The FOSS4SMEs project intends to equip European SMEs with the skills and competences to properly use Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), so to improve their digital performances and competitiveness. To reach this objective, the project intends to develop a free online educational resource for managers and staff of existing SMEs or start-ups, allowing them to take up the opportunities offered by digital era and current developments for businesses in ICT. You can check our new @EUErasmusPlus project website at http://www.foss4smes.eu/
ATLANTIS Engineering, is an ICT Small Medium Enterprise (SME) working in the field of Maintenance and Asset Management. We help companies organise their assets, maintenance departments,personnel, resources. We are active in the vocational and adult education and training fields, providing training and consulting for the maintenance community. Our goal is to ensure a smooth transfer to the digitised production and economy era, putting efforts in closing the digital skills gap.ATLANTIS Engineering coordinated the 2nd transnational project meeting held on the 3rd and 4th of May in Berlin @MozillaBerlin, where the consortium agreed on the main contents that need to be included in the training course for FOSS Business Users.
The desk research concerning training materials and contents relevant to FOSS in Greece has been completed. Atlantis Engineering wants to thank all Greek SMEs that participated in our survey and filled our questionnaire.
DLEARN stays at the forefront for the research, analysis and spread of all kinds of digital skills fostering social fairness, inclusion and higher employability. Our commitment to the FOSS4SMEs project gives us the opportunity to explore the universe of Free and Open Source Software and the valuable solutions it offers. Both members from our European network and representatives from the target group (particularly, Italian SMEs) are to be involved, at first in the research phase and then for the pilot test of the training course which we are going to develop. Our proven expertise with the ECVET system will be at disposal of the whole consortium, in order to design the course in compliance with the European standard allowing for knowledge recognition, mobility and transparency.
Dublin Institute of Technology is ranked in the top 3% of universities worldwide and our School of Computing is the largest of its kind in Ireland. We offer professionally-oriented undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes which are characterised by strong industry engagement through internships, industry projects and industry accreditation. We are based in Dublin city centre, Ireland’s capital city, which has earned a reputation as the ‘Silicon Valley of Europe’. Ireland has the second highest concentration of top ICT multinationals in the world and has a thriving indigenous IT sector.
DIT’s School of Computing are consortium partners on many European projects. FOSS4SMEs is an exciting project for the School of Computing to be involved in as it allows us to offer expertise in both a technical capacity and in teaching and learning. In addition to this DIT’s School of Computing has strong links with SME industry partners and the national representative for Irish SMEs (ISME).
OpenForum Europe (OFE) is a not-for-profit, independent think tank launched in March 2002 to accelerate, broaden and strengthen the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Open Standards in business and government. From its Brussels office OFE engages in policy debates on the European Union level to advance its goals. OFE has its roots in UK SMEs and maintain a close link with them. As such OFE understands the needs and issues of SMEs.
Besides supporting its partners, OFE’s main role in the FOSS4SMEs consortium is to develop a policy recommendation to raise awareness among policy decision-makers on the importance to invest in digital education for SMEs, while ensuring equal access to FOSS.
The University of Skövde is one of the most specialised universities in Sweden and focuses on the development and use of advanced information technology systems and models. Areas of expertise include organisational and technological aspects of the ICT area. The Software Systems Research Group has significant experience related to provision and use of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) in company contexts including SMEs. This experience has been gained through collaborative research in a number of projects involving small companies (and other organisations). In collaboration with the project consortium we will contribute to the development of learning material and its relevance for SME stakeholders in various roles.
Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charity that empowers users to control technology. We help individuals and organisations to understand Free and Open Source Software and how it contributes to freedom and transparency. As partner in the FOSS4SMEs project, we contribute to make learning about FOSS as sustainable as possible. We share our experiences in pan-European communication to help spreading the word about the project. Together with the whole consortium we identify the optimal reuse strategy of the materials and knowledge we created. And last but not least we will channel the feedback of our strong community in diverse fields to constantly improve the e-learning course contents.
The FOSS4SMEs project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
