Bringing Industry to the Classroom: Expert Conferences Connecting Students with Digital Twin Innovation
Best practices Bringing Industry to the Classroom: Expert Conferences Connecting Students with Digital Twin Innovation Users: SMEs, Training providers (public), Training providers (private), Industry | Theme: Indsustry Engagement | Action: Education programmes/courses | Beneficiaries: SMEs | Labour force (employed) DIGITWIN4CIUEDIGITWIN4CIUE Beatriz Martin Bautista Cerro DIGITWIN4CIUE, through the European Center of Excellence in Digitalization of Infrastructures and Cities, offers an Executive Master’s in Digital Twins for Infrastructures and Cities. This program features a flexible academic structure, attracting professionals from various disciplines in the built environment industry.Designed for professionals and engineers passionate about digital transformation in civil engineering, smart cities, and related fields, our program provides comprehensive training in key digital technologies for digital twins in infrastructures. It equips participants with the ability to conceive and develop digital twins to tackle specific challenges in infrastructure planning, design, construction, operation, and management, while also fostering the skills needed to identify business opportunities arising from digital twin technology.The Joint Institutional Executive Master diploma is issued by three of Europe’s top engineering universities: UPM (Spain), ENPC (France), BME (Hungary) and ITU (Turkey). The challenge? How can we ensure that students not only learn about Digital Twins in class but also engage with cutting-edge innovation, industry advancements, and real-world applications?Creating direct connections between students, researchers, and professionals is key to fostering career opportunities, expanding networks, and shaping a future-ready workforce. Our solution To bridge this gap, we established a structured series of expert-led conferences throughout the academic year. These sessions take place every two weeks in both online and in-person formats and are hosted across the five partner universities delivering the master’s program.Through this initiative, students benefit from continuous exposure to industry leaders, researchers, and professionals, allowing them to:• Engage directly with key players in the field• Gain insights into the latest advancements in Digital Twin technology• Participate in discussions that link academic learning with real industry needs Outcomes This initiative fosters a growth-focused learning environment, where students exchange knowledge beyond exams and assessments—driven by curiosity and professional development.Additionally, the in-person conferences enhance networking opportunities, giving students the chance to interact first-hand with guest speakers during dedicated networking sessions. These moments are crucial for establishing connections, exploring career paths, and sparking future collaborations in the rapidly evolving Digital Twin ecosystem. Key takeaways ‘Structured & Recurring Industry Engagement: Organizing expert-led conferences every two weeks ensures continuous exposure to industry leaders and real-world applications, keeping students engaged with cutting-edge advancements.Bridging Academia & Industry: Direct interaction with industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers aligns academic learning with market needs, enhancing career readiness and professional development.Networking & Career Development: Dedicated networking sessions provide students with valuable opportunities to connect with professionals, explore career paths, and foster collaborations in the Digital Twin ecosystem. Learn more here
Codesign for Cutting-Edge Digital Skills – The ACHIEVE Model
Best practices Codesign for Cutting-Edge Digital Skills – The ACHIEVE Model Users: Training Providers (Public), Training Providers (Private) | Theme: Industry Engagement | Action: Education Programmes/Courses | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Public), Training Providers (Private), Industry, SMEs, Learners (STEM background), Labour force (employed) Achieve Achieve Andrea Biancini, Salvatore Moccia A large share of European companies and particularly SMEs report significant difficulty in finding and hiring quality candidates with a sufficient level of advanced digital skills. This problem reflects not only the general lack of ICT graduates and professionals in Europe, but also a mismatch of skills demand and supply, even among professionals with ICT-related backgrounds. Oftentimes, the available academic curricula do not effectively prepare learners for the workforce or equip them with the advanced digital skills required by the industry.The ACHIEVE project serves as a best practice example of how collaborative codesign between academia and industry can revolutionize digital education. By integrating real-world market needs into the curriculum development process, ACHIEVE ensures that learners gain job-ready skills while companies benefit from a highly skilled workforce. The challenge? The rapid evolution of cloud computing, networking infrastructure, and HPC has outpaced the ability of higher education institutions to update curricula, creating a skills gap between graduates and industry needs.Universities tend to emphasise theoretical learning while industry needs practical, hands-on skills. Oftentimes, there is also limited interaction between universities and industry, which leads to curricula missing out on what skills are truly in demand, leaving graduates less prepared for the workplace. Our solution ACHIEVE pioneers a transformative approach to developing next-generation cloud and networking infrastructure education by shifting from a traditional design model to a co-design methodology. By engaging leading academic institutions, industrial partners, and research centers from the outset, the project ensures that its educational programs align with the real-world demands of industry and research. A central pillar of ACHIEVE is its deep integration of academic excellence with industrial expertise. The program establishes strong ties with HPC providers, cloud infrastructure companies, telecom firms, and research institutions, ensuring that students gain both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience. The curriculum incorporates real-world case studies, industry-led challenges, and applied research projects, enabling students to develop competencies that are immediately applicable in high-demand job markets. Outcomes: Industry-Aligned Education: The curriculum was designed in collaboration with leading cloud providers, telecom companies, and HPC research centers, ensuring graduates acquire in-demand technical skills in AI-driven networking, cloud security, and HPC architectures. Faster Curriculum Adaptation: By engaging industry experts early, the program streamlined the approval process across different national accreditation frameworks, reducing delays and aligning with market needs more effectively. Stronger Industry Participation: Over 30 SMEs and enterprises actively contributed through guest lectures, mentorship, and internship placements, enhancing hands-on training and employability. Increased Student Engagement: The program attracted 250+ students across multiple EU countries, with 85% securing industry placements or research roles within six months of completion. Scalable Certification Model: Introduced stackable micro-credentials in cloud security, AI-driven networking, and HPC optimization, allowing professionals to upskill flexibly while maintaining workforce engagement. Key takeaways Co-design education programs with industry to ensure graduates have the right skills for the job market. Collaborate with companies and SMEs to incorporate and offer internships and real-world projects as part of the curriculum, improving students’ employability. Consider providing modular learning paths and micro-credentials: their flexibility allows for alignment with industry needs and makes upskilling more accessible. Leverage your consortium’s industry connections across countries: cross-border collaboration strengthens knowledge exchange and scalability. 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.
