Category: Innovation Projects

Optimistic Report in Difficult Times

22/12/2020

This strange but memorable pandemic year is coming to an end. Like any organization that has set clear goals and priorities, the Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club (KISMC) reports to its members with another successful year.

At the National Valorization Conference that took place in Sofiа on 18.12.2020, KISMC was awarded a certificate of quality for the successful implementation of the project Boost Aid for Social Entrepreneurship through Training (BASET). Such awards were given to only 40 projects out of 1500 projects in total from different categories, and this project is the only one to receive the award in the field Adult Education.

Since the very end of 2019 and in 2020, we've launched seven new projects under the Erasmus+ programme, remaining loyal to one of the most successful human resources development under EU programmes. Namely, these projects are:

Smart technologies by design thinking (SMART)
Transition to Industry 4.0 (TransIT)
Upskilling Lab 4.0 (4.0UP)
Impact Incubator for Nurturing Sustainability (i2 SustainIT)
Creative thinking for parents (Creative Parents)
Apprenticeship for the Development of Design Thinking (ADDET)
Collective Innovation to Fight Climate Change (Fight Climate Change)

In such a way for the last few years since its establishment, KISMC has joined as a partner or leading organization 15 projects in total under the Erasmus+ Programme, 6 of which are finalized successfully and 9 are undergoing.

By joining these projects, we remain fully committed to the topics that we consider very important for the development of our country, namely knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship and, of course, the impact of new technologies and methods in these areas.

Being also an active member of the Cluster Sofia Knowledge City, our organization KISMC supports with a part of its HR capacity three quite interesting and important projects that the cluster is realizing currently as a member of international partnerships, namely:

Media Motor Europe (MME) - Horizon 2020
European Technology for Sustainability (eT4S) - COSME-GA
Smart Skills for Smarter Cities (Skills4Cities) - Erasmus+

As a result, KISMC expanded its international presence in cooperation with over 20 new organizations from Europe, enriched its knowledge and experience in the field of knowledge management and innovation in SMEs, and developed and disseminated new useful methodologies, tools and good practices in these areas for the benefit of the Bulgarian business and the non-governmental sector.

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6 Reasons to Attend the International Conference 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030' [Sofia, 11 July 2018]

30/6/2018

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6 reasons to attend the international conference 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030'

If the news hasn't reached you online or through invitations yet, there's an event not to be missed - the international conference 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030', which is taking place at Inter Expo Center, Sofia on 11 July, 2018. It will bring together innovation and digital experts, entrepreneurs, investors, academicians, professionals and stakeholders in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The perfect place to meet like-minded people and exchange views on various topics in the digital, innovation and entrepreneurship space.

However, most of us know, have seen or/and have attended the large number of events that have been taking place in Sofia and Bulgaria in the last 6 months because of Bulgaria holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Despite that, we believe that 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030' will bring value to you and below you can find 6 reasons why you should attend it.

Learn more about the conference

1. Conference programme featuring international panellists

The event will feature panellists from the UK, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Macedonia and Bulgaria who have international experience in various industries in the area of digitization, innovation, entrepreneurship and education.

2. Panels with exciting topics to inspire hot discussions

Our panellists will have the opportunity to present their international experience and get into discussions to encourage everyone to look through different perspectives, exchange ideas and points of view on how entrepreneurship and innovation are changing the world, the importance of digital skills nowadays, managing innovations, design thinking for the software industry, problem solving in higher education, accelerators, agile schools, etc.

Review Conference Programme

Learn more about the panellists

3. Deeper understanding of Design Thinking for Digital Innovation

Get your hands on the guide for implementation of design thinking for digital innovation and learn more about this exciting project - DigiThink, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. You would also discover and grasp deeper understanding of the results from the pilot testing done during the project duration.

4. Practical workshop / Competition game on Design Thinking

Facilitated by Milena Koleva (IMA), Massimo Andriolo (IXL), Ruslan Papazyan (Trelleborg) and other mentors from the Innovation Management Academy, you will have the chance to go through the design thinking process. You will get involved in a competition game for design thinking, focused on the digitization and transformation of Sofia into a smart city and during the process you & your team will generate and share ideas and solutions, based on the model of the Global Innovation Managament Institute and IXL Center.

5. Wine Networking

There's no need to mention the importance of networking and meeting like-minded people, especially when you have a glass of wine in hand after a day full of insights on topics such as digital skills, innovation, education, entrepreneurship, etc as well as experiencing games on design thinking for digitizing and transforming the capital of Sofia.

