The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily lives for millions of young people in Europe and worldwide. Health and well-being problems, social distancing, barriers to access education had a great impact on young people. Exposure of digital technologies and creativity can play an important role to mitigate mentioned negative effects of the crisis on youth. By improving young people digital skills and teaching how to apply acquired digital knowledge to be creative could open windows for new opportunities. Knowledge of how to use different application or digital tools may encourage youth to develop digital creativity, produce digital creations and address the problems of the future.As the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) outlines digital skills are essential so that everyone can take part in society and contribute to economic and social progress in the digital era. One of the strategic priorities is enhancement of digital skills and competences for the digital transformation including girls and young women are equally represented in digital studies and careers. However, while more people are digitally skilled and connected, still few women choose to participate beyond the basic level of digital interaction and rather stay the passive consumers of digital content created by others. According to statistics, in EU in 2019, women made up only a bit more than a third of scientists and engineers in the EU-28. According to the study Women in the Digital Age, the share of women graduates in the STEM industry stands at 13.1 per 1,000 graduates aged 20 to 29 in the EU. At this point, there remains a particular concern that girls lack the aspirations to position themselves as potential creators of digital technology and it is clearly evident at secondary school. A study commissioned by the EC Survey of Schools: ICT in Education (2019) outlines that more than 4 out of 5 female European students attending secondary schools never or almost never engage in coding at school or after school activities. According statistics provided by the Government Strategic Analysis Center in Lithuania in 2018, percentage of girls who choose STEM studies after graduating school is about 9 percent every year. In high school, for example, 40 percent of girls believe that jobs requiring coding are “not for them”.In the light of abovementioned figures and wrong assumptions association Rural Internet Access Points together with partner organizations from Lithuania, Greece, Slovenia and Portugal initiates a project Empower Girls’ Creativity Through Use of Digital Technologies (SparkDigiGirls). The aim of this initiative is encouraging girls aged from 15 years old to explore digital technologies such as AR, VR, AI, IoT and come up with new and exciting ideas by utilizing their newly acquired digital knowledge to chart the waters of the male-dominated STEM industry with fresh, different and creative viewpoints.The proposal seeks to fulfill specific objectives: 1) reduce girls’ concerns and demystify existing stereotypes about computer science and technology; 2) increase of digital literacy skills for girls to open new and unforeseen possibilities for creativity, participation of girls in the digital world; 3) empower youth workers as mentors to pursue girls creativity through usage of digital applications and increase attractiveness of digital sector among girls.The objectives of the proposal are organized in following elements:1.To complete a twofold analysis of ways how innovative and new technologies may develop creativity of girls (IO1);2.To develop a curriculum which meeting girls' needs and leads to improvement and increase of their creativity through usage of innovative applications/digital tools (IO2);1.To develop online programme focused on use practical experiential learning model and real life tasks that will allow girls to explore technologies and come up with new and exciting ideas and solutions for given problems. (IO3);2.To implement digital female role model campaign (IO4);3.To prepare guidebook empower youth workers as mentors to pursue girls’ creativity through usage of digital applications (IO5).The main target groups that will be impacted by the project:•200 girls age from 15 who wish to develop their creativity by using digital technologies (including girls with lower opportunities like living in re(including girls with lower opportunities like living in remote areas, migrant girls, from families at risk, etc.).•40 youth workers from formal and non - formal youth education institutions.

"Health Information Systems training and certification implementation for higher education (HIS4HE) project addresses the education and labour market needs of medicine students in higher education schools, users of patient data systems, such as doctors, nurses and healthcare support staff, etc. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) nowadays are important in all workplaces. TThe number of actions have been taken by European Commission (EC) in order to help people to acquire digital knowledge and skills – especially in the workplace. Online courses together with certification can help get right competences for medical students and medical staff.According to the “Digital Agenda for Europe” (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A52010DC0245R%2801%29) one of the action areas is the sustainable healthcare and ICT-based support for dignified and independent living. It is recognized, that “the deployment of eHealth technologies in Europe can improve the quality of care, reduce medical costs and foster independent living, including in remote places. An essential condition for success is that these technologies incorporate the right of individuals to have their personal health information safely stored within a healthcare system accessible online. To exploit the full potential of new eHealth services, the EU needs to remove legal and organizational barriers, particularly those to pan-European interoperability, and strengthen cooperation among Member States.”The project aims to use the knowledge standard applicable in Europe (the ECDL Health, specifically), which defines the HIS curriculum content as well as sets the required level of knowledge and helps ensure module studies/training quality. At the same, implemented standard would help to recognize the existing qualifications of HIS professionals in Latvia and Lithuania internationally. The ECDL HIS certification modules and tools in Lithuania and Latvia are implemented and run by ITI and LIKTA respectively.The project partners designed, developed and implemented an up-to-date curriculum, training materials, blended learning environment, and certification system „Health Information Systems Usage”.The main intellectual outputs are related to the health information systems and they include:Country analysis report and recommendationsSyllabus, syllabus