Selected by the Fund for the Digital Republic
The objective of SMart Innovative Learning for Employment (acronym Smile), a project selected and supported by the Fund for the Digital Republic - Social Enterprise (Prospettive call for proposals), is to help unemployed and inactive people aged 34-50 to re-enter the world of work with training focused on the acquisition and/or enhancement of digital skills that can give new value to their previous professional experience. Participation is free of charge.
Thanks to the implementation of a new training paradigm, this process also integrates the development of the ‘learning to learn’ skill (i.e. getting used to training independently to update one's knowledge in line with what the job market requires) by encouraging the beneficiaries to self-assess their training needs, to search for, select and use content and Open Educational Resources (OER) available online. The entire process is supported by continuous interaction with tutors and expert trainers within the ‘Smart Learning’ Community, which is inspired by the original Smart Learning Design™ methodology developed by the Politecnico di Milano.
Partners: Politecnico di Milano (project leader), Cisco Systems, Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS, Ifoa
Duration: 15 months
Territories involved: Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Piedmont
Target population: 200 unemployed or inactive people aged 34 to 50, who need training and support to acquire digital knowledge and skills that can be used in the labour market, with the aim of integration
Training activities. These include a 4-hour assessment-orientation course, a 120-hour Smart Track course and a 2-hour job coaching course.
In particular, the Smart Track training course, which is modular and flexible, includes online, synchronous and asynchronous training, divided into three training areas (TA) lasting 40 hours each with a responsible partner:
- Life Skills
- Basic Digital (Microsoft365 and Generative AI/ChatGPT)
- Professional Specific Digital
The training is defined according to the beneficiary's starting profile and includes paths of lower intensity (basic skills of the DigComp 2.2 framework) and paths of higher intensity (complex skills of the DigComp 2.2 framework and digital skills applied to specific work sectors).
There will be a ‘Catalogue-Library’ containing courses from which the beneficiary can choose, with the help of the counsellor-tutor, to identify those that best enhance their potential and professional profile with a view to placement. A chatbot will be activated on the platform to provide continuous assistance to participants even during individual work sessions. It is expected that 16 class-editions will be activated, with about 15 participants in each edition. Each user can benefit from all the courses in the catalogue-library available in asynchronous mode, without limitation for the entire duration of the project.
In addition, for foreign citizens with a basic level of Italian, there will be courses in the Italian language lasting 8-16 hours to be carried out asynchronously. Participants become part of a ‘Smart Learning Community’ active for the duration of the project, an online learning environment in which they become ‘active’ and ‘responsible’ actors of their own learning experience.
Expected results
- 240 people selected and included in the project
- 240 people offered orientation courses and a 4-hour initial individual assessment
- 16 editions of training courses lasting 120 hours with a modular structure according to the user's training needs
- 200 people involved in individual work support for at least 2 hours
- extracurricular training internship or direct job placement contract for at least 60% of the recipients
Monitoring and evaluation: the impact of the project is analysed using innovative qualitative and quantitative tools and the ‘Real-time evaluation methodology’. The system aims to evaluate the activities from the start-up phase and provide periodic feedback on the progress and development of the project, introducing any corrective measures if necessary; and to measure the achievement of the set objectives.
Communication: this involves all the project partners and the entire network with the relative online and offline communication channels. The flow of communication accompanies the entire intervention, according to a storytelling philosophy, which gives voice to all the figures who participate in and contribute to the realisation of the project, in order to enhance contributions, resolve critical issues and problems, and experiment with solutions.
Project selected by
The project was selected and supported by the Fund for the Digital Republic - Social Enterprise. The Fund for the Digital Republic was born from a partnership between the public and private social sectors (Government and Association of Foundations and Savings Banks - Acri) and, on an experimental basis for the years 2022-2026, allocates a total of approximately 350 million euros. It is funded by contributions from banking foundations. The objective is to increase digital skills and develop the country's digital transition. To implement the Fund's programmes - which operate within the scope of the digitisation objectives set out in the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan)
Recovery and Resilience Plan) and the FNC (Complementary National Fund) - the Fund for the Digital Republic - Social Enterprise was established in May 2022, a non-profit organisation wholly owned by Acri. For more information, visit