INCREASE project is a direct response to reported employment risk of automation and SME problems in providing innovation and ensuring sustainability of innovation strategy. EU low-R&D intensive companies struggle with skilled workers availability, organisational problems and lack of innovation expertise. While ensuring staff engagement across functions is crucial for SME innovation, non-R&D SME staff presents significant lack of innovation understanding and skills. From the other side tech-innovation brought widespread risk of automation which is no longer limited to manufacturing and agricultural industries, but is accelerating fast across industries, especially in service, craft and other low-tech sectors. To support low-skilled adults in the risk of automation in increasing their employability and low-R&D intensive SME in increasing their innovative capacity the project aims at: -providing non-R&D employees with understanding how to contribute to innovation and relevant innovation skills, -building awareness of non-R&D employees of importance of innovation and related skills for their professional growth and employability, -developing innovative and entrepreneurial mindset among non-R&D staff, -building awareness of SME managers of importance of building innovation capacities among non-R&D staff and how to integrate them in innovation processes. The project complies with the priorities for 2019 of Erasmus+ program in that it promotes inclusion, and equality in the fields of training as well as shared values and equality of chances equality and social inclusion. To realize the objectives INCREASE will provide open user oriented skills development path in innovation area that will allow in time and cost effective way develop innovation skills among low skilled adults and increase capacity of SME for inclusive innovation. It specifically aims at upskilling low-skilled adults from non-R&D SME staff in high risk of automation. By development, test and delivery of targeted methodology and integrated online digital tools, it aims specifically at increasing the supply of high quality skills development programs in innovation area that will suit individual needs of low skilled Europeans, facilitate their access to upskilling pathways in innovation area and increase the human resources poll with innovation capacities. In that way the project is expected to provide a solution for increasing employability of low-skilled adults in automation risk. Further, by supporting SME in overcoming innovation barriers it is expected to contribute to increasing innovativeness and competitiveness of SME. To provide high quality comprehensive solution the partnership includes broad international spectrum of partners with diversified profile and expertise. - University "Ştefan cel Mare" of Suceava (Romania) - E&D Knowledge Consulting Lda. (Portugal) - Asociación Valencia Inno Hub (Spain) - Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT (Finland) - Warp Innovation (Austria) - Danmar Computers zoo (Poland) - Asociatia de Dezvoltare Economico-Sociala (Romania).
Within the project the INCREASE partnership aimed at: > building target-group oriented tools for building awareness of non-R&D staff of importance of innovation and related skills for their professional growth and employability, > providing tools for development of understanding how to contribute to innovation and relevant innovation-oriented competences among employees, > providing tools for building awareness of SME managers of the importance of building innovation capacities among non-R&D staff and their capacity to integrate them in innovation processes, > increasing ability of organisations engaged in supporting low-skilled adults and no/low-tech SMEs to develop their innovation readiness and engagement, > increasing readiness of engaged organisations to support individuals and organisations (especially SMEs) in developing innovation competence. In operational terms, INCREASE aims to offer open user-oriented development program in innovation area allowing low-skilled adults effective development of innovation readiness and increases capacity of SME for inclusive innovation. It looks to facilitate access to upskilling pathways in innovation area and contribute to increasing the human resources poll with innovation capacities.
INCREASE addresses the growing challenges of automation and innovation that SMEs are facing. Despite innovation and automation advantages and benefits, employees and managers may see them as a threat due to market challenges they bring – adaptation requirement, development of individual and organisational competences and changes in mindset. But for competitiveness of our economy, employees and managers need to learn and adapt to the new reality. From one side, INCREASE directly focuses on reported unemployment risk resulting from SME automation by providing tools for building innovation competence among low-skilled employees being most at risk of exclusion from job market due to fast automation. From the other, it responds to lack of skilled workers that could support innovation in SMEs, their limited organisational competences and acceptance/understanding of the need for engaging into innovation. It directly addresses the needs of low-skilled workforce and low/no-tech SMEs, as well as of organisations engaged in their support for simple solutions that may decrease resistance to innovation and automation and develop readiness to move from easily automatable tasks to innovation-oriented ones among the targeted individuals and SMEs.