Get Digital: Go Green & Be Resilient
In the context of the Ukraine war, the European Commission’s Department for Internal Market (DG GROW) alongside DIGITAL SME and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) will launch two workshops focused on accelerating the uptake of innovative solutions that help industry become increasingly energy independent and supply chain resilient.
Check below the start-ups/SMEs with innovative solutions!
VELIGERA
Startup
Textiles Digital
Italy
Name of the digital solution
VELIGERA
DESCRIPTION
VELIGERA is a fashion brand created in 2020. VELIGERA is not just a clothing line, but it is a constant research and experimentation. VELIGERA also wants to give life to a different future as the current fashion sector is, not only by experimenting with new types of fabrics, new types of prints and embroideries, but also by educating the customer in an artistic, historical and technological approach. VELIGERA considers the current traceability of the production chain incongruous with current technological standards. VELIGERA wants to integrate the current user experience through the use of tools to guarantee the traceability and authenticity of the garments through the creation of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that will be combined with each garment. This NFT ecosystem will give customers the opportunity to interact with each other, creating a real secondary market. Our direct competitors are Italian luxury brands such as Gucci, Prada, Fendi etc. that promote streetwear style and NFT technology, but only for the ecosystem of the Metaverse and for other applications not directly linked to the traceability, ownership and authenticity of the physical object.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
VELIGERA has three main features that contribute to sustainability and the resilience of European industry: ● Made in Italy and anti-counterfeiting - Through the combination of NFC technology, Blockchain and triple request key, we want to offer a system on the market that provides consumers with 100% anti-counterfeiting protection. ● NFTs - Ownership of an asset (physical / digital) from the purchase of the item. The customer will get both the physical garment and the digital garment. A set of NFTs will be created, each NFT will be unique and can be sent to the customer when purchasing the garment. Having a unique NFT will give even more assurance to the customer that the garment is authentic, avoiding counterfeiting of the garment. ● Sustainability - use of green materials (rubber, hemp, organic linen and cotton, recycled paper and wool, organic fibers, silk, jute, bamboo and cork) and completely sustainable labor process. The labor process will be shown to the customer.
DRONE BY DRONE
SME
Aerospace Defence Agri-food Digital Cultural and Creative Industries Construction Energy Intensive Industries Energy-Renewables Mobility-Transport-Automotive Proximity Social Economy and Civil Security
Spain
Name of the digital solution
PRECISION AGRICULTURE USING DRONES
DESCRIPTION
Drone by Drone as a drone operator company registered with AESA, specializes in carrying out flights for so-called precision agriculture, contributing to efficient and sustainable management of agriculture and the environment. The use of remote sensing with multispectral cameras and the application of artificial intelligence tools allow crops to be monitored more effectively, carrying out the application of precision agriculture techniques, with the aim that farms can know the real state of their crops as well as to predict key agronomic parameters, such as production, quality and optimal harvest date.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
The detection of crop pathologies by means of drones in specific areas of the plots, allows optimizing the farmer's resources. Efforts are focused on the crop area where they are most needed, not making a massive application of fertilizers, phytosanitary products or irrigation. This allows the saving of raw materials, such as water or fertilizers, contributing to the sustainability of agricultural production, both at an economic level, due to the dependence on raw materials, and at an environmental level, reducing water consumption and the application of nitrogenous products, pollutants for the soil and groundwater.
