Women Integration through Digital Entrepreneurship

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 wom...

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.

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 Events Activities within PR1: WIDE OER platform PR1-T1 Defining the WIDE-OER platform PR1-T2 Maintenance and operation of WIDE-OER The 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 ecosystem PR2-T1 Common methodology for mapping PR2-T2 Map tools, mechanisms, lessons, best practices PR2-T3 Rendering in the final PR2 The leading partner was CDI from North Macedonia Activities within PR3: Development and validation of training solutions PR3-T1 Development of WIDE training tools and guidelines PR3-T2 Content and material on the Internet PR3-T3 Translation of material into 5 languages PR3-T4 Validation plan PR3-T5 Testing the WIDE tool on at least 60 target groups PR3-T6 Fine tuning and final report The leading partner was REDASP

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