Thanks to its participation in the project, the OIR PECU Bucharest-Ilfov succeeded in improving a public policy by introducing a new criterion within the regional operational programme called POCU 3.12 Digital Competencies for SME Employees, "Applicant's Guide - Specific Conditions", in Annex 3 "Technical, Financial, Evaluation, and Selection Criteria". It also closely followed two of the 72 projects approved under the POCU 3.12 Digital Competences for SME Employees operational programme, Smart Alliance and Factory 4.0 Clusters. Going into detail:
The national FACTORY 4.0 initiative positions itself as a catalyst in the Romanian market for training and consultancy in the field of digital transformation. It has developed innovative training programmes that incorporate the latest concepts and technologies within an ecosystem that unifies the area of training, consulting, and solution implementation through strategic partnerships with recognised technology providers.
The Smart Alliance cluster is a creator and implementer of innovative end-to-end business solutions for key sectors of the Romanian economy and leading areas of the world economy.
These two entities, who were also the main stakeholders of 40Ready for OIR PECU Bucharest-Ilfov, provided a close look at the implementation phase of the projects, leading to the following conclusions:
- SMEs from fields such as the automotive industry or engineering and technical consultancy activities were selected
- Some difficulties were encountered in a few cases related to the availability of the target group to provide all the documents requested within the project
- The target group also includes categories of vulnerable people (elderly employees aged between 55-64 and women)
- The recruitment of SMEs was done by organizing online events, postings on Social Media networks, customer-based newsletters, or conducting employer awareness campaigns
- The selected courses are from the following categories: Energy Management with IoT Platforms, Quality Management in Industry 4.0, Cyber Security, Sales Force Automation, CAD Design of Products for 3D Printing, Programming of Automatic CNC Production Machines, Simulation of Automated Processes and Programming of Industrial Robots, IT applications for the efficiency of the business activity, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) IT applications for the efficiency of the enterprise activity, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) IT applications for the efficiency of the enterprise activity, CAD (Computer Aided Design) IT applications for the efficiency of the activity of production/manufacturing enterprises
- The benefits derived from the project are largely related to the development of an ecosystem of partnerships that support the future development of digital skills or the adoption of workplace learning programs in the field of digital literacy and information and communication technology.
In conclusion, the impact of the 40Ready project is significant, the first concrete results can already be observed in the implementation of projects within the operational program POCU 3.12 Digital skills for SME employees.
