In today’s fast-changing society, marked by the turbulence of the economy, changeable funding conditions, technical progress, and globalization, the connections between education, research and business have become increasingly important. As a response, High education institutions have engaged in fostering of university – industry collaboration and entrepreneurial behavior in university staff (teachers and researchers) and students through a range of mechanisms. In spite of the efforts, still too few people in Europe have the entrepreneurial mindset and competences to start their own business and keep adapting to evolving requirements of the labour market. Given the above, academia and private sector have joined their forces in order to strengthen the connections between education, research and business by fostering entrepreneurial mindset in teachers, researchers and students through innovative methods which enable successful creation and transfer of innovation from academia to private sector. Specific project objectives are: -To strengthen existing business opportunity support system at partner organizations by incorporating innovative Open Educational Resources into existing practices, which secure efficient transfer of ideas to market and encourage university-industry collaboration; -To develop Open Educational Resources in a form of Business Opportunity Self-Assessment methodology, Business Opportunity Development Planning Tool, appropriate educational material in different format, and open, automatized and web-based Business Opportunity support system (BOSS platform); -To stimulate teachers’, researchers’ and students’ ability to initiate and carry out entrepreneurial projects, ranging from opportunity recognition to opportunity exploitation.
In today’s fast-changing society, marked by the turbulence of the economy, changeable funding conditions, technical progress, and globalization, the connections between education, research, and business have become increasingly important. Therefore, academia and private sector joined their forces to strengthen the connections between education, research and business by fostering entrepreneurial mindset in teachers, researchers, and students through innovative methods that enable successful creation and transfer of innovation from academia to the private sector. The following specific project objectives: -To strengthen existing business opportunity support system at partner organizations by incorporating innovative Open Educational Resources into existing practices, which secure efficient transfer of ideas to market and encourage university-industry collaboration; -To develop Open Educational Resources in a form of Business Opportunity Self-Assessment methodology, Business Opportunity Development Planning Tool, appropriate educational material in a different format, and open, automatized, and web-based Business Opportunity support system (BOSS platform); -To stimulate teachers’, researchers’ and students’ ability to initiate and carry out entrepreneurial projects, ranging from opportunity recognition to opportunity exploitation, were achieved through implementation of numerous activities focused on project management and implementation, and development of intellectual outputs. Internal and external quality control and monitoring were performed and all operational aspects of the project were managed following developed Project Management procedures and Quality Control System. Two separate tendering procedures were organized, and service providers were selected. Also, regular online project partner meetings were organized, and two transnational meetings were held during the project. The BOSS logo was developed, and different information about the project was published on the project website (www.boss.rect.bg.ac.rs), BOSS - Erasmus + Facebook page, and the BOSS - Erasmus + LinkedIn page, as well as on project partners’ communication channels. The project was also promoted during 20 onsite and online events, organized by different stakeholders at local, national, and international levels. Project partners’ support systems were strengthened by including the BOSS platform in their existing practices. Also, support, advice, and answers about BOSS tools were offered to users. Communication and cooperation with Associated Partners were focused on feedback on the Intellectual Outputs, and on dissemination of project results through their communication channels. The following four intellectual outputs were created: Business Opportunity Self-Assessment Methodology in English language, available at http://www.boss.rect.bg.ac.rs/about-project-outputs-outcomes/ . Business Opportunity Development Planning Tool in English language available at http://www.boss.rect.bg.ac.rs/about-project-outputs-outcomes . Educational materials in pdf and video format in English language, available at https://bossplatform.rect.bg.ac.rs/ . BOSS Platform (https://bossplatform.rect.bg.ac.rs/), with the following elements: - User guide in English, Italian, Serbian, and French language. -The online Self-Assessment Tool and the online Business Opportunity Development Planning Tool in four languages. - Two forms for evaluation of the Self-Assessment Tool, the Business Opportunity Development Planning Tool, and related educational materials in four languages. - Training materials in pdf format in English, Italian, French, and Serbian language, and video materials in English with available subtitles in four languages. - Business Opportunity Disclosure Form in English, that was not foreseen in the project application, but it was added because of its importance for the commercialization process, and no costs were claimed to the project. During the project, 1258 people had the opportunity to engage in assessment, development, and disclosure of business opportunities. Also, those 824 students, 167 researchers, 58 teachers, and 209 other users (entrepreneurs, SMEs, companies, professionals dealing with knowledge and technology transfer, innovations, and entrepreneurship at the universities, and organizations that support SMEs and start-ups, etc.) increased their level of awareness about different aspects that influence success of business opportunity, by learning more about the topics related to the elements and dimensions which are crucial for recognition and development of a business opportunity. Based on the high satisfaction with enhanced business opportunity support system, long -term benefits, such as increased level of collaboration between academia, research and business, growth of innovation activity, increased number of start-ups, and intensified knowledge and technology transfer are expected.