PoINT Software & Systems GmbH
SME
Digital
Germany
Name of the digital solution
PoINT Archival Gateway
DESCRIPTION
Our software-based storage solution PoINT Archival Gateway supports companies in coping with data growth and long-term storage of data in an economic and sustainable way. PoINT Archival Gateway uses tape storage technology, which is not only particularly cost-efficient, but also power-saving and low-emission. Tape is often ridiculed as a "dinosaur" among storage technologies, whose use is only justified in the areas of backup and archiving. However, tape is interesting from an economic point of view, and in terms of its low energy consumption, especially in view of constantly increasing data volumes and growing data centers. Using tape as a storage medium for modern applications in the fields of Big Data, IoT, AI and Machine Learning requires a specialized software solution that writes this data and especially the accumulating data volumes to tape with high performance values. This is exactly what PoINT Archival Gateway does: As a tape-based object storage, PoINT Archival Gateway enables the integration of tape storage system via a standardized cloud interface. Thus, PoINT Archival Gateway provides tape as a cost-efficient, energy-efficient and low-emission storage medium for those areas which are highly affected by the unabated data growth. Typical use cases are backup and archiving of large amounts of unstructured data from Big Data applications. For this, PoINT Archival Gateway provides functions which enable legally compliant archiving (e.g. compliance with retention periods, immutability of data) and protect the data against ransomware attacks. In the areas research, diagnostics and media, which generate largest amounts of data in shortest time, our software serves as a high-performance solution, which stores data in a cost-efficient and resource-saving way. As Independent Software Vendor located in Germany we offer a vendor-independent software solution which provides highest flexibility by using standardized interfaces and protocols.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Growing data volumes require more storage space – and storage systems consume energy for operation and cooling. Hard disks, which are mainly used for data storage in the fields of Big Data, AI and Machine Learning, cause a large part of the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of data centers. With PoINT Archival Gateway, companies can address this issue and reduce energy consumption through storage infrastructure. Relying mainly on hard disks for data storage does not make sense, neither from an ecological nor from an economical point of view. Our solution offers the possibility to use the particularly energy-efficient and low-emission storage technology tape for these large data volumes. Especially the data that is not needed immediately, but is to be stored for later evaluation, is kept well and "green" on tape: 1) Compared to hard disks, tape storage systems consume significantly less power during operation. 2) When storing on tape, the hardware generates hardly any waste heat. Only minimal energy is required for cooling. 3) Tapes can be stored easily and with less energy consumption compared to hard disks. SSDs, for example, can only be stored without power for a limited time; otherwise there is a risk of data loss. When stored dry at room temperature, tapes can last up to 30 years. 4) Finally, since hardware needs to be replaced less frequently when stored for long periods, there is less electronic waste. To use tape for storing data from Big Data applications, an intelligent software solution is required that integrates tape technology into the IT infrastructure. PoINT Archival Gateway provides the necessary interface and ensures fast and reliable data storage on tape. Thus, PoINT Archival Gateway contributes significantly to reducing the energy consumption and the emissions resulting from the operation of the storage infrastructure.
InfinityID
Startup
Digital Retail
Italy
Name of the digital solution
InfinityID LOGIC Software Platform
DESCRIPTION
InfinityID has developed LOGIC, a framework that contains a suite of applications to ensure rapid implementation of the most advanced technologies for the monitoring and traceability of products within the production and distribution chains. Available for desktop and mobile devices Logic has been designed with simple and intuitive interfaces to facilitate the work of operators and ensure an immediate transition to the digital world.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
InfinityID creates all-inclusive systems with RFID technology, which can be customized according to user specific needs. The offers include: a cutting-edge software platform; solutions for printing and encoding RFID labels at local or foreign manufacturers; technologically advanced anti-theft devices; antennas for scanning and reading short / long range labels, as well as a very wide range of RFID labels for every type of application. The solutions proposed allow to optimize business management, improving daily organization and operations and speeding up internal processes with significant savings in time and resources. InfinityID SW, "Logic" allows furthermore real time data collection, offering the customer an important tool in terms of BIG DATA ANALISYS and process/production KPI identification. The use of InfinityID products is highly intuitive and is aimed at an almost unlimited field of application. Thanks to the use of RFID technology it is possible to have a COMPLETE SUPPLY CHAIN TRACEABILITY through certified processes that guarantee the sustainability of production. Furthermore, by optimizing the warehouse and production processes, the reduction of waste is immediate.
SDT SYSTEMS
Startup
Electronics
Slovenia
Name of the digital solution
Smart toilet
DESCRIPTION
We tackled the challenge by implementing the SDT framework into teh toilet paper dispensers, thereby allowing cleaners to receive text notifications before the paper is used up. This way, they spend much less time making rounds. The vendor, on the other hand, retains complete control over the usage of said materials, along with the ability to manage new shipments at the supplier, which results in increase of revenue and decrease of logistics costs.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Smart toilet solution allows our clients to increase hygiene standart and decrease the environmental impact at the same time. And ofcourse save money on decreasing costs
Senstate Technologies SC
Startup
Digital Electronics
Bulgaria
Name of the digital solution
Environmental Technologies
DESCRIPTION
Environmental technologies for monitoring the advance in the net zero transition
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Providing next generation IoT solutions for environmental monitoring and for creating engagement in citizens for the sustainability challenges of the century.
