CORA
CORA (COnnecting Remote Areas with digital infrastructure and services) is a project within the framework of Interreg NSR 2014-2020, which focuses on the promotion of digital infrastructure and services in rural areas. The project consists of a transnational consortium with 18 partners from seven European Member States. CORA supports local authorities in identifying common challenges and encourages them to share experiences and develop innovative solutions to create a sustainable digital environment.
Like!
Like! (Building a local digital innovation culture) is also an Interreg NSR 2014-2020 project that focuses on the ability of the public sector to enable innovation and thus a wide variety of services with innovative solutions and better public services. The project brings together ten partners from five member states in the North Sea region.
Digital skills – a key to digital transformation
During a transnational meeting in Angus, UK on July 5, 2018, the two projects CORA and Like! exchanged views on opportunities for cooperation and maximizing synergies. Both projects aim to work together in as many areas as possible to refine each other’s findings and bring new directions or angles to their project activities. In terms of content, both projects are dedicated to the challenges of digital transformation in the North Sea region.
While Like! focuses on developing the innovative possibilities of digital services in the public sector, CORA concentrates on creating ideal conditions for digital transformation in less developed and rural areas. More than 28 organizations from the North Sea region and over 15 local and regional experts are involved in the two projects. These experts face similar challenges, so sharing experiences and insights from common areas maximizes the learning effects and increases the effectiveness of transnational cooperation as such. Both projects have in common that the project partners see the improvement of digital skills of local stakeholders as a key aspect for the digital transformation in cities and regions of the North Sea Region.
In addition to the limited access to and use of digital technologies in regions and especially rural areas, there is a lack of digital skills among various social groups (e.g. older people) and companies. However, digital skills and awareness of the opportunities offered by digitalization are essential to develop new forms of businesses, applications and services and to promote social cohesion and economic prosperity in Europe. To ensure that everyone can contribute and benefit from the digital economy while quickly adapting to new, unfamiliar activities and skills, education and training opportunities should provide ICT qualifications at different levels (general, specialized, complementary) that include basic skills, digital literacy, abstract thinking, social and emotional skills. In addition, the skills of adults with weak literacy, numeracy and digital skills should be improved so that they too can participate in the digital economy and society.
The projects thus address the key issues for the digital transformation in the G20. In order to close the skills gaps, CORA is developing targeted training courses for the wider society. The basis is the concept of blended learning: a mixture of virtual learning elements (e-learning) and physical learning activities (workshops). The main target groups for the training courses are local communities (raising awareness and training for citizens), companies (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) and public authorities. For a cooperation Like! project partners will initially support the creation of selected e-learning materials in order to develop and promote new and innovative smart services based on their findings. They will also use the CORA platform and concept for their organizations.
To ensure a continuous exchange, CORA and Like! will participate in further joint events. The project partners of Like! are invited to the first annual CORA conference at the end of 2018, where the most important results will be presented to various EU stakeholders.