“e-learning – is this the right way to flexible learning for SME’s?”

THE ROADSHOW RATIONALE

During the Lisbon summit in the year 2000 a major strategic aim was set for the future of a united Europe: “To make Europe the world's most competitive economic area by the year 2010, with the competitive advantage being knowledge and the dynamic generated by it.”

Today in the beginning of 2005, only 5 years remain until the year 2010 and the backbone of the European economy, the SME’s (representing 92 % of the European businesses which is, 25 million companies employing about 122 million people), have yet to realise the dynamic and the competitive advantages that the knowledge  can offer, for their survival and growth.

SME’s are requested to survive and grow in a global economy characterised by rapid changes and shorter lifecycles of knowledge and services. The main competitive advantage of an organisation in this global economy is the knowledge it possesses and the level of expertise and know-how found among its employees.

The shorter lifecycles of knowledge and services depreciate the existing knowledge value of the entrepreneur and the employees thus, continuous learning and acquiring new skills is essential for an enterprise to survive and remain competitive. This acquisition is made through a continuous learning procedure, existing in parallel with the company and the lifespan of an employee’s career.

The most common learning techniques used (class based approach with a tutor) are not compatible with everyday working routines and when the issue arises to choose between training and work (due to lack of time), work almost always prevails.

The technology today is mature enough and relatively cheap to successfully support training through e-learning. E-learning utilises technology to provide flexible e-learning environments that can accommodate all the trainee’s training needs.

Although the European Commission, as well as National Governments, implements a plethora of projects, programmes and initiatives (ranging to hundreds of millions of Euro) for the production of excellent e-learning support tools and methods, their penetration in the market is limited. Such practices are only adapted in larger organisations concerned with their future and the improvement of their competitive advantage by systematically investing in the acquisition of knowledge and their Human Resources.

• But what is the situation of the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs?

• Are they regarding knowledge as a competitive advantage?

• Do they invest in their Human Resources?

• Which is the most suitable technological e-learning environment and which organizations can support flexible and productive learning solutions for the SME’s?

• Is quality in learning achieved and how can knowledge gained through e-learning be certified?

• How can an interested entrepreneur or employee wishing to acquire skills and knowledge utilising e-learning, find the relevant information?

The conferences “e-learning – is this the right way to flexible learning for SME’s?” target SME Entrepreneurs and their staff but also e-learning experts, inviting them to an open and moderated discussion with the aim to extract results concerning future actions to be taken by:

• The European Commission’s new framework programmes
• Local government policies supporting entrepreneurship
• Corporate and branch associations
• The SME’s themselves.

in order, primarily for these organisations to realise the high added value procured by investing in human resources and subsequently, to adopt life long learning measures through a flexible, cheap and technologically supported e-learning environment.

The Roadshow Conferences are co-funded by the European Commission, DG Education & Culture in the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme and will take place in 3 subsequent stages, in 3 European capitals, on 3 different dates with 3 thematic topics:

1. Athens (Greece) 14th Feb 05: SME’s training needs of their human resources and methods for developing flexible, customised e-learning solutions

2. Sofia (Bulgaria) 21st Mar 05: Complete e-learning solutions for SME’s

3. Vienna (Austria) 18th Apr 05: Quality in training and Certification of skills -knowledge acquired through e-learning.

A conference participant will have the ability to follow, through the official Roadshow conference website, (http://www.newway2learn.org) the other stages and also actively participate in the online community with questions, suggestions and opinions submitted in real-time.

The conference results and conclusions will be published in a report at the end of the Roadshow, together with the participant lists, and will be send to the European Commission. The report will also be available on the website for SME’s and experts interested in this topic.