Whitelibra
Startup
Digital
Italy
Name of the digital solution
Digital Work City
DESCRIPTION
DIGITAL WORK CITY is not only a digital match making platform but a co-platform, a structure that while it brings together the demand and supply of individual labor, also provides it with all the services and assistance that enable it to carry out this work. Like a co-robot or a co-AI, DIGITAL WORK CITY is not a technological infrastructure that is external to the work, but helps companies and people by providing them with all real time services they need. DIGITAL WORK CITY is not only a structure that collaborates in the performance of work, it is also the opportunity to enter a community: the network of workers that DIGITAL WORK CITY organizes and that society isolates and fragments, at the same time in which it requires efficiency. DIGITAL WORK CITY, therefore, is not only a machine for your work, nor only the opportunity for a professional growth built on the realization of your skills, but the chance to know and enter in a relationship – professional, personal and social – with companies and people who share your same and similar problems: therefore, an individual and collective growth.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
The platform's compensation and organizational system is designed to be more inclusive than traditional organizations; in fact, the collaborative, digital and social network dynamics allow for rapid entry and learning even for those workers who need upskilling and reskilling, perhaps several times during their careers thanks to rapid participation in practice groups and the combination of online training and work. Workers in less developed territories can also have access to data and information from distant companies by carrying out a kind of territorial cascading process by bringing those skills to their own territory. In fact, the platform collects information that is disseminated to users with great ease of use. Participation in group projects is also a great opportunity to learn from others . This rotation in different projects further enhances this micro-community learning effect.
aircnc
Startup
Digital
Italy
Name of the digital solution
aircnc
DESCRIPTION
Aircnc is a b2b web platform of crowdmanufacturing customized for SMEs: we sell, purchase and share working hours in metalworking industry. Aircnc is an innovative startup incubated and participated by Digital Magics Spa accelerated by The Hive and t2i. The founders and operating team share a metalworking background from different perspective ( CEO, logistics, IT, academic research, R&D, ... ) and aim to solve problems based on daily experience such as access to small production lots, machine saturation, quality assurance and protection in transactions from new suppliers.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Our solution avoids waste in SMEs operating in metalworking saturating their machines working hours and giving them a channel to reuse scrap and unused stock of materials.
Propizi
Startup
Aerospace Defence Digital Energy-Renewables
France
Name of the digital solution
Propizi
DESCRIPTION
Propizi is a proposal management software helping companies to eliminate the pain of answering RFPs. Through technology enablers like AI and data management, Propizi increases productivity, automates routine tasks and leverages data to create winning proposals faster.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
European Comission has shown in a recent study that there is a need to "improve the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in public procurement". Our solution therefore helps SMBs and startups to take part of public procurement, call for projects, calls for tenders, in Europe and in the world to increase their businesses and survive in these tough times.
Last Mile Team
Startup
Digital Mobility-Transport-Automotive Retail
Spain
Name of the digital solution
Digital Twins to improve city logistics sustainability
DESCRIPTION
An inclusive digital solution to help cities and companies design, implement and manage disruptive and sustainable urban goods distribution models, address their negative externalities, and achieve impactful results through Digital Twins. Without risk and with very low investment. Digital Twins can play a role in reducing urban freight transport activity, through improvements in vehicle load factors and by performing optimized vehicle journeys, which lead to reductions in the distance traveled per unit of product transported in urban areas. Supports experiment, evaluation, and fact-based decision-making about scheduled, same-day, and on-demand distribution operations, resulting in fairer, smarter, and greener urban logistics and last-mile delivery business models. Balances cities' and businesses' interests, customer convenience, and competitive dynamics while minimizing disruption and improving the Triple Bottom Line. At the core of our solutions are road transport-specific Artificial Intelligence algorithms plus an in-house developed, IP-registered, tech stack. Around the core are additional modules that build a 360º order to delivery applications capable to manage the daily operations optimization, tracking, tracing, managing in right-time and sharing information with all stakeholders. Implemented in Madrid from October 2021, preliminary results indicate a potential reduction of up to 30% in congestion and emissions, and up to 25% in transport and delivery costs of current vehicles, maximizing their utilization and minimizing kilometers run loaded and run-on-empty.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Best Startup, winner of the Mobility Challenge at #innovateagainstthevirus 2020, with our “Resilient Road Transport” initiative, for contributing to the improvement of transport and the safety of drivers in the performance of their work during the first waves of the pandemic. Winner of the Spanish National Mobility Award 2021 in the Product category, as a catalyst to the green and digital goods road transport twin transition, improving cities' liveability and contributing to achieving Green Deal and U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Case Study of Sustainability and Social Responsibility Good Practices in the European logistics and transport sector in 2021, by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). European Sustainable City Logistics Best Practice, by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Urban Mobility.
