL METALURGICAVALENCIANA
• FONDAZIONE ISTUD PER LA CULTURA D’IMPRESA E DI GESTIONE
• SYNDESMOS EXAGOGEON