“Training of small and micro businesses for the innovation and digital technology development in Latvia” (Project Nr. 1.2.2.3/16/I/002); abbreviation - MMU
Location:
Latvia
Period of implementation:
2016 – 2023
Field of activity – formal/informal/non-formal:
Digital competence development – non-formal education
Funding sources:
European Regional Development Fund (ERAF)
Overall cost/budget:
~2,8MM EUR excl. VAT (the project is still in implementation)
Target group:
Small and micro enterprise employees, self-employed persons
Implementing organization/lead organization:
»Baltijas Datoru Akadēmija«; LLC; Reg. Nr. 50003138501 (Supplier and implementing organization; the Contracting organization is – Information & Communications Technology Association of Latvia)
Contact info:
mm*@bd*.lv
Resources:
Outputs:
- competence assessment tests;
- printed training materials, e-learning training materials for all courses;
- a learning management system;
- the webpage of the project https://www.mmu.lv/Lapas/sakums.aspx
Challenge or social need:
The project and thus the implementation methodology and activities were developed to strengthen the capacity of small and micro enterprises, improving their competitiveness and productivity, through development and implementation of ICT training measures, to further innovation in these enterprises.
Description:
The main activities of the project, thus also the methodology, include such steps:
- Training Needs Analysis of the target group, in cooperation with LIKTA (Information & Communications Technology Association) and ICT sector stakeholders, to ensure training curricula relevance, specific learning paths and defined learning outcomes;
- Training curricula development on ICT, innovative technologies and business development topics;
- Competency evaluation test development;
- Training delivery to small and micro enterprises employees, self-;
- Evaluation of the training, including trainee questionnaire (assessing training overall organisation, training delivery, training relevance, competency of the lecturers) and measurement and evaluation of training results with a scenario-based computerised competency assessment test.
More than 50 training courses have been developed and provided to the target group, the aforementioned courses are connected with such subjects: data processing, data analysis, personal data protection, graphical tools for image editing, facebook opportunities for furthering business, ICT solutions for the financial management of an enterprise, webpage development, marketing campaigns, social network marketing, ICT security, computerized bookkeeping, cloud solutions, e-commerce, multimedia tools, market analysis, project management and various others.
All the training courses are connected with digital technologies, tools and other ICT solutions, digitization processes in order to effectively perform tasks or organise and manage processes that are connected with the subjects that are mentioned previously (and many others).
The training is delivered face-to-face or remotely via MS Teams, and also access to a learning management system is provided to access additional e-learning material.
Benefits/success factors/ measurement of success:
The main success factors are competence assessment before and after the course, which allows to tailor the course to the knowledge and skill level of the trainees, the courses are geared towards practical training content delivery in order to further digitalization of an enterprise, for instance, and to improve the competencies of the trainees in a fast and efficient manner, as the courses are no longer than 3 days.
The success is measured:
- by the results of the competence assessment tests of the trainees before and after the course;
- by the number of trainees acquiring the training (from the target group of the project);
- by the number of enterprises acquiring the training for their employees.
Critical points/weaknesses:
Not all specific and niche digitalization and digital skills training needs can be covered, that the target group sometimes requests, the focus is on the main three directions of courses and on the most common tools and technologies, processes included within: 1) Digital Technologies, 2) Digitization of the enterprise processes, 3) Digital tools for the development of services and products, and production processes.
Sustainability characteristics:
As the project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERAF), it depends on the funding availability and the number of rounds of the project, also on the unused amount of financing available for training delivery.
Transferability characteristics:
The approach of this project can easily be transfered to other similar training delivery projects concerning digital competency development of a specific target group.
Inclusive characteristics/Innovative elements:
The project includes a very diverse demographic target group – small and micro enterprise employees and self-employed persons from different backgrounds and occupations, sectors, etc.
The content of the courses themsleves is geared towards implementation of innovations within the framework of three directions:
1) Digital Technologies,
2) Digitization of the enterprise processes,
3) Digital tools for the development of services and products, and production processes.
A competency-management approach is applied within the project by measuring the acquired results.