Last Mile Team
Startup
Digital Mobility-Transport-Automotive Retail
Spain
Name of the digital solution
Last Mile Digital Platform
DESCRIPTION
An adaptive, secure, and resilient digital solution to European road freight transport optimization, track, trace, right-time management, and information sharing with all stakeholders. Is applicable to long-haul, regional, and urban freight transport movements. Allows to quickly and seamlessly react upon natural or man-caused disruptions, minimizing the damage and shortening the recovery time while significantly reducing emissions. Enables building shared (collaborative) logistics networks, pooling all available resources from large enterprises, SMEs, public administration, or private individuals. Reduces energy consumption and emissions generated by over 20%, achieving operative gains through better utilization of current assets and other resources in the freight transport and logistics chain within Europe, without needing to renew the assets. At the core of our solutions are road transport-specific Artificial Intelligence algorithms plus an in-house developed, IP-registered, tech stack. Around the core are additional modules that build a 360º order to delivery applications capable to manage the daily operations optimization, tracking, tracing, managing in right-time and sharing information with all stakeholders.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Best Startup, winner of the Mobility Challenge at #innovateagainstthevirus 2020, with our “Resilient Road Transport” initiative, for contributing to the improvement of transport and the safety of drivers in the performance of their work during the first waves of the pandemic. Winner of the Spanish National Mobility Award 2021 in the Product category, as a catalyst to the green and digital goods road transport twin transition, improving cities' liveability and contributing to achieving Green Deal and U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Case Study of Sustainability and Social Responsibility Good Practices in the European logistics and transport sector in 2021, by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). European Sustainable City Logistics Best Practice, by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Urban Mobility.
The Climate Choice
Startup
Digital
Germany
Name of the digital solution
Climate Data Platform
DESCRIPTION
The Climate Data Platform is a combination of climate-focused ESG rating methodology and intelligent platform technology. The software tool provides validated data on suppliers‘ holistic climate maturity across key impact and risk dimensions: Governance, Strategy, Metrics and KPIs. The climate scores are entered into the data platform and can be used to collaborate with business partners on decarbonization strategies and to achieve transparent reporting and efficient climate management.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
The close collaboration with suppliers is the key success factor to ensuring alignment on emission reduction targets for scope 3. However, procurement and sustainablity teams face challenges like a wide distribution of suppliers or data availability and comparability, that hinder the collaboration for the reduction of scope 3 emissions. At THE CLIMATE CHOICE we provide the appropriate software platform and tools to standardize and streamline the acquisition and management of climate-related data from suppliers. Our software provides intelligence and guidance to engage suppliers on their climate strategy and reduction targets. BASELINE SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE Enabling to capture and manage comparable climate-related performance data and information from suppliers, while ensuring the data is audit-ready and compliant with regulatory standards. BENCHMARK FOR CLIMATE ALIGNMENT Obtaining benchmarks, year-to-year comparisons and actionable reporting through dashboards ensures ongoing controlling of engagement results, core KPIs and aggregated metrics. COLLABORATE ON DECARBONIZATION Provide your suppliers with insights and guidance on decarbonization best practices as well as industry- and customer-based benchmarking solutions for alignment across climate strategy, -data and -targets.
CloudGuide
SME
Cultural and Creative Industries Digital Tourism
Spain
Name of the digital solution
CloudGuide app and platform
DESCRIPTION
CloudGuide provides digital and audioguide services to the cultural and tourist sites internationally. It unites all the tourist attractions in a single app with official content, creating a long-lasting experience for the visitor and boosting engagement with the site. The visitor uses CloudGuide before the visit to make it easier to plan, during the visit to enjoy it and after the visit to make it more memorable. The tourist site gets an easy-to-implement tool to engage its visitors and get to know them better through statistics and to attract more visitors thanks to the network effect. We have worked with over 1000 sites in 26 countries including such great names as the Parks of Sintra, Atomium, English Heritage (uniting 400 sites around UK including the Stonehenge), the London Zoo, the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Spain, etc. Supported by the Spanish government, received the Seal of Excellence of the European Union, got a grant from Booking.com Booster for impact in tourism, Techstars ´18 Alumni.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
The CloudGuide app not only helps tackle environmental problems of the traditional touristic sector, replacing the printing of postcards, millions of flyers, institution maps and other information with one application, eliminating the energy cost and cleaning expenditure needed for classic audioguide devices, pushing the sector into a more sustainable road, but also solves social challenges by making art museums and touristic places an exciting part of the school trips and family vacations again by putting all information in everyone’s pocket and creating easily-absorbable knowledge, helping them learn while enjoy their travel. Making tourism easily accessible for everyone, educational, and sustainable fundamentally changes how the sector works, leading to qualitative and quantitative improvements in the way not only how they travel, but how they book accommodation, choose flights and spend their time. Furthermore, we can help accommodations connect their guests with the local communities and share the story of their area with them, dispersing the tourist masses from overcrowded spots (demassification and redistribution).