6. Meet all the project partners/conference organizers for potential future collaboration

And last but not least, SULSIT and KISMC, together with all the DigiThink partners: SULSIT, University of Deusto, Technalia Research & Innovation, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and Training 2000, welcome everyone to join and have a chat about potential projects and partnerships.

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'Action Project for Innovation' (APInno)

21/11/2014

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‘Action Project for Innovation’ (APInno) is an exciting project aiming at fostering the collaboration between businesses and universities by developing an innovative approach and methodology for teaching Innovation Management. APInno is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus + Programme 2014-2020 (the EU Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport, Key Action 2 - Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices) after submitting an application in April 2014 and being successfully approved to work on tackling the future challenges that higher education and business organisations are facing and ways in which innovation management can help mitigate the effects of the rapidly changing world.

The project will be executed in 2015-2016 by a balanced partnership which includes two HEIs (Higher Educational Institutions), two SMEs, a Research Centre and an NGO active in HEI-business collaboration and adult training from four different countries - Bulgaria, Italy, Spain and the UK - KISMC, University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Anfi Ventures, Tecnalia, JODA Training and Middlesex University.

Innovation + Education

On the one hand, innovation - the ability to reap the rewards of scientific achievements - requires much more than the ability to turn a new idea into a working product. It requires the systematic and holistic approach of innovation management. On the other hand, education is on the dynamic path of change and modernisation where it becomes necessary to embrace new innovative cross-functional and cross-disciplinary approaches, to engage business, external stakeholders, the public, researchers and other third parties.

As most of us are aware, the Europe 2020 strategy, its Flagship Initiatives and the Modernisation Agenda of European universities put knowledge at the heart of the Union’s efforts for achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is crucial to include practical experience in courses which will help attune curricula to current and emerging labour market needs and foster employability and entrepreneurship (Agenda for the modernisation of Europe's higher education systems, 2011).

APInno Outputs

The main output of the APInno project, which is entirely focused on developing an Innovation Management methodology and an Innovation Management course, specialised training materials and most importantly a guide for business-academia collaboration, is to contribute to the future approaches of engaging all parties such as academia, businesses, researchers. These will help HEIs and SMEs to develop new practices to systematically manage their potential for innovation and identify the best ways for triggering creativity.

Most importantly, looking at the longterm benefits of this project, SMEs will gain higher awareness of the role Innovation Management plays in shaping their future so they can compete in the business environment by using creative approaches and encouraging innovation via engaging with young people eager to work with businesses. Also, academic institutions and researchers will be able to build models and identify upcoming challenges in the above mentioned field as well as provide ready solutions; the Guide for business-academia collaboration will then be easily replicated along with the APInno experiential model.

KISMC and the other partners in the project will be keeping you posted about the thrilling activities of APInno in the KISMC social media channels as well as on the project website: www.apinno.eu

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ABOUT

The Knowledge, Innovation and Strategies Management Club is a non-profit organisation set up in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2012 to foster knowledge and innovation management across South East Europe. KISMC is supporting the development of the innovation ecosystem in the region by bridging the gap between education, research and business.

Optimistic Report in Difficult Times

6 Reasons to Attend the International Conference 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030' [Sofia, 11 July 2018]

1. Conference programme featuring international panellists

2. Panels with exciting topics to inspire hot discussions

3. Deeper understanding of Design Thinking for Digital Innovation

4. Practical workshop / Competition game on Design Thinking

5. Wine Networking

6. Meet all the project partners/conference organizers for potential future collaboration

'Action Project for Innovation' (APInno)

Innovation + Education

APInno Outputs

KISMC Team

Archives

Categories

ABOUT

ORGANISATION

MEMBERSHIP

SUPPORT

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Optimistic Report in Difficult Times

6 Reasons to Attend the International Conference 'Digital Skills & Innovation @2030' [Sofia, 11 July 2018]

​1. Conference programme featuring international panellists

2. Panels with exciting topics to inspire hot discussions

​3. Deeper understanding of Design Thinking for Digital Innovation

4. Practical workshop / Competition game on Design Thinking

​5. Wine Networking

6. Meet all the project partners/conference organizers for potential future collaboration

'Action Project for Innovation' (APInno)

Innovation + Education

APInno Outputs

KISMC Team

Archives

Categories

ABOUT

ORGANISATION

MEMBERSHIP

SUPPORT

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

1. Conference programme featuring international panellists

3. Deeper understanding of Design Thinking for Digital Innovation

5. Wine Networking