"<< Background >>Presenting the new EU Plan for Digital Education and Training in September 2020, the European Commission reminded that in the post-Covid era it is necessary to improve the use of digital technology for teaching and to promote the development of digital skills.By turning the attention, through Cedefop, to the impacts of pandemic management in the VET systems of the partner countries, it emerges that almost all the countries analysed have developed actions to support the training systems.•In Italy, online training resources have been made available free of charge, but practical difficulties have been emerged due to lack of access to tools, materials, equipment and technology. •The Spanish system has launched several learning platforms to support online trainers and learners, without putting them into a system, and it has selected a number of methodologies and activities to facilitate teaching.•In Germany, actions have been taken to maintain a stable VET system (based on the dual system), organizing the learning according to safety standards and supporting companies offering apprenticeship positions.•114 out of 124 Greek public VET institutions (IEKs) have launched asynchronous teaching platforms and started to deliver synchronous distance learning. Trainers have been delivered short training sessions on digital skills. •Belgium has carried out the provisions contained within the ""Wallonia Digital Barometer - Digital Education"" and the ""Flemish AI Policy Plan"" without making major changes to VET.Despite the deserving efforts made, the overall picture that emerges is of strong fragmentation and lack of homogeneity along with the relative difficulty of systemizing and scaling the different experiences. Hence the need for a systematization of good practices at European level, as well as the development of a learning model that starts from the self-assessment of the digital skills to the personalized design of learning content.The trend we are witnessing is the STABILIZATION OF A HYBRID MODEL, with short and dedicated classrooms for in-depth learning, integrated with online training, which will transform trainers into ""coaches"" able to design increasingly personalized paths through digital technologies (in particular AI - Luckin, 2016). It is therefore necessary to invest in trainers' digital skills, providing tools to support online teaching, and in technologies. In the light of this comes the project ""e-VET for Artificial Intelligence"" (e-VET4AI).In terms of Target Group needs:- Concerning TRAINERS the project will respond to their pressing upskilling needs determined both by the digitalization of the teaching and learning practices and by the digital revolution which is impacting the whole economy and particularly the mechanical segment (Industry4.0). - Concerning e-VET INSTITUTIONS, the project intend to address 3 different needs being those of a) opening up education to different targets (i.e. Adult, disable people) thanks to a full integration of digital learning into their curricula b) supporting their digital transition - both via upskilling their trainers and offering ""ready to use"" digital tools, contents and platform/app c) modernizing their training offer, which currently do not prepare young people sufficiently for the digital economy and society, to better respond to the changing needs of the labour market (i.e. Industry4.0).- Concerning the STUDENTS and WORKERS the project will answer to the following needs: a) have access to more flexible (going beyond the limits of the classroom ) and customized (personalized based on the individual needs) learning experiences b) get prepared for the new ""digital"" economy developing those skills (both transversal and vertical) requested by the labour market.- Concerning the METALMECHANICAL COMPANIES the project intends to address to the skill shortage in the sector by better preparing youngsters for the new jobs connected to Industry4.0.<< Objectives >>The project aims to support trainers active in mechanical training courses in the development of new digital skills and confidence in the use of new teaching methodologies, to be integrated within more traditional teaching methods by means of: a survey on the DIGITAL PROFICIENCY of trainers, via a SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL; an e-VETrainers PLATFORM, and related APP; the DESIGN OF A TRAINING TOOLKIT for the engineering sector, focused on the frontier technologies of AI and DA.The project also aims to achieve the following objectives:•Increase the digital skills of trainers, using the DigCompEdu framework;•Implement blended and distance training methodologies, including international cooperation;•Identify and test digital tools to support IVET, particularly on topics related to Industry 4.0;•Increase the digital readiness of IVET institutions in mitigating the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic (and any other situation requiring distance learning) on class-based teaching, especially in industrial and technical VET programs.The decision to focus on the mechanical segment of VET is suggested by the severe impact that the health emergency has generated on the engineering sector (it is estimated an average drop of GDP in the EU-27 of -7.1%, respectively -9.1% in Italy, -7% in Germany, -8% in Spain, -10% in Greece and -6.9% in Belgium, source VDMA 2020), the final recipient of the VET activities.