INTERREG EUROPE „4.0 Ready project – Strengthening SME capacity to engage in Industry 4.0” Kick Off meeting in Florence
Kick Off meeting of the 40Ready Interreg Europe project was held in Florence (17-18 September 2019). Lorenzo Sabatini, the representative of the lead partner Agency for the development of the Empolese Valdelsa (ASEV), was proud to have put together this amazing consortium of partners (representing Finland, Spain, Italy, Poland, Lithuania (European social fund agency), Romania, Belgium) in a project that looks at how European SMEs can make sure that their staff are ready for the 4.0 industrial revolution.
The project couldn’t have got off to a better start, with a group of partners from 8 European regions and participation from a sister project from Hungary INNOPROVEMENT. All the partners learned about policy initiatives in Tuscany, especially the hugely successful ITS system. Thanks to ITS PRIME and ITS Energy and Environment for sharing their experiences with everybody.
Lithuania was represented by European social fund agency together with Evaldas Petrauskas, senior specialist from Industry 4.0 Policy Division, Innovation and Industry Department, Ministry of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania. He presented Lithuanian Industry Digitisation Roadmap 2019-2030, which serves as a guidance for industry digitisation efforts following the Industry 4.0 initiatives across Europe to make the local manufacturing more proficient and competitive. It is the first milestone for the new Smart Specialization Strategy and its priority areas as well as serving as basis for the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy and the National Progress Programme.
It was also discussed how best to engage SMEs, to learn about what their training needs might be. Food for thought was provided by project partners from Navarra and Wallonia, who have carried out extensive regional 4.0 surveys.
Partners will be working on the SME Needs analysis over the next few months, ready to discuss results at the next meeting (Helsinki, March 2020).
Check out the 40Ready website for updates!
