The European Union is recognizing the importance of adopting innovative methods to incorporate new techniques and training tools across its member states, necessitating a shift in how information is disseminated and training is conducted on emerging topics for SMEs. Aligned with the European Commission's objectives to foster digital growth and inclusion within businesses and SMEs, and to integrate blockchain into their processes (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/blockchainstrategy), the TrainChain project is designed to have a global influence. The initiative focuses on developing a pan-European public services blockchain and emphasizes the use of blockchain for sustainability, cybersecurity, legal certainty, interoperability, and data protection. These focus areas align with the pressing needs of Europe and are deemed essential for all countries. TrainChain through the developed content and tools/platforms aims to address the needs of its target groups in Europe while also making a positive impact on SMEs and the international landscape.
TrainChain (Blockchain Training for Start-Ups) was designed to meet the training needs of early-stage companies that employ largely young and inexperienced staff. As the number of start-ups in Europe rises so does the proportion of young employees in these firms, with over a quarter under 34. Despite this growth, these companies often offer little job security, with a company survival rate below 50% in 2018. Lack of formal qualifications and skills gap in the labor market are key issues fueling that problem. To tackle such issues, various studies, included one done by the project partners prior to the proposal, SMEs face multiple challenges, including barriers to market entry, transaction issues, data storage, cash flow, and secsecurity concerns, as well as difficulties in efficiently protecting intellectual property (IP). Blockchain technology could provide solutions for the above challenges and the international consortium behind TrainChain aims to develop a personalized platform that will outline necessary strategies.These efforts were planned to concentrate on IoT and finances but, during the implementation and through research in the partners’ countries, new thematic areas were decided to be covered in the developed content.