SME engagement for master curriculum co-creation and joint R&D initiatives
Best practices SME engagement for master curriculum co-creation and joint R&D initiatives Users: Training Providers (Public) | Theme: Industry Engagement | Action: Education Programmes/Courses | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Public), Industry, SMEs CyberSecPro cybersecpro-project.eu Kitty Kioskli, CEO & Cofounder, Trustilio CyberSecPro develops cutting-edge education and training materials available online across the EU. It aims to prepare new workforce generations and up-skill existing professionals to address cybersecurity challenges. To address its diverse target group, the project involves actors from academia and industry. In particular, it includes the establishment of a unique learning factory, to create an environment where innovation, research, industry, academia and SME support are linked, so that cybersecurity training remains relevant and responsive to industry needs. The challenge? Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face constraints in terms of budget, personnel, and time, which makes it challenging for them to engage in cybersecurity education and training. Designing master programmes that are tailored to their specific needs while also allowing for scalability across different countries adds complexity. Additionally, maintaining SME engagement throughout the programme is difficult due to shifting market conditions and changing business priorities. Ensuring long-term commitment requires a clear value proposition, practical and industry-relevant course content, and dedicated support mechanisms that align with their continuously changing needs. Our solution CyberSecPro implemented a co-creation approach, actively involving SMEs in the development of a Cybersecurity Master’s Curriculum. By collaborating with SMEs, the programme ensured that the curriculum integrated industry demands, practical skills, and real-world business scenarios. CyberSecPro implemented joint R&D initiatives between higher education institutions (HEIs) and SMEs. These partnerships aligned academic research with the technological and market-driven needs of SMEs, facilitating knowledge transfer and enhancing the practical application of cybersecurity solutions. By bridging academia and industry, this collaboration generated mutual benefits, ensuring that SME engagement remained strong and that cybersecurity training was relevant. Key takeaways Flexible Engagement Models: Implement adaptable participation structures that allow SMEs to engage at varying levels based on their resource availability. This will increase accessibility and encourage long-term involvement. Customisable, SME-Centric Curriculum: Design tailored training programmes that align with the specific needs of SMEs, ensuring content is relevant, practical, and directly applicable to their business contexts. Ongoing Engagement & Feedback: Establish regular check-ins and feedback loops to maintain SME involvement, allowing training programmes to respond to shifting industry demands and business priorities. 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.
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) AI and Health aiandhealth.eu Baran Bayindir, CEO, Smart Lab Partner 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. 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.
Leveraging flexible approaches and platforms for SME engagement in master’s programme design
Best practices Leveraging flexible approaches and platforms for SME engagement in master’s programme design Users: Training Providers (Public) | Theme: Industry Engagement | Action: Education Programmes/Courses | Beneficiaries: Training Providers (Public), Industry, SMEs DIGITWIN4CIEU digitwin4ciue.eu Ignacio González Tejada – Center of Excellence Director, UPM Rocío López Espinosa – Project Coordinator, UPM Beatriz Martín Bautista-Cerro – Project Manager, UPM DIGITWIN4CIEU offers a master’s degree across Spain, France, Hungary, and Turkey, equiping civil engineers with digital skill’s for the industry’s transformation. The quality and relevance of the content is largely ensured due to the industry and academic experts from SMEs and universities that have collaborated in the development of this masters. The challenge? Convincing SMEs in manufacturing to embrace the virtualization of infrastructures proves challenging, as they are already struggling to adapt to industry-specific requirements such as developing Building Information Modelings (BIM). Additionally, SMEs are hesitant to invest in sponsoring students and face limited availability of employees to participate in the preparation stages of the Master’s programme due to professional projects and deadlines that they must adhere to. Our solution DIGITWIN4CIUE offers an Executive Master’s in Digital Twins for Infrastructures and Cities, featuring an academic programme designed with flexibility. To attract professionals from different disciplines in the built environment industry, flexible scheduling options such as evening or recorded classes have been implemented. DIGITWIN4CIUE is developing tailor-made training, including long-term courses and MOOC programs, with specialized content designed to meet industry needs. This continuous generation of technical content aims to shape the mindset of SME managers and highlight the importance of adapting to technological advancements. DIGITWIN4CIUE has established a European Centre of Excellence, which serves as the primary platform for engaging with SMEs. It acts as a hub for innovative research, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and government. Key takeaways A network of contacts to generate impact: Create a technical contents team, that will generate weekly communications of interest to persuade SMEs managers on the need to anticipate the future of the construction sector, in order to be competitive with larger entities. Regular publications on social media: Publish posts on a mix of channels, including LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube etc. to keep stakeholders engaged in the goal of the project. Sign collaboration agreements with SME associations (e.g. ANCI, Tecniberia) to mobilise participation in programme development and deployment. 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) MERIT digitalmerit.eu Simona Ramanauskaite, Full professor and senior researcher, Vilnius GediminasTechnical University 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 commit 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 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 presence and active participation of industry representatives strengthened the relationship between the industry and academia. Students were able to gain real-world insights and network with professionals by taking on tasks from their real world situations. The first MERIThON set the stage for a consistent link between like-minded individuals, who would like to work together to continue the innovation development of Artificial Intelligence 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.