CUSTOM-ART aims at developing the next generation of building and product integrated photovoltaic modules (BIPV and PIVP respectively), based on earth-abundant and fully sustainable thin film technologies. Nowadays, BIPV and PIPV are identified as key enabling technologies to make “near Zero Energy Buildings” and “net Zero Energy Districts” more realistic, through the integration of a new generation of photovoltaic modules capable of entirely replacing architectural/mobility/urban-furniture passive elements. This promising scenario of mass realisation of BIPV and PIPV solutions can only be achieved by developing cost-efficient and sustainable thin film technologies with unbeatable aesthetic functionalities, including mechanical flexibility and optical tuneability. Unfortunately, mature materials already available at the market such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 or CdTe are formed by scarce and expensive elements (In, Ga and Te), or toxic ones (Cd). Considering this, CUSTOM-ART will join for the first time a leading group of companies and academic partners all around Europe, to develop advanced BIPV and PIPV products (flexible and semi-transparent solar modules), based on earth abundant kesterite materials, which have been demonstrated in two previous European projects to be at the forefront of emerging inorganic thin film technologies. By combining advanced strategies for materials properties management, with customized modules design in a circular economy approach, two types of products will be developed including flexible PV modules (polymer and steel supports) and semi-transparent (polymer). CUSTOM-ART will bring these technologies from TRL4-5 up to TRL7, demonstrating very competitive conversion efficiencies (20% at cell and 16% at module level) and durability (over 35 years), at a reduced production cost (< 75 €/m2), using exclusively abundant elements and contributing to ensure the full sustainability and competitiveness of the European BIPV and PIPV Industry.

<< Objectives >>Increasing permeability between vocational and higher education Recruiting universities for tasks of further education in climate and environmental protectionProviding excellently qualified entrepreneurs, managers and skilled workers and reducing the shortage of skilled workers to meet the challenges in climate and environmental protection Strengthening the productivity of SMEs through innovation support and R&D projectsPromoting cooperation between SMEs and colleges/universities<< Implementation >>Analyses economy, education and labor markets and qualification needsCreation of solution models for 4 project countries Development and implementation of Train the Trainer programDevelopment and implementation of 2 dual three-stage Bachelor's degree programs and 2 further trainings in climate and environmental protectionImplementation of R&D projects in SMEsQuality assurance for training measures and project implementationDissemination, transfer of results and implementation consultation<< Results >>Result report of the analyses of the economy, education and labor markets and qualification needs.Solution models for four project countriesComplete train-the-trainer programModule manuals with all documentation for two dual three-stage Bachelor's programs in climate and environmental protectionTwo further education programs in climate and environmental protectionR&D projects implemented in SMEsQuality manual and results reportsManual, result videos and broad regional transfer of results

Catching-Up along the global value chain: business models, determinants and policy implications in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (CatChain) is a project built on a multidisciplinary and multi-sectorial exchange program focused on unravelling the process of Catching-Up from different sectorial perspectives at a country level. It analyses the role of business models (BMs) in entering, learning and upgrading the Global Value Chain (GVC), aiming at recognising the determinants and challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in tackling the process of upgrading in a globalising economy. The outcome of the project will be the definition of policy tools and frameworks to support effective policy-making actions in the implementation of Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3), with respect to the new agenda of Europe 2020, mainly for low-income EU countries. The main aims of the project are: 1.to identify: if and how a country should focus on developing domestic trade networks and upgrading before entering into GVCs; whether it should improve its infrastructures in regional value chains implementing the RIS3 strategy for its economic transformation; 2.to study the emerging BMs underpinning the successful entry, learning, and upgrading in GVCs, after the investigation and valuation of case studies in different sectors and countries; 3.to isolate the conditions that define the preferable entry strategy; 4.to recognise the policy framework that facilitates entries and supports SMEs in developing a profitable business strategy. To give robust scientific answers to the question of whether entering GVCs by sponsoring one large national firm or a set of small and dynamic enterprises, CatChain intends to bridge the Catching-Up approach with the GVCs literature, paying attention to the role that entry, learning and upgrading strategies – integrated with BMs, play in fostering a process of country-level catching-up in distinct sectors.

