Women Integration through Digital Entrepreneurship

"<< Background >>Recent data from the EU Commission highlights the worrying trend that the level of IT skills of women in Europe is still too low. In addition to the economic aspect, the digital empowerment of women is also a concern from a social point of view: so it is stated in the document of the EU Commission ""Women in the Digital Traffic Light"" from 2019, that only 17% of specialists in the ICT industry are women and that they earn 19% less than men. So, in digital skills, there is a gender gap of 11%.The WIDE project took an innovative approach to bridging the gaps identified in the EU document ""Equality Union: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025"" (March 2020), through the improvement of digital skills for entrepreneurial purposes.In rural areas, women often do not use ICT to empower them due to several barriers such as lack of self-confidence, illiteracy, reluctance to use modern technologies, and another reason is accessibility of training schools, etc.That's why REDASP, as the coordinator, decided to apply for this project, and to face the challenge through the WIDE project, by providing very innovative tools and resources to women living in rural areas who lack entrepreneurial and digital skills.<< Objectives >>The WIDE project set the following specific goals:- improvement of digital skills among women from rural areas in order to develop entrepreneurial abilities;- improvement of digital skills among women from rural areas who already have a business idea in mind, but lack of ICT skills;- addressing digital transformation through the development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity of AL providers to deliver high quality training;- networking and building a solid consortium representing all the different actors of the AE ecosystem, small and medium enterprises, ICT and digital expertise, as well as the third sector (NGOs), which promotes common values, civic engagement and participation, and the adoption of pan-European perspectives. - supporting women entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs from rural areas by providing innovative and modern trainings that will help them improve digitally in order to strengthen themselves and make their business more competitive;With its goals and activities, the WIDE project is in line with the priorities set by the European Commission and at the national level with the digital needs of adult women entrepreneurs in the countries of the Consortium.<< Implementation >>All partners were involved in the project activities and cooperated under the leadership of the REDASP as a coordinator. Some partners were responsible for leading specific activities, given their specific expertise. The main activities of the project were:- Four Transnational Project Meetings – online, Pescara, Brussels, online;- Six Multiplier EventsActivities within PR1: WIDE OER platformPR1-T1 Defining the WIDE-OER platformPR1-T2 Maintenance and operation of WIDE-OERThe leading partner was the company IWS from Spain, which is also a training provider in the field of ICT. All partners were responsible for providing content;Activities within PR2: Mapping the rural entrepreneurial ecosystemPR2-T1 Common methodology for mappingPR2-T2 Map tools, mechanisms, lessons, best practicesPR2-T3 Rendering in the final PR2The leading partner was CDI from North MacedoniaActivities within PR3: Development and validation of training solutionsPR3-T1 Development of WIDE training tools and guidelinesPR3-T2 Content and material on the InternetPR3-T3 Translation of material into 5 languagesPR3-T4 Validation planPR3-T5 Testing the WIDE tool on at least 60 target groupsPR3-T6 Fine tuning and final reportThe leading partner was REDASP<< Results >>As achieved outputs of the WIDE project are the following:- empowered women with digital skills and abilities in order to increase their participation in social and economic life and activities,- produced a long-term impact on AE organizations that will benefit from the exchange and experiences gained during the implementation of the project.- Realized contribution to encouraging the participation of women in the entrepreneurial world thanks to improved skills.In such context, WIDE provided tangible solutions and results:• R1: online e-platform as an open educational resource. The WIDE platform will be a virtual space for women without qualifications to access the knowledge base and use content and training tools to build entrepreneurial opportunities.• R2: Rural Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Manual - the WIDE project identified entrepreneurial opportunities that can be supported by local funding sources in the agricultural, tourism and cultural areas with a focus on small target groups manufacturers and companies from the aforementioned sectors.• R3: Development and validation of a WIDE training solutions - trainings specifically designed for women"