guide and study moduleCourseware for e-course Assessment and certification toolsGood practice guideIn order to introduce project results for target groups two multiplier events were organised in partners’ countries: Latvia and Lithuania.There are identified main target groups which are impacted by the project: 1)Higher education students and teachers (study programs related with usage of health information systems)2)Medical staff using health information systemsThis target group will benefit from the project by participating in training and certification, which will improve their knowledge and competencies in labor market.Project results can also be used by other education organizations which are responsible for medical staff preparation or skills upgrade and raising of qualification like colleges VET schools, adult education centres, and etc. The partnership is composed by 5 members including coordinator Kaunas University of Technology; all active in the fields of ICT related training and program development, education and ICT skills certification.Coordinator Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) having hude experience scientific researces, training material developement, online trainings and etc.Public institution Information Technologies Institute- has strong experience in IT training/testing courseware design and development.LIKTA is the official partner of ECDL in Lithuania.DLGI-It is an accreditation agency for IT-certification, which has successfully introduced an European IT certification standard by implementing ECDL, the European Computer Driving Licence, in Germany. DGLI help create project results, consult, shares experience and expertise project results.LIKTA-has a wide experience in designing ICT based training programs for adult learners. LIKTA is the official partner of ECDL in Latvia.All learning products are implemented for partners in Latvia and Lithuania activities, and offered to national higher education/VET institutions and presented for other European countries educators by ECDL products marketing line.All learning products were tested by and improved after analysis of pilot studies/training and testing/certification in Lithuania and Latvia. All learning products are presented to national higher education and VET institutions, and encouraged to use in health studies curricula. Good practice guide will help by implementing whole training course. EN versions will be used for dissemination in other European countries as ""demo"" and further localization base.All project results are available at the project website."

"ICT is among the leading sectors in Europe making an increasingly important contribution to the economic growth and jobs creation in advanced economies. Despite of that according E-skill in Europe Report (2014) the shortage of ICT specialists is increasing. The demand for them is expected to increase in the next few years. Some school-graduates who might be interested in ICT studies in the future do not study subjects related to ICT, choosing a different specialization at school. Those who finish ICT studies have a decent qualification, which, however, should be more proficient. High schools and universities provide students with only basic ICT knowledge. If students want to work with a specific ICT, they must additionally study in centers of competence development. To this end, structural changes in ICT departments demand a new approach to the ICT education. As stated in the recent Report of the European Commission (EC) – Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, knowledge of and about science are integral to preparing our population to be actively engaged and responsible citizens, creative and innovative, able to work collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society. Nowadays entrepreneurs are considered as a possible solution to rising unemployment rates and as a recipe for economic prosperity. It is widely argued, what teaching methods should be used to teach economical disciplines and entrepreneurial skills. Research shows that in Europe, traditional methods tend to be relied on, while other researchers try to use more technology-based training methods, including economic simulation games. Many researchers recognize economic simulation games as effective tool to develop skills and form competences.Introducing Fuse IT (Future competences pathways for marketing and ICT education) project addresses the education and labor market requirements for professional skills and knowledge for students and graduates in university (including life-long learning activities). The project will analyze, design, develop and implement an up-to-date curriculum, e-learning materials, blended learning environment, ICT knowledge and skills self-evaluation and certification system simulations.The main intellectual outputs are related to marketing and future competencies and they will include: 1. Guidelines and study analysis in Higher education2. Curriculum development and localization 3. E-learning material in separate parts for different subjects (specialization)4. Simulations for education 5. Self-evaluation with certification testing 6. Methodological guidelinesThere are 2 level of beneficiaries which will be impacted by the project. The primary target group includes: 1. Students at university 2. Educators, university staff, adult education centers etc.3. Business sector (employer and employee)This target group will benefit from the project by participating in training and certification, which will improve their knowledge and competencies in the labor market. Educators and university staff are responsible for skills upgrade and raising of qualification.The secondary target group are universities which could use project results and implement updated marketing study program and/or implement separate parts of marketing in ICT studies. How to implement project results and other useful information will be described in the methodological guidelines for implementation for implementation marketing module.The project partners were selected according to their experience in marketing and ICT. Fuse IT project coordinator is Vilnius University (Lithuania) and 4 partners:• Information Systems Management Institute, ISMA University (Latvia)• University Politehnica of Bucharest (Romania)• Public institution ""Information Technologies Institute"" (Lithuania)• Instituto Politecnico de Tomar (Portugal)All learning products will be tested by and improved after analysis of pilot studies/training and testing in Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Latvia.All learning products will be presented to national higher education institutions, and encouraged to use in ICT and marketing curricula. Guidelines will support their implementation. EN versions will be used for dissemination in other European countries for further localization base."

