Digital transformation is revolutionising the way Europeans live, study and work. Yet, not all Europeans are ready to fully participate in – ad contribute to – the digital society and economy.
According to the European Commission, only 57% of Europeans have the digital skills needed for the digital world we live in. One in six Europeans aged 16-74 has no digital skills at all and one in four only has a low level of digital skills. Furthermore, while 90% of jobs require basic digital competences, 35% of the labour force lacks them. Moreover, 38% of EU companies report that the lack of digital skills negatively affects their performance and competitiveness.

In this context IDEA (Inspiring Digital Entrepreneurship and Awareness in HE) project aims at fulfilling the gaps highlighted in the specific Higher Education priorities - HE: Tackling skills gaps and mismatches of the Erasmus Plus Programme, page 107 by combining training and tools targeted to 2 different set of skills equally needed to boost effectiveness of HE curricula and magnify HE students’ chances of success: Digital Skills and Entrepreneurial skills.
Through its activities and outputs, IDEA proposes an innovative approach of one important factor influencing entrepreneurial success: the use of digital skills applied to entrepreneurship. One of the first crucial trait of highly successful entrepreneurs is the ability to keep up with the latest trends (social, technological, economical). ”Digital Transformation of European Industry and Enterprises” report shows that the transformative power of digital is enormous and unexploited. Europe could create up to 1.5 million new jobs in the Internet economy.
The project will be implemented by 9 partners from Croatia, Poland, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Spain, Slovakia from different backgrounds (business/ICT field, HE Institutions and social partners/NGO) over a period of 24 months.

IDEA has the objective of mapping and stock taking of Digital Entrepreneurship dynamics in the countries involved, by identifying common trends, issues, best practices and tools.
IDEA will also deploy project results throughout Europe via its OER platform destined to become a knowledge hub and an open education focal point. IDEA will rise awareness among HE Institutions and education authorities concerning the potential of digital skills and entrepreneurship skills and their role as business success factors.
IDEA main aim is to improve professional success chances of HE students with different backgrounds by developing not only their entrepreneurship skills (or knowledge), but also their digital skills.