<< Implementation >>The project foresees 3 Rs, 5 Es and a LTTA. Support activities will be ensured. These activities can be grouped in the following phases, which determine the methodological approach for the achievement of the project results and objectives.ANALYSIS, BENCHMARKING AND VALIDATION PHASE (R1, R2)To validate and contextualize the research carried out in the design phase and update it, the partnership will be involved in: •a working table (R1/A1) with the consortium of the SELFIE FOR WBS TOOL, with the aim of creating synergies and prospects for integration in view of the design of the e-VET SAT; •territorial Focus Groups (R1/A3) with representatives of organizations outside the partnership, with the aim of investigating how the Covid-19 has impacted in their training contexts.The result of these phases are both important for awareness raising on project target groups, and instrumental for the the design of project results.At the technical level, a research and benchmarking analysis will be carried out on the technological tools best suited to support the e-VET SAT (R1-A2) and the Platform and the project App (R2-A1).CO-DESIGN PHASE (R1, R2, R3, LTTA C1)All Project results will be characterized by a specific co-design activity of their contents and related frameworks.The e-VET SAT and the e-VETrainers Platform and App will see the involvement of all the partners in their co- design and elaboration (R1/A4 for the former, R2/A2 and A3 for the latter).The design phase of the e-VET4AI Training Model (R3) will be initiated by an international co-design session (LTTA C1) in which the participants (trainers and experts from the partner institutions) will define the main designing elements for the toolkit. In fact, these principles will support the partnership not only in the micro and macro-design of the contents and structure of the training toolkit itself (R3-A1 and A2), but will also be taken into account in the elaboration of the reference Guidelines (R3-A4).TESTING AND PILOTING PHASE (R1, R2)The e-VET SAT will be tested within the partners (R1-A5), the User Test of the developed Platform and App will be carried out (R2-A4), their Go Live will be realized (R2-A7) and the macro/micro design activities of the e-VET4AI Training Model will be implemented (R3-A1 and A2), foreseeing the total involvement of 40 trainers. This latest activity (Go Live, R2-A7) will be open also to 80 trainers coming from IVET institutions outside the partnership.Modifications may be made to the Results according to the evaluation results. PHASE OF DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION OF RESULTS (E1-5)The CDP will be discussed at a very early stage of the project (M3) while the Exploitation and Sustainability Plan will be discussed preliminarily at M12. These choices respond to the need to reach an agreement with the partners as soon as possible about what tools and results the partnership intends to exploit after the end of the project and what mechanisms to do so. During the project a series of promotion and dissemination activities will be organized to inform the target groups about the project activities and expected results and to involve them in different project phases. These efforts will culminate in the organization of 4 local dissemination events (E1-4) and 1 final conference (E5), which aim to promote the adoption of the tools developed by the project also outside the partnership and at European level.External actors (VET bodies and companies) will be invited to sign a MoU to confirm their commitment in uptaking project results .<< Results >>The project aims to initiate a process of OPEN INNOVATION in which the European IVET systems are open to practices developed in other contexts through the sharing of a VIRTUAL LEARNING SPACE, achieving the following Results.1.Upskilling trainers (from both partners and other VET institutions) on teaching and learning methodologies, necessary in the current era, using digital technologies.The development of the SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL ON DIGITAL PROFICIENCY (R1) will contribute to the achievement of the above. This tool will be structured as a questionnaire, built around the areas of observation provided by DigCompEdu, aiming at testing the level of Digital Proficiency of trainers and outlining the progressive acquisition of skills and practices able to advance them on the scale of reference . We will investigate skills in the USE OF DIGITAL RESOURCES, TEACHING and LEARNING and EMPOWERMENT OF OUR LEARNERS.The implementation of the WEB PLATFORM e-VETrainers (R2) will contribute to the achievement of this result. The Platform, and the related App, will be designed to facilitate collaboration and sharing between trainers on the creation of interdisciplinary DIGITAL LESSONS, aggregating in a single web space: 1) multimedia tools; 2) communication tools; 3) content developed at the level of CLASS, MULTICLASS or ENTITY. The design ingof an ONLINE TRAINING TOOLKIT (R3), addressed to the mechanical training system with a focus on AI and DA, will contribute to the achievement of the above result as it will allow trainers to test the developed materials, also measuring their ability to use innovative digital tools.Finally, this result will be achieved through the participation of trainers in Multiplier Event E1-E5 and LTTA C1 activity.2.Upskilling trainers of the partner organizations on Key enabling technologies for Industry4.0 (AI and DA), with a twofold purpose:•pedagogical - AI is increasingly considered a strategic technology that the VET system must look at to improve its innovation and distance learning design capabilities; •thematic - AI, closely linked to data and information analysis (Data Analytics), is one of the technologies that the productive plants look at with interest as a frontier technology. The IVET system should update its training offer incorporating AI and DA in order to address the new labor market needs.The DESIGN OF THE TRAINING MODEL (cf. R3) and the short mobility activity C1 e-VET4AI Learning, Teaching, Training Activity (LTTA C1) are designed to contribute to the achievement of this result.3.The strengthening of a network for good practices exchange at EU level, encouraging cooperation between partner institutions and with other European training institutions involved in the project and the main European stakeholders and policy-makers.The cooperation between trainers and VET providers, aimed at developing a roadmap for IVET Digital Innovation, will be promoted and implemented through the activities planned (Focus Group, R1-A3; e-VET SAT administration, R1-A5; e-VETrainers Platform and App User Test, R2-A4; Workshop, R2-A6; Go Live of the e-VETrainers Platform and App, R2-A7; LTTA C1) and it will be incentivized by the nature of its Results (in particular of the e-VETrainers Platform).Finally, through the Multiplier Events (E1-E5) and the Final ConferenceCall To Action, the Communication and Dissemination Plan and the Exploitation and Sustainability Plan, designed to promote and use the Results achieved at local and European level, the project intends to give life to a network of VET institutions and stakeholders that can exchange good practices and experiences to feed the debate around the Digital Innovation of the European VET System."