The EU requests member states to equip their citizens with the necessary digital competences to strengthen their employability and the competitiveness in general. Statistics suggest that 37 % of the EU workforce have insufficient digital skills and13 % assessed as having none at all (Digital Scoreboard EC for 2015). And even if employees are already familiar with digital devices and applications due to private use it does not mean that they can apply those appropriately at work. Companies demand other or further vocational, digital skills, namely related to handeling (big) data, data protection or digital marketing. As we identified a gap between privately aquired and vocationally required digital skills accross Europe we see a strong need to carry out his project transnationally. We apply the "DigComp" assessment tool to analyze the supply and demand of digital competences of staff in SMEs exemplified by the two sectors commerce and trade. We will document our findings in a recommendation for action for relevant SMEs. Competences must be acquired and trained. For this reason our recommendations will also include issues of teaching and learning directly at the work place. While doing their job people mostly learn informally, e.g. exchanging knowledge and experiences with colleagues or studying a topic on their own (self-directed learning) – often supported by digital means. These forms of “work-based-learning 4.0” require a supportive environment and an embedding in the companies’ corporate culture. We intent to support SMEs on their way to promote the development of informal digital competences of their staff and to include digital "learning" at the work place proactively. Therefore we will create training guidelines and an online toolbox targeted to digital competence promoters in SMEs. It will enable them to develop strategies to sensitize their SME for the training demands in a digital age but also support digital up-skilling of employees by assessing digital competences as well as advising on appropriate training pathways. The promoter takes on an interface role as he knows about existing digital applications and new ways of learning and can match those with the SMEs needs and resources. The promoter is an "expert" for a "work based learning 4.0 strategy" in the companies. The targeted SMEs will receive an important impetus for their digital change process which can only be successful with digital competent staff. We will make strong use of the positive, promotive perception of digital competences and their importance for employees but also trainees in society and on a political level. Therefore we will build synergies with other regional and national initiatives such as conferences, projects and events on the topic of digital competence training and adapting to the digital age in general. Other than bigger companies SMEs are often driven by daily business thus lacking time and resources to strategically deal with digital challenges. Having the future digital developments in mind we intent to establish and spread a feasable, appealing training WBL 4.0 for an employee who is equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to accompany his companies' digital transformation. Successful digital transformation 4.0 needs well trained employees 4.0 with a high digital literacy.
The DC4Work project focused on the necessary digital skills that a workplace 4.0 needs. A digitally well-set company needs employees who have professional specific digital knowledge and competences. Studies presented those to be the decisive factor for companies' performance and success in the so-called digital age - especially in sectors with high priority on communiation and customer orientation (tourism & commerce). For this purpose the project suggested to appoint a “Digital competence promoter” in companies (SMEs) or organizations in these 2 sectors. His/her job is to guide colleagues on digital competences improvement integrated into their work and raise awareness for digital changes. In order to support SMEs on their way and establish a promoter for digital competences of staff (from apprentices to seniors) the project achieved 3 main results: 1) After having detected a general need for digital upskilling in SMEs prior to the project proposal the consortium carried out an online survey addressed to SMEs in the pre-defined sectors as well as interviews with experts from research, administration and practice. Their aim was to better understand the awareness and concrete practices existent in SMEs in the participating partner countries concerning measurement, promotion and development of employees’ digital competences at their workplace. The output, a White paper on learning in the digital age, summarized key-study results leading to a qualified foundation for the subsequent output and provided business benefits in terms of recommendations for SMEs on how and why to promote digital competences of their employees. 2) The second project results were guidelines basically for executives in SMEs and trainers of digital competences. By defining learning outcomes and describing concrete learning activities at the work place, they facilitated the training of DC promoters but also deepened the understanding of what the DC promoter should know, e.g. for self-study approaches. Picking up the topics detected during the consultation of the target groups in the study phase, these guidelines addressed competences and topics most in need but also added an innovative component by complementing concepts such as learning organisations, open badges, collaborative learning which were new to many enterprise staff in the given sectors. This way the guidelines contributed to an increasing level of digital competence in SMEs and deepened trainers’, managers’ and developers’ understanding and knowledge of how to transform SMEs in the digital age by focussing on staff and their digital skills. Although the project placed an emphasis on the tourism and commerce sectors, the guideline could also be re-used to train promoters in companies of other sectors or scope. 3) In order to translate the guidelines into practice and make the DC promoter working effectively an online toolbox 4.0 was created. It explained the role of the DC promoter, provided training material and tools´s for him/her and was completed by a section on the DigitalCompetence Framework 2.1. The toolbox 4.0 combined different ways of facilitating learning, e.g.short texts, prezis, explanation videos, reports, graphs etc. structured in a way from more general knowledge to more specific topics regarding the two sectors in focus. The guidelines and the toolbox 4.0 have been tested with about 70 people during a learning & training activity and with a MOOC to ensure their quality and workability for the target group. The participants feedback confirmed a high potential of transferability of the two training modules No. 3 "Methods how to improve digital competences in my company" and No. 6 "Basics for digital competences development in SMEs (cross sectors)" to SMEs of other sectors, different types of companies from digital novices to the more advanced and further target groups such as consultants, business trainers or students of other educational sectors. This was because of their transversal approach and relevance also for other contexts.