Author name: itsolutions

On June 17, 2021 IT Solutions for All hosted the multiplier event of ATS VIP project. Due to post pandemic COVID-19 restrictions, it has been run online on Zoom platform. The association IT Solutions for All, based in Malaga, carried out the multiplier event of ATS VIP project, “Accessible Travel Solutions for Visually Impaired Persons”, on June 17, 2021. This event was addressed to blind people, visually impaired people and their companions, tourism and transportation professionals across Spain. The event took place online through the Zoom platform to guarantee the safety of all participants due to pandemic. The event was attended by 20 people, blind people, visually impaired people and companions. All participants reported a high degree of satisfaction with the discussion, as well as they were interested to know more about ATS VIP project. In this event, we presented to the audience the goals of ATS VIP Project, as well as all the stage of the development process of the project, so they could better understand the importance and the relevance of the project, as visually impaired and blind travellers. ATS VIP team encouraged participants to follow the project development and to take part to its important awareness campaign, sharing their experience and participating to the Best Storytelling Video contest. ATS VIP is a Project co-financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission to which participates a consortium of 3 partners from 3 countries (Republic of North Macedonia, Romania and Spain). The main purpose of ATS VIP project is to make travels accessible and safe for blind and disabled people, through the development of an open educational resourced platform about barrier-free tourism and transport solutions, to make travelling more accessible and safe for blind and visually impaired people and to improve their mobility and quality of life across Europe. ATS VIP proposes an integrated approach, possible through the cooperation of partners active in many sectors.

On June 17th, 2021 took place a virtual reunion related to the awareness campaign that is carry out within the ATS VIP project. The meeting was held by IT Solutions for All, the Spanish partner of ATS VIP consortium. During almost two hours, the 20 participants of the online meeting discussed and shared experiences and advice about travels for blind and visual impaired people. The topics covered were about travels and tourism for disabled people. We could know how often they travel abroad and within their own country, how are their experiences as blind travellers in relation to transport, accommodation and tourist attractions accessibility. The participants recounted positive experiences about traveling that they lived in first person, as well as the main obstacles that they usually find and, sometimes, these keep them from live the travel experience at 100%, normally they are related to the failure to adapt and the lack of professionals properly trained for some destination. They also shared experiences related to the travels planification and organization, agreeing that, thanks to technologies, the visual disability or the blindness are not an obstacle to properly plan a trip. The dynamic and participatory event resulted an interesting and rewarding experience for all the participant and for the organization. For further information about ATS VIP project: https:www.atsvip.eu

The online identity of the DISK Project is taking shape. As life expectancy increases, Europe’s rapidly aging population continues to grow in number. According to the Eurostat, one in four people will be over 65 years old by 2050; social policies for the elderly in Europe often neglect lifelong learning, and this despite the fact that the sustainability of social protection systems relies on the autonomy and on the community participation of the elderly population.  On the basis of these gaps, Digital Skills for an Ageing Europe (DISK) will adopt an intersectoral and gender sensitive approach and capitalise on the valuable experience of its partners (8 organisations from 6 different countries) to provide the elderly with innovative and tailored training opportunities.   In particular, partners will carry out the following activities: Develop a dedicated OER Platform accessible to all, free of charge, in full Open Access mode and in multilingual versions (EN, FR, GR, IT, MK, ES) where all the content produced will be published. Develop highly interactive e-learning courses to improve the memory and learning skills of the elderly, help them familiarise with practical services such as online shopping, and bookings, etc. with a view to  improving their cognitive abilities and health, as well as preventing skill decline and dementia. Develop guidelines to facilitate the uptake of Digital Skills for an Ageing Europe so as to sustain project results beyond Erasmus co-financing and widen its range of impact. Since the very beginning of the projects, the partners are collaborating to establish the online presence and visual identity of the project. Under the precious guidance of the Greek and Spanish partners (Mathemagenesis and Internet Web Solutions, the IT and Web design specialists of our consortium), partners are in the process of finalising the digital assets of the project. With in-depth accuracy, all participating organisation are involved in the design of the OER Platform in terms of: Assessing its user-friendliness Evaluating its ease of use So far, the implementation of the platform is a “smooth-and-easy” process; the communication and collaboration among partners allow great efficacy and dynamism. At the very same time, partners are brainstorming on possible lines o intervention for the development of highly interactive e-learning courses to improve the memory and learning skills of the elderly, help them familiarise with practical services such as online shopping, and bookings, etc. with a view to improving their cognitive abilities and health, as well as preventing skill decline and dementia. The field of work has been divided in 4 macro areas, in compliance with scientific recommendations for the prevention of mental decline: Memory: visual, verbal and spatial ability to store and retrieve information when needed Executive Functions: skills like reasoning, planning, regulating behaviours Perception: how we interact with the environment Attention: Processing visual and auditory stimuli, selecting and distinguishing “relevant” from “non relevant”  

In the first months of 2020, as COVID-19 infections were rising all over the world, entrepreneurs and employers have been asked to close their activities and, if possible, to transfer all of their work online, forcing them to implement telecommuting solutions that, in many cases, have never been experienced before. A comprehensive sample of results emerging from EU sources[1], confirm that EU SMEs and their internal workforce lack a strong and reliable digital/ICT culture (specifically those located in the Mediterranean and Balkan area); a skill-lag that throughout the post-crisis exacerbated pre-existing gaps in terms of opportunities for long-term financial sustainability. EU SMEs are the most affected by the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: Europe is “closed for business”, and while large companies have systems in place to implement telecommuting and smart work, SMEs (especially microenterprises) do not have ICT systems in place nor policies for their staff to work remotely. SWIFT SME tackles the challenge to equip micro and SMEs all across Europe with tools and means to embrace telecommuting as a new competitive solution to operate in the new business scenarios. The 2-years project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission and reunites a consortium of six organisation from five countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania and Spain). [1] Data refers to the Eurostat. Individuals’ level of digital skills, 2019 & The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2020 As the first project’s result, the strategic partnership developed, tested and published online the official Open Educational Resource (OER) Platform. The SWIFT SME’s Platform is in multilanguage version and its consultation is completely free with no log-in credentials required; throughout the following two years, the OER Platform will publish the milestones achieved by the partnership, namely: Transnational analysis from secondary and primary sources mapping quantitative and qualitative dynamics related to the phenomenon of smart working and telecommuting among microentrepreneurs and SMEs Training tools and operational solutions to facilitate a smooth transition towards new business models embracing the paradigm of remote working Uptake guidelines to sustain the replicability of the project so to wide-spread SWIT SME’s impacts beyond its natural life cycle Extremely relevant is also the COMMUNITY section of the Platform: private and public stakeholders in the domain of Entrepreneurship, digital training, business consultancy, etc., will be able to join the community of practice of SWIFT SME while remaining updated on projects’ results and achievements. For further information on SWIFT SME: https://www.swiftsme.eu/ https://www.facebook.com/SWIFT-SME-104501944845553