Online training repositories for rural SMEs

Rural-eGov and Rural-Inclusion initiatives Dr. Nikos Manouselis Greek Research & Technology Network [email protected]

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what is a learning/training resource?

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http://www.teachersdomain.org/ EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08 3

EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08 TaxisNet (Greece) 4

http://digitalenterprise.org/ EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08 5

learning object

• "any entity, digital or non-digital, that may be used for learning, education or training"

Learning Technology Standards Committee (2002), Draft Standard for Learning Object Metadata (LOM). IEEE Standard 1484.12.1

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digital repository

• “system for the storage, location and retrieval of digital resources”

Holden C., “From Local Challenges to a Global Community: Learning Repositories Summit”, Academic ADL Co-Lab, 2003

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digital

training

repository

• …the nature of resources or their description reflects an interest of use in an educational/training context

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any SME ones?

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any SME ones?

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any SME ones?

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any SME ones?

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any rural/agricultural ones?

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any rural/agricultural ones?

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any rural/agricultural ones?

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any rural/agricultural ones?

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…for rural SMEs?

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the Rural-eGov Observatory

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introduction

• Enterprises in rural areas are away from the decision and policy-making centres – need for access to timely and certified public information and services • Many public agencies offer eGovernment services – e.g. information resources, online forms, online interaction

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e-government

• e-Government (eGov) aims to exploit the power of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in order to: – transform the accessibility, quality and cost effectiveness of public services – revitalise the relationship between customers (citizens) and public bodies

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obstacle

• A large percentage of the EU population either “…does not reap the benefits of ICTs in full or is effectively cut off from them”

[EC, 2005]

• E.g., low degree of ICT adoption and use of online services from rural SMEs • Need to make ICT products & services more accessible from regions that are lagging behind

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Rural-eGov aim

• Focus on public/governmental services – major part of the European economy • Help rural SMEs in finding and using eGov services for business purposes • Take advantage of experience and best practices from other initiatives that focus on rural SMEs – e.g. Opportunity Wales (UK) & Go-Online Training Support (Greece)

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need

• Lifelong learning activities of rural SMEs to be enhanced – to raise awareness and communicate benefits from the business use of eGov • A combination of support actions is required: – a training curriculum that can convince SMEs about potential benefits for their business – training schemes that are adapted to the particular needs/habits of rural SMEs – an online point of reference which SMEs can continuously access for information and content

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the Rural-eGov approach

• Rural-eGov: Training SMEs of Rural Areas in Using e-Government Services • Main enablers: 1. Training curriculum that increases awareness, explains ways to introduce business uses of eGov, illustrates benefits for the SMEs 2. Training schemes that combine tutor-based training with self-paced digital training resources 3. Online observatory of eGov services and training resources

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about the project

• • • • • Leonardo da Vinci (LdV) pilot project that run for 2 years started: November 2006 ended: October 2008 • • • 11 participants 4 universities previously involved in training SMEs A professional training expert an eGov expert • • user organisations from 5 European regions Wales UK, Bradenburg DE, Aegean islands GR, Koscierzyna PL, Moravske Toplice SI more info at: http://rural-egov.eu

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objectives

(1/3)

• • • • • To study for the five regions of the project: degree of awareness of eGov concepts & services current level of adoption/use • To review the status of deployed eGov services in the participating countries study how/if they meet the needs of rural SMEs • Based on the above: to identify training needs & requirements for SMEs in the participating regions

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objectives

(2/3)

• • • To develop a set of proposed training scenarios, combining: traditional forms of learning • ICT-based learning • • To develop digital training content that will support the proposed scenarios reuse existing content from previous training initiatives develop content particularly introducing SMEs to eGov

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objectives

(3/3)

• • • • To design and develop a web-based observatory (Rural-eGov Observatory) will collect and categorize already deployed eGov services that can support SMEs in rural areas • to be used as both a training & a business tool To implement the training scenarios through a number of pilot sessions with the user groups • To produce a set of recommendations for EU agencies, national governments, rural administration, other involved stakeholders

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Rural-eGov observatory

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users

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some numbers

• the Repository in Numbers – 77 Digital Training Objects – 74 eGov Services • the Portal in Numbers – 7 Registered Visitors – 15 DTO Developers – 7 eGRO Collectors

…visit, register, use, evaluate! http://egov.aua.gr:8080/observatory/ EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08 34

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Rural-Inclusion

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the project

• Rural-Inclusion: e-Government Lowering Administrative Burdens for Rural Businesses

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about

• funded by the CIP Policy Support Programme (PSP) • 2008 call for proposals • Pilot B Project, duration 36 months • starting (est.): 1/3/2009 • ending: 30/2/2012 • overall budget: 4.800.000 euros • community funding: 2.400.000 euros (50%)

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relevant issues to explore

• how do you develop training repositories for rural SMEs?

– how do you populate them with training resources?

– how do you convince SMEs to use them?

• how do you integrate them in the Web portals of the regional agencies/authorities?

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EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08

conclusions

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potential

• digital training resources for rural SMEs:

useful

• having them organised in training repositories: good • exploring ways to introduce them into formal and informal education & training of rural communities: – challenging and worthwhile

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“buts”

• the technical issues are several – interoperability – requires standards, technologies, protocols, … • rural communities lack – connectivity/infrastructure – training – motivation – …

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EVITA Kick Off Meeting, 9 December ‘08

for more info

Nikos Manouselis [email protected]

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