Data Set Erasmus Project

Project Title

Data Set

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

Context
In its commitment to the digitalization of the economy, the EU states that “data-driven business models are the engine of Europe’s growth, industrial transformation and job creation.” Yet, micro and SMEs, which make up 99% of businesses, still lag behind in digital technologies. If the economy is to flourish, micro and SMEs, must develop data skills or risk being uncompetitive. This challenge has been brought into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many businesses rapidly transforming their business models and in many cases migrating service delivery to on-line platforms, generating and using data to engage with new markets.
This enforced acceleration of data-based processes has placed significant strain on business owners and employees, who have had to learn rapidly and embrace new ways of working. This, in turn, has increased demand for education to learn new data skills which today’s entrepreneurship teachers and trainers are ill prepared for as the majority entered the workforce before big data existed and there has been limited training to help them boost their own skills.
To remedy this, the Data SET project has created resources to improve the quality and relevance of entrepreneurship education by improving the ability of VET and HEI policy makers and practitioners to understand, teach and develop smart data, thus providing business owners, entrepreneurs and students with smart data skills training which they can use to help grow their businesses.
Objectives
The Data Set project objectives were to:
– develop and publish a Guide to Data Skills Development (IO1) to educate entrepreneurship trainers on the current state of data skills and skills building strategies
– create a smart data skills training model, comprising OERs (IO2) such as curriculum, trainers guide, lesson plans and suggested content and learning exercises
– train the first generation of Data SET Trainers (learning activity) and widely disseminate the OERs to encourage rapid integration of the training into current entrepreneurship and business support provision
– develop and promote an online Data SET course (IO3) to maximise access to new training and reinforce classroom delivery.
Number and Profile of Relevant Participants
In delivering the project, 142 entrepreneurship educators participated in testing the outputs created and it had been planned to organise a Train the Trainers Learning Activity for 14 educators, who would then return to their organizations ready to train SMEs, entrepreneurs and students in smart data skills.
Multiplier events engaged 174 representatives of VET organizations providing entrepreneurship education and other relevant stakeholders across the partner countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the withdrawal of one of the project partners during the project has resulted in changes to some of these targets, which were agreed with the National Agency.
Description of activities
There were 6 project partners, 2 from Northern Ireland and 1 from each of Denmark, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands. The partnership met monthly via virtual platforms and in person at transnational partner meetings and created three intellectual outputs, developed through research, content creation and tested by samples of the target end beneficiaries. The resources developed for the intellectual outputs are freely available to the public via a dedicated web portal established by the Data Set partnership. Access to the resources was encouraged via a programme of dissemination activities, which included on-line multiplier events.
Due to a change in the project following the departure of one of the partners, the train the trainer activities were not completed.
Results and impact attained
The project successfully created IO1: “The VET Guide to Data Skills Development”, IO2: “Data Set Open Educational Resources”, incorporating a curriculum and teacher’s guide and an interactive suite of learning materials and IO3: “Data Set Online Course”. The partnership has also achieved 878 downloads of IO1, 667 downloads of IO2, an estimated 8640 uses of IO3 and the website has received over 161,900 visits.
The project partners also established a strong bond and have benefitted from acquiring greater knowledge about the use of data skills for their own staff, now empowered and better able to assist SME’s, entrepreneurs and students to access and use data as an integral part of their business growth strategies.
Longer Term Benefits
It isn’t possible to report long term benefits as these have yet to manifest, but the project has achieved what it set out to achieve within the 2 years, apart from the train the trainer activity and hence we expect the project will result in improved business growth and higher levels of digital competencies within SME owner/managers, entrepreneurs and business students. The resources created through the project will continue to be available via the dedicated project website at https://data-set.eu/

Project Website

http://data-set.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 270840 Eur

Project Coordinator

East Belfast Enterprise Ltd & Country: UK

Project Partners

• MOMENTUM MARKETING SERVICES LIMITED
• TEC, TECHNICAL EDUCATION COPENHAGENS/I
• CANICE CONSULTING LIMITED
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA
• UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY INNOVATION NETWORK BV