SWIFT SME – Smart Working: Innovative & Flexible Training for SME Erasmus Project

Project Title

SWIFT SME – Smart Working: Innovative & Flexible Training for SME

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 2020

Project Topics

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

Project Summary

CONTEXT & NEED
EU SMEs are the most affected by the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown: Europe is “closed for business”, and while large companies have systems in place to implement telecommuting and Smart Work, SMEs (especially microenterprises) do not have ICT systems in place nor policies for their staff to work remotely.

The EU Commission provides a worrisome picture: less than 15% of EU SMEs are ready to implement Smart Working arrangements. The most recent study Eurofound/ILO “Working anytime, anywhere” of 2017, reports that only 2.8% of employees in the EU adopt Smart Working. This means that when the pandemic stroke Europe, very few SMEs were ready and had systems in place to adopt telecommuting arrangements.

EU SMEs are the most exposed to the risk of not being able to ensure business continuity and be resilient in times of crisis. More importantly, they are less prone to reaping the benefits that Smart Working can bring due to the lack of guidelines on the most suitable ICT solutions and practices to implement Smart Working and of mechanisms to manage Smart Working and telecommuting.

There is a pressing need to equip SMEs and empower their staff to implement Smart Working. This is confirmed by relevant EU position papers and studies:
> EU Commission, “An SME Strategy for Sustainable and Digital EU”, March 2020: calls for the swift adoption of ICT solutions to enhance the competitiveness and growth of SMEs
> Eurofound/ILO “Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work” 2017: identifies the need of EU SMEs to adopt Smart Working as a means to increase efficiency, improve working conditions and reduce costs.

OBJECTIVES of SWIFT are to:
1) Fill the skill gaps identified by the EU and national entities to equip SMEs with skills, competences and solutions to be more flexible, responsive and efficient through Smart Working arrangements
2) Provide venues for SMEs and their staff to develop competences, skills and tools to adopt and adapt Smart Working for their resilience, competitiveness and growth
3) Enhance the responsiveness and flexibility of EU SMEs to ensure business continuity in times of need and crisis, while increasing their competitiveness and efficiency through effective Smart Working
4) Increase the growth and competitiveness of EU SMEs through more relevant and timely training to empower them with the operational tools and equip them with the skills to be more resilient and flexible

TARGET GROUP is identified in SMEs and their staff, especially in the small-scale enterprises in the service sectors. Such target groups was selected thanks to the thorough analysis of the state-of-the-art carried out at preparation: SMEs are the most vulnerable to asymmetric shocks and uncertainty and are the least equipped to implement Smart Working to be more resilient and efficient.

PARTICIPANTS are the 6 partners from 5 EU countries representing the world of VET, enterprise and ICT. Moreover, at implementation partners will engage at least 120 target groups in the delivery of the SWIFT training, more than 100 stakeholders and decisions makers in the Multiplier Events and more than 287,636 people at dissemination level.

ACTIVITIES
Partners will carry out the following activities:
a) Develop the SWIFT OER Platform
b) Develop a shared methodology for the mapping
c) Consolidate findings in IO2 to map dynamics, trends and needs for Smart Working adoption, including technical, operational and human resource implications
d) Develop the SWIFT training and tools for Smart Working adoption in SMEs
e) Deliver the training to 120 target groups
f) Develop guidelines for adoption of SWIFT and its mainstreaming in VET and SME ecosystems in EU
g) Put forward policy options to promote Smart Working and competitiveness of SMEs

RESULTS & IMPACT are
1) The dedicated SWIFT Platform that is the Open Educational Resource for all SMEs across EU that can access for free, without restriction and in full Open Access mode all the SWIFT content, training, tools and resources available in multiple language versions. To ensure long-term impact, the SWIFT OER Platform will stay live for at least 2 years after the project
2) The SWIFT SME training courses, handouts, operational tools and guidelines for European SMEs to adopt, adapt and implement Smart Working to be more flexible, resilient and competitive
3) Enhanced competence of SMEs’ to implement Smart Working that will lead to increased flexibility, responsiveness and competitiveness. Moreover, the adoption of Smart Working will enhance work-life balance of employees while producing efficiency gains for SMEs
4) Increased operational capacity of SMEs to be more responsive in the ever-changing global markets being more able to adapt to external conditions that require to adjust business processes.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 241128 Eur

Project Coordinator

CENTRUM FUR INNOVATION UND TECHNOLOGIE GMBH & Country: DE

Project Partners

• ASOCIACION IT SOLUTIONS FOR ALL
• INSTITUT DE HAUTE FORMATION AUX POLITIQUES COMMUNAUTAIRES
• Kleinon SRL
• MRK Management Consultants GmbH
• IDP SAS DI GIANCARLO COSTANTINO (ITALIAN DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS)