European Year of Skills: boosting SMEs’ digital skills through short term training courses

In the scope of the European Year of Skills, HaDEA is presenting a series of projects that aim to reduce the ICT gap identified in the EU.

SME4DD - Training SMEs for the Digital Decade delivers short-term training programmes in three strategic digital technologies for Europe:

1) Artificial Intelligence,

2) Blockchain,

3) Cybersecurity.

Relevant digital qualifications are in high demand in the technology sector, especially for SMEs, that are facing unique challenges to fill their needs. It is crucial for businesses to invest in digital skills to stay competitive and secure, dealing with data security, privacy, efficiency challenges, and unlocking new opportunities for innovation and growth (they can automate routine tasks, improve decision-making, etc).

The project is assessing the general upskilling needs of enterprises, especially SMEs, in EU. It also addresses the need of bridging the gap of digital skills that the workforce is lacking.  

SME4DD builds and deploys short-term training programmes in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity in France, Italy, Hungary, and Sweden.

To achieve this, SME4DD aims to train over 1 000 individuals, out of which 30% are women, via:

• 25 Short courses addressing:
  • business leaders or managers: to help them innovate and expand their businesses,
  • working professionals: covering advanced digital skills and competences.
• 35 Intensive seminars and workshops on specific business cases: offered to high-skilled workers from SMEs.

The content will be made available at the EU level by in the form of a professional master’s programme to be offered in English.

Watch coordinator Asja Kamenica from EIT Digital in Brussels presenting SME4DD - Training SMEs for the Digital Decade:

Background 

The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) aims to build the strategic digital capacities of the EU and to facilitate the wide deployment of digital technologies. With an overall budget of €7.5 billion, out of which €0.8 billion is managed by HaDEA, the programme will support investments in the area of ‘Advanced Digital Skills’, aimed at contributing to the attainment of the ambitious target set by the Digital Decade and at supporting the EU education and training institutions in digital areas, also by encouraging their cooperation with research and businesses, in synergy with the actions put in place by EU countries, also in the context of their Recovery and Resilience Plans.

In this context, to support the development of advanced digital skills in the labor force with a focus on SMEs, HaDEA launched a Call for Proposals under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) in the first half of 2022. The call’s objective was to provide SMEs with affordable access to high-quality short term specialised training courses on the latest developments in key capacity areas, such as Cybersecurity, AI, Cloud computing or microelectronics.