SME involvment in master’s programme design: development of engagement models

Best practices SME involvment in master’s programme design: development of engagement models Users: Training providers (public) | Theme: Industry engagement | Action: Education programmes/courses | Beneficiaries: Training providers (Public), Training Providers (Private)   Baran Bayindir https://aiandhealth.eu/ AI and Health offers a double master’s degree across France, Spain, Italy, and Sweden, integrating AI technologies into healthcare, biology and medicine. To ensure the quality and relevance of the content in such a dynamic field requires the involvement of domain experts and key industry actors. These actors can provide links to the latest advancements in the field and real-life use case that can be incorporated in the curriculum.   The challenge? A key challenge in the AI and Health programme was ensuring the early involvement of skilled talent and SMEs in the programme design. Delays in engaging industry actors hindered the ability to establish necessary operational steps and align academic content with real-world industry needs. Without early planning, maintaining SME participation and ensuring long-term programme effectiveness became difficult. Our solution Hands-on Training with Industry Experts: SMEs were actively involved in course creation, and industry professionals were integrated into the training staff, ensuring that content remained relevant to real-world applications in AI and healthcare.Integrated Micro-Credentials & Digital Certification: The programme was designed around micro-credentials and digital certification systems, enhancing industry recognition and promoting professional participation. Outcomes The program’s collaboration with industry experts and integration of micro-credentials led to a highly relevant, real-world learning experience for participants. Hands-on training with industry professionals ensured that the content stayed up-to-date with current AI and healthcare applications, equipping learners with practical skills. Key takeaways Raise Awareness Through Events: Regularly host collaborative events bringing together academia and industry, in order to promote cross-sector engagement and help align academic programmes with industry needs. Prepare Engagement Models in Advance: Develop structured SME engagement models that introduce companies to study courses early. Allowing for better integration of industry requirements into the programme. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society.  Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records.  Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes:       Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.

Incorporating automated tools and analysis in master’s programme design

Best practices Incorporating automated tools and analysis in master’s programme design Users: Training providers (public) | Theme: Skills Data | Action: Framework / Methodology | Beneficiaries: Training providers (public) Simona Ramanauskaite https://digitalmerit.eu/ MERIT is developing master’s degrees and short-term with the participation of NGOs, non-profits, research organisations, companies and SMEs. These are delivered by technical universities across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain.Courses in domains such as AI, cybersecurity and IoT become quickly outdated and projects like MERIT need resilient methods for easily building new content. Establishing an intangible infrastructure which allows for this is key to the project’s sustainability. The challenge? MERIT had to strike a balance between specialisation and flexibility to ensure it meets both national market demands and student preferences. It should be adaptable to evolving industry needs while maintaining a structured curriculum that provides essential digital competencies. Designing courses based on arbitrary data and anecdotal knowledge would pose risks to the programme’s attractiveness and market match. Additionally, performing manual analysis of available data and indications for each new course would have been time consuming and inefficient. Our solution The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes The Fit4internet platform offers a structured and more accessible way for employers and educators to quickly assess and understand an individual’s digital competencies. Individuals are more motivated to enhance their digital skills due to the portfolio being a helpful resource for them to stand out amongst others. Key takeaways Follow the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) methodology to integrate global perspectives while ensuring consistency in the programme structure. COIL fosters international collaboration by connecting students, educators, and industry professionals from different countries through virtual exchange, enriching the learning experience with diverse insights and cross-border expertise. Select and implement the most effective distance communication technologies to optimise the teaching mode between in-person and online delivery. This includes evaluating virtual classrooms, hybrid learning models, and digital collaboration tools to ensure seamless interaction, engagement, and accessibility while maintaining the programme’s academic quality and learning objectives. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society.  Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records.  Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes:       Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.

Industry-oriented hackathon to drive SME involvement in master programme design

Best practices Industry-oriented hackathon to drive SME involvement in master programme design Users: Training providers (public), Industry, SMEs | Theme: Industry engagement | Action: Stakeholder collaboration | Beneficiaries: Learners (STEM background), Learners (non-STEM background, Labour force (employed), Labour force (unemployed) Simona Ramanauskaite https://digitalmerit.eu/merithon/ MERIT is developing master’s degrees and short-term courses in AI, cybersecurity and IoT, with the participation of NGOs, non-profits, research organisations, companies and SMEs. These are delivered by technical universities across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain. Having consistent, hands-on engagement from industry is fundamental to the project’s operational model and objectives.  The challenge? A key challenge in the MERIT project was accurately identifying potential industry collaboration opportunities. As many study programmes were still in development by the time the project had to initiate outreach, persuading companies to comit in the initiative proved challenging.SMEs often faced limited human and time resources, making it difficult for them to participate in surveys, provide input for curriculum design, or test different concepts.Additionally, study programme flexibility was constrained by national accreditation requirements, limiting the ability to tailor courses to SMEs’ needs. Our solution MERIThon: The project created the annual MERIThon event, where SMEs proposed challenges, mentored participants, and explored innovative solutions relevant to their business needs. This initiative provided SMEs with a low-commitment way to engage with the programme while benefiting from fresh ideas. Established SME-University Partnerships: They Developed collaborations between SMEs and study programmes, leading to joint activities such as guest lectures, employee recruitment, internships, and research projects. Outcomes The design of the courses around real market needs and with direct industry engagement, has made the programmes highly attractive. 1,000 participants have been trained through the initiative. Key takeaways Introductory Meetings with Leading Enterprises: Regularly organise meetings between SMEs and large enterprises to highlight the benefits of collaboration and encourage SME participation. Engaging SMEs through Personal Contacts & EDIHs: Strengthen engagement by reaching out to SMEs via personal networks and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs),developing trust and participation. Step-by-Step Programme Development: Implement an approach where the study programme is broken down into phases and targeted feedback is gathered at each stage to ensure SME needs are fulfilled. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society.  Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records.  Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes:       Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.