"4th Industrial Revolution provides many advantages all over the world by increasing efficiency, productivity and customisation. Cybersecurity becomes one of the biggest challenges in this era, because information becomes an expensive asset dealing with huge data volumes, improving communication with digital environment. Digital devices and information systems increasingly become attractive for cyber-attacks.Eurostat states, that „...in 2019, approximately 1 in 3 EU citizens aged 16 to 74 reported security-related incidents when using the internet for private purposes in 2019 in the last 12 months. During this period phishing was the most frequent security incident reported in 2019.“ This shows that usage of hardware and software security solutions alone are not very effective fighting with those threats, because no system or security software can guarantee 100% protection from phishing attacks.Phishing is one of the highest problems because cybercriminals use faster and innovative technological tools to carry out phishing campaigns. According to the Europol’s annual presentation (2019) “…new threats continue to emerge from vulnerabilities in established processes and technologies. Moreover, the longevity of cyber threats is clear, as many long-standing and established modi operandi persist, despite our best efforts.”Therefore human-driven phishing defence system that leverages human instinct for detection and technology to scale response should be developed and freely available for wide audience. To create human-driven phishing defence, education is required for the user to become capable of identifying and responding to phishing attacks in the correct manner.Introduced CyberPhish project addresses the education and labour market requirements for cybersecurity/phishing skills and knowledge for students and graduates in university (including life-long learning activities).The overall project objectives are to analyse, design, develop and implement an up-to-date curriculum, e-learning materials, blended learning environment, knowledge and skills self-evaluation and knowledge evaluation system simulations for students and other users in order to prevent from phishing attacks, raise competencies in this area for identification and prevention of threats.It will address the need for awareness and education in phishing attack prevention. The developed e-learning materials, blended learning environment and simulations will be integrated in curricula at the participating Universities as well as provide the opportunity for increased dissemination of knowledge to EU-Citizens through Open Access.The main intellectual outputs are related to cybersecurity and future competencies and they will include:1. Study analysis and recommendations: Avoiding phishing attacks and improving critical thinking2. Course Curriculum and localisation3. Online learning material4. Simulations for education (gamification)5. Self-evaluation knowledge evaluation system6. Methodological guidelines for trainers and for implementation of DigitalPhish moduleThe main beneficiaries which will be impacted by the project are students at HEIs. Educators, university staff, education centres, business sector (employers and employees) will also have benefit by improving their knowledge and competencies.CyberPhish project impact will be on project partners; HEIs and secondary; adult education centres. As the result of CyberPhish project schools, HEI and other training organisations will be able to improve their cybersecurity knowledge by using the outcomes of the project.The project partners were selected according to their experience in cybersecurity. CyberPhish project coordinator is Vilnius university (Lithuania) and 5 partners:• Macdac Engineering Consultancy Bureau LTD - MECB (Malta)• Dorea Educational Institute WTF (Cyprus)• Public institution ""Information Technologies Institute"" (Lithuania)• Tartu Ulikool (Estonia)• Altacom, SIA (Latvia)All learning products will be tested by and improved after analysis of pilot studies/training and testing in Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Cyprus and Latvia. At least 100 trainees will be invited to the pilot. All learning products will be presented to national higher education institutions, and encouraged to be used in CyberPhish curricula. Guidelines will support their implementation. EN versions will be used for dissemination in other European countries for expanded further localization base."

The purpose of this project is to improve the Digital Competence (DC) development situation in Ukraine (UA), to harmonize it with the European mainstream by adaptation of the Digital Competence Frameworks for Citizens and for Educators, creation Ukrainian National Digital Coalition (UNDC); to reform in-service training for teachers and to provide “best practices” experiences of how DC could be further developed in general and adapted to the challenges of the Higher Education sector within society at large. The motivation for this comes from the goal set by the European Commission in Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, DigComp frameworks and the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE).The project aims to establish an effective UNDC network amongst UA educational institutions, associations, public authorities, business representatives; to design and implement UA DC frameworks; to make recommendations for modifying DC studies curriculum according to the DAE and modern labour market needs; to create DC trainings for teachers and for citizens; to provide high-quality DC trainings for various social strata of society.To achieve the project goals, the following activities will be implemented:- EU DigComp frameworks analysis will be done;- Elaborating DC needs analysis report for UA will be conducted;- Concept, structure, and facilities of dComFra will be designed and implemented;- DC offices & DC e-Platform and 14 learning modules for different citizens groups and educators with practical tasks will be developed; - To improve DC for target groups the pilot trainings for 210 Teachers/140 refugees&ATO-veterans will be conducted;- Different workshops, events, etc. for target groups and wide society will be organized by UA partners for better awareness raising. UNDC will be launched for better influence; - Project outcomes and results will be delivered with various dissemination channels including professional societies, stakeholders of UNDC and project conference on DC in UA.