Europe Fit for Digital Age is one of the six policy priorities for EU. Europe needs to ensure that digital transformation is inclusive for all European companies, reaches all citizens in the Union, and respects the European values. EU has to guarantee the technological sovereignty and industry competitiveness. However, the challenge in many of the European countries is the digitization of companies, especially SMEs. SMEs are still not fully exploiting the opportunities offered by digital technology as less than a fifth of companies in the EU-28 are highly digitised (DESI 2019). For example, manufacturing industry could improve productivity substantially by applying digitization and principles of Industry 4.0 Program. The productivity of industry could be improved by utilizing IoT technology and the principles of Industrial internet of Things. This is not possible without skilled labour. This has also been recognized in European Commission's New Industrial Strategy for a globally competitive, green and digital Europe, Digital Europe Programme, the New Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, Education and Training (ET2020) and the Digital Education Action Plan. Especially the Digital Europe Programme focuses on building strategic digital capacities of the EU and on facilitating the wide deployment of digital technologies, to be used by Europe's citizens and businesses. The capacity development is necessary to support building a strong Network of Digital Innovation Hubs, where higher educational institutions play a crucial role in providing companies and public sector organizations support, expertise and training in deploying digital opportunities.The HEIs need to modify and complement their curricula to include training modules preparing the future and current workforce for the sustainable and digitalized manufacturing industry.Based on the above, the Collaborative Industrial IoT aims at i) tackling the skills gaps and mismatches i.e. responding to the training challenge; ii) supporting bachelor level students in acquiring and developing the skills and key competences in order to be employed and support the digitalization of SMEs in the manufacturing sector; iii) providing innovative and transnational training and learning models. The key project’s results include1. Collaborative Industrial IoT Curricula equivalent to 25 ECTS corresponding to the EQF level 6 (Bachelor level) integrated in the existing study offering of the partner HEIs in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and France.2. Five training modules (including training materials, and guides for teachers) to match the needs of the European manufacturing industry: Principles of Industry 4.0 and IIot; Network Programming in IIoT and IoT Application: Machine Vision, Digital Image Processing and Cloud Computing; Cybersecurity in IIoT Applications; Advanced Machining Technologies. Once the training product (five training modules) have been developed, they can be offered as 'Open University' courses for the current employees of SMEs and other manufacturing companies. 3. Model of Developing Learning Material in Cloud Environment, which intensifies transnational collaboration, internationalization, use of experts irrespective of the geographical location, and sustainability for international collaboration.4. Capacity building of 15 teachers in both teaching methodology and approach suitable for Collaborative Industrial IoT and in Collaborative Industrial IoT Modules.5. Capacity building of 25-125 students in Collaborative Industrial IoT. During the intensive learning, teaching and training programmes the students will also improve their transversal skills.Engagement of regional, national, and European level stakeholders is of vital importance in order to scale-up the results of the project and to ensure the usage of the results by other European HEIs. The developed models, curricula and training modules, and guides enable to include parts or the whole curricula into other HEI study programme offering. The partners will also present the curricula and its training modules to the Centres of Excellence and Digital Innovation Hubs in their regions. This will promote Open University Courses in Collaborative Industrial IoT to the SMEs operating in the manufacturing industry. Regional SME representatives are involved in the quality assurance and evaluation of the project results, which will intensify the collaboration between the HEIs and the SMEs.

The overarching aim of SECRA is to contribute to more resilient communities in Asia through institutionalized, systematic, monitored, innovative, and inclusive university–enterprise collaboration (UEC) in climate change action and disaster resilience (DR). The main problem targeted by SECRA is the ad hoc, episodic quality of UEC in the field of DR in many Asian countries, which are disproportionately affected by consequences of climate change. We are aware that there is no simple answer to the wickedness of climate change consequences or resilience; we are claiming, however, that facilitating systematic, institutionalized, inclusive (in terms of gender parity) and monitored UEC is part of a solution. High quality, entrepreneurial collaborative activities between universities and industry facilitate the exchange of scientific knowledge, practical skills and good practices, which otherwise remain siloed. SECRA deals with the problem at hand in a sequential fashion. The project’s contribution to more resilient communities is through increasing the capacity of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to initiate, manage, maintain, and benefit from UEC. The institutionalization and systematization of UEC are addressed in WPs 1, 2, and 3, innovation in WP4, and monitoring in WP5. SECRA will produce, inter alia, material towards eventual change of policies governing collaborative activities in partner countries; a relation framework to understand UEC; an online platform for a Community of Practice (CoP) consisting of HEIs, public sector and enterprise actors; a corporate start-up lab and networking activities in partner HEIs, and a monitoring tool to assess the quality of UEC that can be broadly contextualized for use in HEIs worldwide.