The European Commission has launched the Digital Agenda for Europe, which proposes to better exploit the potential of ICT in order to foster innovation, economic growth and progress, pointing out the need to promote digital skills of European workforce. However digital technologies and software may be quite expensive, unsecure and not customisable to specific needs of users. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can offer an alternative: anyone is freely licensed to use FOSS, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared. The benefits of using FOSS can include decreasing software costs, increasing security and stability, protecting privacy, and giving users more control over their own hardware. Therefore the FOSS4SMEs project intends to equip European SMEs with the skills and competences to properly use Free and Open Source Software, so to improve their digital performances and competitiveness. To reach this objective, the project intends to develop a free online educational resource for managers and staff of existing SMEs or start-ups, to allow them uptake the open software digital transformation. The course will be freely available to individual students (managers and staff of SMEs) and will be used by public and private bodies providing support, consultancy and training to businesses, which will be able to organise training courses using the results of the project. The project also aims to facilitate recognition and transferability of competences, thus mobility, by implementing the ECVET system to the professional profile of the FOSS Business User (FOSS-BU). In total more than 300 end-users will be involved during the training activities: SMEs managers, business executive and staff, which represent the direct target group. They will be involved first in a training gaps and motivation analysis, then in the assessment exercises, in view of its fine-tuning and final release. SMEs will be trained to be able to understand and recognise the full potential of open source for their business, so to be free to decide whether they want to use proprietary software or make a partial/full migration to FOSS. In particular they will be trained in order to: • understand how to make the most of open source and select the solutions most relevant to the specific type of business • lead staff from across all areas of the business towards a more proactive use of ICT • set out a strategy to invest time and resources on the improvement of the digital performance of their company • develop business and operating models that are innovative and strategic Indirect target groups are VET providers and business support organisations (consultants, trainers, especially in the field of ICT). It is expected that each partner will involve 2-3 VET providers in two phases: during the assessment of results to collect feedbacks and during the exploitation activities, in order to create strong contacts and favour direct exploitation of results in the VET centres education offer. A specific stakeholders database will be created for this purpose. Via the mainstream dissemination activities (e.g. social media, website visitors, e-newsletters) and the multiplier events, the number of people and organisations reached is expected to reach 7000. The tangible results will be: • The definition of the ECVET curriculum of FOSS Business user. As a proper European standard on FOSS education for business is missing, the project intends to provide a reference curriculum to allow international recognition of skills and competences at European level, favouring transparency and mobility, in view of a better employability of SMEs staff. • One VET course for SMEs staff on how to use FOSS in their business activities, hosted on a distant learning platform and freely available as open educational resource. • A policy recommendation Report addressed to decision-makers and VET providers to promote digital migration to FOSS among European SMEs. The project methodology is based on three principles: 4. Develop products that are the best suited to the needs of the target group identified. 5. Make the outcomes of the project sustainable and usable for a large number of stakeholders even after the end of the eligible period 6. Promote a work-based learning approach for small and medium enterprises, based on a practical modular training, where the students can select the units and tools most relevant to their specific needs, thanks to a self-diagnostic tool helping them start a FOSS strategy. Besides individual people and organisation participating in the project, the FOSS4SMEs initiative intends to promote a change of approach to ICT within European SMEs. In line with the uptake of the sharing and collaborative economy, open source is a form of usage of ICT that entails a change of patterns, from simple consumption to contribution (as open source requires contributing to the code development and usage).
Context/background of the project:Digital technologies and software may be quite expensive, unsecure and not customisable to specific needs of users. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can offer an alternative: anyone is freely licensed to use FOSS, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared. The benefits of using FOSS can include decreasing software costs, increasing security and stability (especially in regard to malware), protecting privacy, avoiding lockup in commercial solutions and giving users more control over their own hardware. Open source therefore brings several benefits for European SMEs, so it is necessary to equip them with the skills and competences necessary to make good and efficient use of FOSS. According to our findings, there were no studies, researches or surveys available, focused specifically on the use of FOSS by European SMEs. This is the reason why the present project focused on European skill gaps and delivered tailored outcomes.Objectives:The project intended to equip European SMEs with the skills and competences to properly use Free and Open Source Software, so to improve their digital performances and competitiveness. The project also aimed to facilitate recognition and transferability of competences, thus mobility, by implementing the ECVET system to the professional profile of the FOSS Business User (FOSS-BU).Number and type/profile of participants:The target audience of the FOSS4SMEs was mainly SMEs (210), public administrations, policy makers (40), organisations and individuals. Incubator centres, enterprise agencies, chambers of commerce and start-up organisations on national and international levels were also contacted in order to reach as many SMEs as possible. (120) Stakeholders, including awarding bodies, professional bodies and associations with a significant and relevant membership, research centres were engaged and helped the project reach even larger audiences. The overall reach out of the project is estimated to 7,000 people.Description of undertaken activities:Firstly, a desktop research necessary for the ECVET curriculum and a field research with a training gaps and motivation analysis were conducted. Based on these results the partners designed the curriculum of the FOSS Business User, which served as a basis for the development of O2. In the second phase, the team worked on the development of the training course (5 units), its translation in national languages (GR, IT, DE) and the development of the distant learning tools, namely the FOSS4SMEs platform. In parallel the team conducted assessment activities, and involved SMEs in short training activities. Similarly, VET providers have also provided their feedback. In the last phase the team worked on the policy recommendations, which were presented to the general public (mainly policy makers) during the final international conference in Brussels.Results and impact attained:The tangible results of the FOSS4SMES project are:1. The definition of the ECVET curriculum of FOSS Business user, with a reference curriculum that allows international recognition of skills and competences.2. The vocational education and training (VET) course for managers and staff of existing and start-up SMEs on how to use FOSS in their business activities, hosted on a distant learning platform and freely available to individual students as open educational resource. The project allows them uptake the open software digital transformation. The course can be used by public and private bodies providing support, consultancy and training to businesses, which will be able to organise training courses using the results of the project.3. The Policy Recommendation Report addressed to decision-makers and VET providers to promote digital migration to FOSS among European SMEs. Longer-term benefits:Besides individual people and organisations participating in the project, the FOSS4SMEs initiative managed to promote a change of approach to ICT within European SMEs. In line with the uptake of the sharing and collaborative economy, open source was presented as a form of usage of ICT that entails a change of patterns, from simple consumption to contribution (as open source requires contributing to the code development and usage).