Promoting people with disabilities’ employment by enhancing their digital skills and competences to support a remote working scheme.

"<< Background >>Following the COVID-2019 pandemic, businesses around the world are being forced to modify the way they operate under a new environment and conditions. Covid-19 have had severe consequences which are further aggravated for marginalized groups like people with disabilities. The total employment of people with disabilities decreased by 11.2% from February to July 2020, compared to a decrease of 6.7% for people without disabilities (ILO, Disability and Work, 2019).The new Covid scenery produced a new reality of remote working that could bring unprecedented opportunities (e.g. work from home) to people with disabilities for their inclusion into the labour market, but also many digital barriers as according to Global Business and Disability Network “An inclusive digitaleconomy for people with disabilities”, people with disabilities generally experience significantly lower educational levels than people without disabilities. Considering fully the above context, Digitability Project’s vision is to promote people with disabilities’ employment by enhancing their digital skills and competences to support a remote working scheme through the development of a more digital resilient educational scheme for both training providers and trainees.<< Objectives >>The vision of the Digitability Project is to promote employment for people with disabilities by enhancing their digital skills and competencies, supporting remote work opportunities, and developing a more digitally resilient educational framework for both training providers and trainees. The project will provide employees and potential employees with disabilities, as well as VET providers, with a user-friendly and interactive online platform. This platform will offer innovative materials based on a robust methodology and supported by a comprehensive online educational package.The more specific objectives of the project are as follows:Equip VET providers with a training program designed to help individuals with disabilities acquire digital skills.Empower individuals with disabilities, transforming their societal position and ensuring they can access their rights in the evolving world of work and beyond.Enable people with disabilities to gain direct access to employment and new work environments through enhanced digital skills.Support and assist individuals with disabilities in performing daily tasks at the workplace through the use of digital tools.<< Implementation >>The ""Digitability"" project is organized into work packages (WPs) that span the entire project timeline, from initial analysis to dissemination:Project Management (WP1) ensures the coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of all activities. It includes resource allocation and communication with the funding agency and project partners.The ""Digitability State Analysis Report"", WP2, identified the training needs for employees with disabilities identification of key priorities by decision-makers, skills and competences and the actions needed to shape a future of work in a more disability-inclusive way.Work Package n°3, Development of the Digitability Educational Package: designed and developed for VET education professionals to deepen their understanding of emerging trends in enhancing digital skills and competencies for employees or candidate employees with disabilities. Work Package n°4, Learning Platform developed to integrate the educational package with information, tools, and other resources to enhance the learning experience. This platform will serve as a comprehensive tool to support both trainees and training providers.Work Package n°5 , focus on sharing promoting exploiting the results of the project<< Results >>Digitability project succefully delivered the Digitability State Analysis Report a picture primarily focused on existing learning practices, resources, materials, the skills employees need for their jobs, business processes, stakeholder involvement and relevance, as well as any gaps or mismatches between the current learning context and employee needs.A training course, Digitability Educational Package description, designed and developed for VET education professionals to enhance their understanding of emerging trends in improving digital skills and competencies for employees or potential employees with disabilities.Furthermore, a Learning Platform developed in order to integrate the Digitability Educational Package. The platform aims to enhance the digital skills and competencies of our target group, covering various areas outlined in the proposal. It is providing a comprehensive learning experience, integrating the results from Work Package 2 and Work Package 3 into a single platform."