Project Lightning Talks at TEAC16

We are pleased to announce the projects that will be presented on October 7 during the Project Lightning Talks plenary session at the Telecentre Europe Annual Conference in Ghent.

Each presenter will only have five minutes and will answer the same questions to get to the insight of their projects:

what social impact it made,
what you would change,
what you would keep the same,
what you learned.

Lightning talks will be followed by brief questions from the audience. The talks will not cover the typical project quantitative results and deliverables, so this is the chance for you to get acquainted with them, to be well prepared for the talks.

We have a broad geography and variety of projects, with hackathons and online learning being the focus of many.

1. I-LINC
Ms Iva Walterova, project officer, Telecentre Europe, Brussels, Belgium
Mr Bastian Pelka, Research Council, Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

I-LINC aims to develop a sustainable and all encompassing platform on the topic of ICT (for) learning and inclusion. The I-LINC platform is an online environment for networking; participation and learning that will focus on boosting the employability and entrepreneurship capacities of young people.

The project benefits and gathers existing platforms, networks and resources that are available on the topic of ICT (for) learning and inclusion. The project also develops an active community of stakeholders in the field while linking them to the main beneficiaries – young people.

2. FIT4JOBS
Mr Manus Hanratty, European projects executive, FIT Ltd, Dublin, Ireland

Europe 2020 indicators for poverty and social exclusion state that “the unemployed faced the greatest risk of poverty or social exclusion”. Europe 2020 strategy has set the target of ‘lifting at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion’ by 2020.

FIT4JOBS can tackle this issue as it provides in-demand technical skills and “life/soft/people” skills, that employers need, and gets job seekers (back) to work. FIT4JOBS is a replicable project, a multi-stakeholder partnership, a best practice, a Digital Inclusion vehicle, empowerment instrument, with high multiplier/SROI effect, high and immediate financial ROI.

3. Project Generation 0101
Ms Zagorka Prce Veseli, Coordinator of developmental programs, Centre of Technical Culture Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.

Generation 0101 is project implemented in Croatia, Turkey, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Italy, financed by Erasmus+. The project contributes to solving the issues of youth unemployment and bridging the gap between digital industry needs and number of skilled employees.

The conducted research on Digital Agenda revealed differences in quality of ICT education of youth, as well as differences in youth perception of their ICT skills and employers’ perception. The research is summarised in Guidelines for policy makers developed on EU and national levels. Based on the research, seven ICT curricula were developed: e-journalism, community web radio, mobile app development, web design, video, easy coding and online collaboration. 35 youth workers educated 245 young people to prepare them for employment in digital industries. As a final exam, hackathons were organised where educated young people developed digital solutions for 13 selected NGOs.

4. Social Hackathon Umbria 2016
Mr Altheo Valentini, European Projects Manager, Associazione Centro Studi Città di Foligno, Foligno, Italy.

More than 50 young hackers and different non-profit organisations from all over Italy took part at the Social Umbria Hackathon at the Study Center of Foligno last 6-10 July 2016, competing in a digital marathon with the final aim of developing socially useful projects.

The event was an absolute novelty in the Umbrian regional context. Supported by the Erasmus+ programme, within the framework of the Generation0101 project, as well as by the eSkills for Jobs campaign, the Digital Agenda of the Umbria Region and the Municipality of Foligno, #SHU2016 offered excellent learning and networking opportunities to young people from Italy and abroad.

5. Project Online4EDU
Ms Nenja Wolbers, Project Manager, Stiftung Digitale Chancen, Berlin, Germany.

The aim of Online4EDU project is to introduce online collaboration tools to teachers and thereby support the use of digital media in their teaching practice. Often digital media is not yet included in school education, which is and will be a great challenge regarding the need for media literate citizens and the lack of IT-specialists.

Online4EDU enables teachers to use technology in a confident way, so that they can pass on the digital skills to their students. This aim is achieved by a developed blended learning training and certification system. Five partner organizations from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland and Germany developed a course and training that complies with the ECDL-Test standards for online collaboration tools.

6. ABC digitale – a platform for digital citizenship experiences and open learning
Ms Claudia Iormetti, Coordinator of Youth Area, Open Group, Bologna, Italy

ABC Digitale inscribes digital skills in an open framework of accessibility and digital citizenship. It looks to individuals and his needs in the information and communication society. ABC Digitale target groups are all stakeholders who want to learn about skills and digital education and those who want to develop their knowledge in digital environment. The platform offers current issues, training and innovative courses, news and tools for professional context, family or school.

ABC Digitale, moving from a dynamic definition of competence, develops its routes moving from the person and his/her needs. Workshops and training are adapted to specific needs and based on five main dimensions: be informed, interact, communicate, be safe, manage problem situations.

7. Digikriebels
Ms Sara Van Damme, project manager, Digipolis Gent, Ghent, Belgium

Digikriebels is a project, which focuses on vulnerable families, in particular (grand)parents and their pre-schoolers. During a course of 4 lessons they are introduced to a collection of educational games, in order to enhance their ICT and media literacy. Digikriebels aims to give parents more opportunities to support their children in making the transition to the first grade of primary school. In the last lesson the kids are invited to practice together with their (grand)parents. This course not only boosts the parents’ confidence, but also reinforces the relationship between school and home.