HISTEK

Programme Name:  INTERREG IPA CBC ITALY-ALBANIA-MONTENEGRO

Project Title:             High Specialized Technicians in Kets

Project Acronym:     HISTEK

Duration:                   24 months (03.04.2018 – 02.04.2020)

 

Programme Objective:  Strengthening the cross-border cooperation and competitiveness of SMEs

Project Priority: HISTEK aims at enhancing SMEs’ capacities of competitiveness, innovation and internationalization, through the creation of a new CBC cluster whose members are SMEs, Training Organizations and Public Institutions, strongly committed to set-up and carry on, with a co-responsible approach, a cross-border innovation community

Programme Priority Specific Objective: Enhance the framework conditions for the development of SME’s cross- border market.

Lead Partner:            LP Ministry of Education, Montenegro

Partners:

• PP2 Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, PKCG
• PP3 FOUNDATION ITS “ANTONIO CUCCOVILLO”,ITS CUCCOVILLO
• PP4 Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Artisanship and Agriculture of Bari, CCIAA
• PP5 Faculty of Business, University “Aleksandër Moisiu”, Durrës, Albania, UAMD
• PP6 Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tirana CCIT

Assocciated Partners: PP7 Ministry of Education, Italy

Project Summary:

HISTEK aims at enhancing SMEs’ capacities of competitiveness, innovation and internationalization, through the creation of a new CBC cluster whose members are SMEs, Training Organizations and Public Institutions, strongly committed to set-up and carry on, with a co-responsible approach, a cross-border innovation community. In order to improve SMEs’ competitiveness and innovation, one of the most important leverage is represented by human resources, i.e. companies, especially those ones that have already or intend to establish new branches in CB area, need very highly qualified technicians according to CB common standards, to allow and to favor their mobility in the 3 Countries. For this reason HISTEK, will create the CBC cluster, that will work soundly to develop common tools for assessing SMEs’ needs in terms of human resources, and to create common standards to be adopted in the education systems for developing young highly qualified technicians. This represent in fact a strategic framework condition for the development of SME’s cross-border market.

The CBC Cluster will be immediately operative, through a pilot action whose key elements are: 1) creation of a CB Assessment Tool Kit to be used by SMEs in recruiting activities of young technicians; 2) design of a new join (IT-AL-ME) CB tertiary education course, to be implemented soon after the end of the project, able to train high specialized technicians with advanced high technical preparation, particularly focused on Key Enabling Technologies. In fact, KETs are considered essential for growth and employment, since they provide the basis for innovation in a wide range of industries; 3) dedicated toolkits and guidelines for improving the capacity of SMEs to deal with practical learnings inside the company and with mentoring activities. HISTEK wants to offer an effective and sustainable response to CB SMEs regarding the challenge of innovation against the economic crisis.

Project Main Objectives:

Consistent with what emerged from the analysis of the needs and challenges of the three territories, the specific aims and objectives of the project are: -to analyze the SMEs needs of key competences, with a specific focus on KETs, to define a common highly specialized technical profile to be trained for giving an internal boost to Cross-Border SMEs in their processes of innovation, business development and competitiveness; -to create a dedicated cluster that will act as a networked innovation community able to improve, the process of developing young people technical skills (and in particular on KETs) giving a tangible answer to specific CB SMEs needs; -to elaborate a new join transnational tertiary education curriculum customized on the specific needs of CB SMEs with co-designed (SMEs/Training Institutions) modules characterized by strong cross fertilization of competencies and involvement of both SMEs and educational also in teaching activities; to create dedicated Toolkits and Guidelines for improving the capacity of SMEs to deal with recruiting, practical learnings and mentoring activities; -to lay the foundation for the implementation, after the end of the project, of the new transnational tertiary education curriculum jointly managed by the 3 countries involved (Consortium agreement). The Consortium intends, by this way, to contribute to achieve the First Axe and Cross-cutting priorities of the Programme: -to improve the skills profile of the workforce to respond to the specific needs of CB SMEs in terms of innovation to fight against the economic crisis; -to create a networked innovation community able to improve, with a co-responsible approach, the creation of common standards to be adopted in the education systems for developing young highly qualified technicians to favor the real and sustainable competitiveness of CB SMEs and for allowing the mobility of technicians at CB level as key factor for improving SMEs capacity of internationalization.

Project Specific Objectives:

SO1: Analysis of SMEs needs and of the actual training offer in kets in partner countries

The first specific objective of the project is realize a study activity necessary to: -detect the real SMEs’ needs of new technicians (middle skilled workers), with high level profile and specific competencies, transversal skills and critical knowledge concerning KETs, able to give an internal boost to innovation and business development; – identify the conditions needed to define a non- university tertiary education offer, aligned to the needs of innovation and competitiveness of CB SMEs; -co-define an innovative technical profile, customized on the specific needs of SMEs in the field of KETs, and related curriculum including technical and soft skills, such as : *Technical multidiscipline (e.g. mechatronics combining mechanics, electrics and systems engineering); *Non – Technical multidiscipline in the areas of quality, risk & safety; management & entrepreneurship; communication; innovation-related competences and emotional intelligence.

SO2: Pilot actions: creation of the cluster and related initial services for SMEs

The second specific objective of the project will be focused on: – the creation of a cluster SMEs/Training Institutions/Public Institutions belonging to the three countries for supporting, with a strong commitment, a networked innovation community able to improve the creation of common standards to be adopted in the education systems for developing young highly qualified technicians favoring competitiveness and internationalization; – the implementation of initials pilot actions (creation of a new CB Assessment Toolkit, design of a new join (IT-AL-ME) CB tertiary education course, creation of a dedicated Toolkit and guidelines for improving the capacity of SMEs to deal with practical learnings and mentoring activities)

SO3: Consortium agreement and guidance activities

The third specific objective of the project will be the validation of the new transnational non-university tertiary education course, focused on technological multidiscipline (and in particular KETs) with the consequent drafting and sharing of a Consortium Agreement (CA). The CA will commit all project partners to jointly carry out the new course after the end of the project life. In the meanwhile guidance activities will be designed and realized. These will be addressed to SMEs to present focused on Cluster and the related service (i.e. provide support for recruiting and training high level profile middle skilled workers much more aligned to their real and actual needs), and to schools to raise awareness of young students about the new training and work opportunities offered by the cluster in cooperation with CB SMEs

Activities:

• Working Package M: Management
• Working Package T1: Analysis of SMEs needs and actual training offers     in KETs
• Working Package T2: Creation of a new transnational cluster and first pilot actions
• Working Package T3: Consortium Agreement
• Working Package C: Communication

Project Main Result:

The main result of the project is the creation of a dedicated cluster SMEs/Training Institutions/Public Institutions belonging to the three Countries for supporting, with a strong commitment, a networked innovation community able to improve, with common pilot actions, the process of developing the skills of young people of the three territories, favoring the free market of labor and the real and sustainable competitiveness of CB SMEs. This main result is in line with the needs, challenges and results of Albania Country Strategy Paper (that foresees to foster the competitiveness and innovation of SMEs), Indicative Strategy Paper for Montenegro (that stresses the need to support the ability of traditional industries to compete and innovate through training and skills development) and Italian Partnership agreement (that requires to enhance the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises improving the job conditions and the technological innovation of enterprises).

Project Main Outputs

• Cluster agreement
• CB Assessment Toolkit
• SMEs and Training Institutions assessments
• Consortium agreement