SME 2.0

The results of the SME 2.0 project help small and medium-sized enterprises to innovate their business based on free network and web 2.0 tools. It also supports teachers and educators of entrepreneurs of the future in improving the quality of vocational training by adapting the SME Learning method.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are considered to be the driving forces of the economic growth worldwide. In The Small Business Act, issued by the European Commission, it is clearly stated that the priority policy objective for the coming years is to identify the economic role of European SMEs.

The law emphasizes that the central role of SMEs must be made clear to all and sets out the 10 most important principles. In Annex VIII:

„According to 60% of companies, during the school years, skills and competences that are essential for entrepreneurs and employees of enterprises are not developed. Surveys show that on a social scale young people need to have an appropriate level of writing, reading, science, management, technical, IT and language competences and the ability to to work creatively. What SMEs are particularly suffering from is the lack of a workforce capable of using new technologies.”

The package of measures was followed by the development of a number of training programmes for SMEs. Thanks to this, the knowledge necessary for efficient business management is now available both online and in print. Nevertheless, even the youngest entrepreneurs (members of the net generation) are not really aware of the business potential of new info-communicational technologies, social networks, online cooperation and network communication tools.

According to the results of the newest surveys, the use of modern web knowledge management tools is a problem for small entrepreneurs not only in Hungary, but throughout Europe – despite the fact that theoretical knowledge of this is widely available on the Internet.

On the Internet there are free of charge, 2.0 networking applications that can facilitate the professional and management tasks of businesses, enable teamwork, collaboration and communication between employees, and increase the effectiveness of marketing. However, the transmission of knowledge in this regard should be much more effective, and could be more effective, if you follow the “do it to learn it” method.

Prompt has been organizing IT trainings for managers and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises for several years, so we had the opportunity to recognize where there is a really big difference between the training offer and the training demand.

Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) and eLearning research are increasingly concluding that pedagogical, sociological and technological factors, the specificities of the organizational operation and economic situation of small businesses should be taken into account to a large extent, The synergy of factors and approaches is essential for an eLearning product to be able to transfer knowledge that can be used in the day-to-day work of SMEs.

The SME 2.0 project aims to create an open educational environment that, based on the theoretical considerations of information society learning theory and integrating the latest web 2.0 tools, creates an online learning environment that supports knowledge sharing and cooperation between Hungarian small businesses.

It develops a training methodology that takes into account the specificities, workplace and organizational characteristics of SMEs to a large extent.

The innovation transfer SME 2.0 adapts the results of two previous successful Leonardo projects in a domestic environment. Donor projects:

A project's website: http://smepro.eu/hu