Listening to the needs of the innovation intermediaries, the INNO-4-AGRIFOOD project launched e-learning solutions which aim to enhance service portfolios and skills within innovation consultants in the agri-food sector.
INNO-4-AGRIFOOD is an EU-funded project set on fostering and stimulating online collaboration for innovation amongst more than 11 million SMEs active within the European Agri-food ecosystem. The project offers completely novel, innovative and free-of-charge innovation support services, tools and e-learning courses that aim to:
- Unlock the innovation and collaboration potential of agri-food SMEs at local, national and international level; and
- Enhance the service portfolio of innovation consultants and SME support networks, enabling them to provide even more effective support to their clients.
Within this project, Europa Media developed the e-learning platform which contains 14 modules divided under 7 training sections:
- Agri-food industry (State of the art and emerging technologies; Emerging trends; Characteristics of the agri-food ecosystem, including EU-funding; Key features of important networks, such as TRADEIT, TRAFOON and more)
- Support service skills (Practical approaches for identifying customer needs; Key business advisor concepts, i.e. business plans, market analyses and more; Effective communication with your SME clients)
- Soft skills (The basics of building trust; Getting your message across)
- Collaboration skills (Overcoming barriers in initiating international collaborations; Various tools to monitor collaboration with and of your SME client; IPR protection for innovative agri-food SMEs)
- Innovation management skills (The concept of innovation management in the agri-food ecosystem; Work on innovation management with your clients)
- ICT skills (Online collaboration platforms, tools and applications)
- INNO-4-AGRIFOOD services (Introduction to the INNO-4-AGRIFOOD innovation support services)
Currently, over 100 participants are using the modules, benefiting from the content developed from the project partners and based on the feedback, a final version of the platform will be developed.
E-learning module within I4A platform
Abreast of the e-learning platform, the INNO-4-AGRIFOOD project provides additional services and tools aimed at assisting innovation consultants. The services enable consultants to find out what collaborations they can see in order to improve their businesses, identify innovation opportunities online, and understand how to use web and mobile apps to enhance collaborations. This is an extremely useful approach for innovation consultants as it will be in the form of a free toolkit and they will be assisted by their own personal coach, every step of the way.
The INNO-4-AGRIFOOD Smart tools are a single-entry point for all relevant information about the agri-food industry, for innovation consultants and agri-food SMEs. These tools gather all the information such as current trends, state-of-the-art technologies, practical solutions and funding opportunities, thus providing users with a convenient way to be up to speed with the developments in this sector.
Can INNO-4-AGRIFOOD assist SMEs as well?
Yes, there are separate services which the SMEs can utilize. These services help SMEs to establish collaborations to improve their businesses (how to better understand the needs and characteristics of their businesses, identify partners and innovation opportunities for market success), to identify innovation opportunities online (learn how online collaboration can ease day-to-day work and finally, to use web and mobile apps to enhance collaborations (recommendations for widely-used remote collaboration applications and how to make the best use out of them).
What makes these services even more beneficial is the fact that they are free of charge, can be personalized, they will be delivered by a pool of well-trained consultants and can be accessed in person or remotely.
If you would like to gain access to and benefit from the leading-edge tools and services from INNO-4-AGRIFOOD, visit our project website and start today!
