Railway Industry is complex because of the high added value of the services and supplies that involves the market in itself. Different standards apply to the industry along the whole value chain, with different technical standards, making difficult the digitalization process of the railway industry due to the particularities associated to it. The main objective of RailActivation Project is to create and piloting a rail business and organisational mechanisms for the uptake of workplace innovation by SMEs from the railway sector as part of an Open Innovation ecosystem. To this end, the RailActivation project will work on the development of a new mechanisms and tools based on proven principles to anticipate the effects of the digitalisation on the railway sector and designing innovation process transformation for the EU Railway Industry from the inside out by actively reimagining the entire business around the customer, enabling employees to be the catalyst for change. In order to address this objective, the specific objectives of the project are: (i) Looking at existing tools, identify and exchange best practices, (ii) Suggest a new pilot scheme, including context based, long term mechanisms to support the uptake of workplace innovation by the SMEs, (iii) test pilot scheme, (iv) create an interregional network, (v) raise awareness and dissemination of the need for Workplace Innovation, and (vi)Workplace Innovation recommendations of the benefits of these innovations. The RailActivation will be the first business model adapted to its use in the rail industry and turn every worked into a committed worker through the uptake of workplace innovation by SMEs; thus, enabling inclusive growth in railway SMEs.

During the first year of the project, the following activities were performed: • Within WP1, the analysis of the state of art allowed to identify the main existing projects/studies and to collect data about current and future skills and competence needs in rail sector through surveys and interviews. Moreover, the analysis of the state of art regarded the existing methodologies for the skill needs assessment and monitoring and allowed to select the best methodologies to be applied during the project. • Within WP2, the analysis of current trends and future challenges, that railway operators and infrastructure managers are facing, was performed with a particular focus on cross-border rail traffic and language issues in cross-border operations. • WP3 worked on the definition of one or more possible future scenarios from the point of view of rail suppliers. The specific focus was on macro-trends such as autonomous train operations; technologies for the digital twins and virtual coupling; intelligent assets lifecycle management along its entire life; protecting the environment and the energy supply; safety and security; data analytics; digital rail industry supply chain management. • The identification of skills needs and competences of professional profiles focusing on profiles affected by digitalisation/bit data/cybersecurity as well as energy and environmental policies was conducted from the point of view of railway operators and infrastructure managers and rail suppliers. In particular, the analysis of stakeholders’ requirements regarding occupational profiles was performed with reference to the classification of the European Skills, Competencies, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). • In WP4, a survey about existing educational and training programmes in rail sectors was developed and a database was built collecting data considering features such as the EQF level, the localization, the presence of mandatory/elective internships, etc.. Moreover, the analysis of the qualification standards with reference to the European qualification framework was conducted to identify a common approach to be applied in the project. Finally, the assessment of the distribution of the training courses suitable for the rail sector was performed with the identification of existing unbalances in terms of geographical localization in the EU Countries, EQF levels, and QS with indication of the applied innovative teaching approaches. • In WP5, the identification of criteria and measurable indicators to evaluate employability and career opportunities of training mobility and training mobility programmes is performed applying the RACER (Relevant, Accepted, Credible, Easy and Robust) method. • WP8 developed a multi-channel dissemination and communication plan with the definition of key strategies for project communication and dissemination, for both internal (i.e., project partners) and external stakeholders, with the identification of relevant dissemination tools and channels. The project website was built (https://www.railstaffer.eu/) with an easily recognisable graphic identity (including the STAFFER logo). • Within WP9, the Project Handbook was defined with all the information regarding the: administrative and financial procedures, the technical management, the project management and communication and the delivery of project outputs. Moreover, the Quality Plan and peer review table reported all the procedures to guarantee the quality of the project results. Finally, the members of the Advisory and Policy Board were defined.