Framework for competency-based evaluation of students in higher education

Best practices Framework for competency-based evaluation of students in higher education Users: Training providers (Public) | Theme: Skills data | Action: Education programmes/ courses | Beneficiaries: Training providers (Private), Training providers (Public) Simona Ramanauskaite https://digitalmerit.eu/ Designing content in higher education is often associated with a lack of agility. Universities create fixed curricula and following rigid schedules, which do not match market dynamics, but rather limit their adaptability to rapidly evolving digital skills requirements MERIT has the task of creating an educational ecosystem, spanning across Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy and Spain to train digital specialists and improve the evaluation of different students or courses by matching study programmes to the skills produced. The challenge? MERIT was faced with a lack of standardised frameworks and common terminology for defining digital skill levels and competencies.This made it difficult to compare and analyse study programmes across different countries and institutions, hindering a reliable programme-skills mapping.Addressing these issues was essential to ensuring a structured and comparable approach to digital skills education. Our solution MERIT implemented a continuous and competency-oriented student and study programme analysis, which is not commonly applied in higher education.It established its own comprehensive framework for advanced digital skills and supporting competencies, which ensured a structured approach to skills evaluation and programme alignment.It implemented new training and assessment methodologies focused on competency development, covering both technical and soft skills relevant to industry needs.It developed tools for continuous analysis and monitoring of student progress and study programmes, based on a taxonomy of topics and their relationships. This facilitated the cross-country comparison and standardisation.Lastly, it created a structured mapping system that aligned educational programmes with key competency areas, ensuring that skill levels and topics are consistently classified across institutions. Outcomes Merit has now trained over 1,000 people with the implementation of their continuous and competency based approach to higher level education. They have also partnered up with two academic entities and have two agreements in place for collaboration on Master’s degree thesis’. Key takeaways Multi-Source Skills Analysis is Essential: The most effective evaluation method which combines multiple data sources, including SME needs, research trends, and summarised reports, to accurately assess hard and soft skills. Skills Mapping Should Align with Institutional Priorities: Competency frameworks should be adaptable to each partner university’s focus areas, ensuring alignment with local academic and industry requirements. Developing a Detailed Topic Hierarchy is Crucial: Establishing a well-structured and comprehensive skills taxonomy is key to ensuring comparability and adaptability in digital education programmes. Learn more here Case Summary– Context: Fit4internet is a non-profit initiative aimed at enhancing digital literacy across Austria. By using the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp AT), which identifies key components of digital competencies and aligns with European standards, Fit4internet helps individuals showcase their digital skills. The Fit4internet platform offers a way to track and prove digital competencies, helping with employability and ensuring that the Austrian workforce has the necessary ICT skills to meet market demands. Through the digital skills profile platform, the initiative supports both individual growth and the development of a digitally capable society.  Challenge: The challenge faced is managing proof of competencies acquired through various learning methods, including formal education, non-formal training, and informal certifications, which can lead to inconsistent records.  Securing sustainable funding to support the continuous development of new digital competencies, ensuring that programs remain up-to-date with evolving market needs. The second main challenge was fostering broad participation and engagement, especially among groups who may lack access to digital tools or education. Identified Approach / Solution: The Fit4internet platform provides a centralised, user-friendly system to manage and showcase digital competencies, aligning with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Through this platform, individuals can track and showcase their digital skills, making it easier for employers, educators, and organisations to assess their talent. The platform allows users to create an e-portfolio that showcases their digital skills, with the option to share it through a link or as a PDF. This portfolio highlights the digital competencies that a user has acquired, linked to their certificates. These certificates can be formal, non-formal, or informal. The platform also supports the generation of a digital skills profile that showcases the user’s acquired skills. Users earn digital badges as a visual representation of their skills. This allows them to continue with their learning journey, while showing off their competencies to others. Outcomes:       Key takeaways: Fit4internet engage multiple stakeholders from academia, industry, and policy to develop holistic and relevant digital competency frameworks. They also use widely applied frameworks to measure skills gaps, enabling better planning for individuals and institutions. By doing this they improve reinsertion rates into the labor force by addressing individuals digital skill gaps and aligning them with market needs. This benefits companies by providing clear insights into the skillsets that are being developed and that are available in the workforce.