28.10.2021
CERTIFICATE FOR NEW DIGITAL SKILLS OF PEOPLE OVER 50
Surely we will all agree that digital literacy brings countless benefits in both our personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, digitally untrained people, most often of the older generation (50+), find it difficult to cope with new technologies and therefore they often remain disadvantaged by the possibilities of the digital world.
A special project, co-financed by EU funds under the Danube Transnational Cooperation Program 2014-2020, brings together partners from 8 countries in the field of digital competences for people over 50. "Building the digital entrepreneurial capacity of older people through the innovative training system", or the eDigiStars project, aims to develop sustainable ecosystems that successfully turn older workers into digital self-employed people, helping both people to acquire the skills they want, so that companies remain competitive.
The project covers 19 partners in 8 Danube countries - Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine. An important part of the project is the development of three tools that will play a crucial role in the process.
eDigiStars is based on real vocational cooperation: vocational and adult training organizations, employment offices, NGOs, local authorities, chambers of commerce, businesses, economic development organizations and disadvantaged target groups work together to guarantee success.
The three tools are - POWERYOU will enable older people for digital self-employment, CAMPUS will adapt relevant courses for older people to their specific needs, and LABEL will certify those older people who demonstrate sufficient digital skills.
During special meetings and seminars, which were held via videoconferencing due to the covid crisis, the project partners discussed the creation of the tools using different methods of interactive group work. The participants were divided into groups in different virtual rooms on the internet-based MIRO platform.
LABEL shows how to build trust and prove the competence of older people to employers.
The description of the instrument includes the stages of its creation, sustainability over time, quality criteria, as well as its financial sustainability, promotion and advertising. For this purpose it is necessary to study the possibilities for financing the respective territory, to make a connection with the interested parties and the purposeful promotion of eDigiStars.
Close cooperation with business and information about its requirements, as well as regular dialogue between partners and stakeholders - companies, firms, politicians, training providers, employment offices and others - are essential for high-quality training and certification.
The process and implementation of accreditation for an independent and recognized certificate is not feasible within the project. Therefore, we must work closely with a high-quality educational partner that is recognized in the market of each territory.
The LABEL tool is aimed at participants who work intensively with the industry or represent them, e.g. chambers of commerce, associations and other business support institutions. With the help of this tool, two things will be achieved: first, widely recognized certificates will be issued to eDigiStars participants. Secondly, trust will be established in the already retrained target group 50+ (120 people in total) as valuable participants in the digitalized work environment.
The pilot programs of all three eDigiStars tools will disseminate information about them, will demonstrate on the spot among the various employment offices and other participants in the process how they work, will study how informing and motivating the unemployed over 50 to participate in digital entrepreneurship training. They also aim to inform that eDigiStars-certified people over the age of 50 with the LABEL tool are attractive for employment in the industry.
The development of the tool also contains practical advice - to analyze job postings in the digital field, to understand the current market situation and the specific needs of companies in your area, to make a direct link between companies and training organizations to overcome the differences in skills between companies and trainees, look for large, innovative companies where there is a critical assessment of demand-oriented training.
Working with small and medium-sized businesses also offers various advantages: based on their specific business needs, many of them are not satisfied with the available training on the market and seek specialized. In this case, the eDigiStars system can be especially useful for them.
The mission of the eDigiStars team is to support people over the age of 50 living in the Danube macro-region to stay active and useful both with their strengths and talents and with their new knowledge.
More information at http://www.interreg-danube.eu/approved-projects/edigistars