Easy Smart Grid GmbH
SME
Energy-Renewables
Germany
Name of the digital solution
Easy Smart Grid
DESCRIPTION
Our digital solution provides automated demand response of energy consumers to dynamic price signals. This allows to activate a large and growing population of potentially flexible assets (owned by end-customers, C&I or infrastructure operators) to provide low cost energy storage for the energy system. We call them "virtual batteries" that help use more volatile RE and less fossil. Beyond the reaction on price signals, and to satisfy the growing needs on the decentrality, dynamics and resilience of such prices signals, we also enable the local derivation of system-supportive price signals. We have successfully implemented this technology in a local energy community in Germany. Here it maximizes self-consumption of locally produced energy (mainly PV) by co-ordinating over 100 flexible assets, including CHP, heat pumps, EV chargers and household appliances (dishwashers, washing machines) to increase self-consumption rate from 50% (without) to 80%. Batteries might increase this rate further, yet at much lower ROI. This project has been recognized with the "Good Practice Award 2021" by the Renewables Grid Initiative (the jury included two DG ENER directors). The demo shows to what small scale of flexibilities (1kW region) the technology can economically be applied. Of course, its economic value is even higher in larger areas, diversified flex portfolios, and larger loads as exist in C&I and Infrastructure.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Our solution contributes to higher sustainability in three ways: First by reducing the necessary investments to provide the required energy storage for RE dominated (not controllable) PV and wind generation. Second by reducing grid extension investment by enabling more efficient use of given infrastructures. Third, by massive reduction of system operation complexity and cost if applied at larger scale It contributes to resilience in three ways: First, by enabling an energy system that "stabilizes itself (comment of a TSO employee) Second, by the decentral way of deriving price (i.e. control) signals that can be shieldet from large ICT infrastructures Third, by enabling decentral energy management that can be decoupled from larger system to avoid mutual infection in case of disturbance (cellular approach)
Learnence srl
SME
Digital Cultural and Creative Industries
Belgium
Name of the digital solution
EventsHub.eu
DESCRIPTION
Live here, virtual everywhere. EventsHub is the right digital platform to support your event, whether organised on site, in a hybrid format or completely virtual. EventsHub will allow you to make your event shine and build an active community over time.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Thanks to EventsHub.eu and Learnence.com's live video capture and broadcasting services, you can make your events available and participative all over the world! Less travel, less time wasted, an event extended in time thanks to a loyal and committed community. Discover all the features here: https://eventshub.eu/features
QRC Eurosmart SA
SME
Aerospace Defence
Luxembourg
Name of the digital solution
Quantum resistant SIM & cryptography
DESCRIPTION
The cyber crime is already >30% of the world digital business (= trillions EUR!) and a part of (cyber) wars: We do provide NOW an immediate solution in software, plus an integrated protection into a SIM card. It is fully backwards-compatible with existing server hardware, just ‘plug & play'! Low CAPEX and friction are key words for our core technology, the patented (WIPO) quantum-resistant SIM card, now a good practice in ITU X.1811 & its companion eAES(R) software. We also offer secure, independent Aaameet.in & Aaameet.asia in response to the demand for a secure, friction-less Zoom alternative in India, Asia (minus Communist China) and the world. We also have an in-depth strategy and solutions for ransomware attacks and related cyber protections in digital devices (including military, insurance, banking, planes, vehicles etc.)
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
With existing production in Europe and the plan to produce principally in the EU (northern Italy with possible extension in France) secure chips integrating our QRCrypto technology, we will dramatically reduce foreign supply chain and thereby enable an autonomous, digitally secure Europe, now and post-quantum. Furthermore, from our headquarters in Luxembourg, we help shape European standards in line with the spirit of EC directives those implement, despite dramatic infiltration of certain Standards-defining organisations and bodies by companies and groups defending diametrically opposite interests. Likewise, we are among the early participants to the European Commission-initiated Alliance on Processors and Semiconductor Technologies, where we proposed our vision for a secure hardware-enabled digital Europe.
new
Startup
Digital
Spain
Name of the digital solution
AIRCO2
DESCRIPTION
Carbon net-zero altogether in Europe: AirCO2 is the first ever provider of the tools and the marketplace to connect SMEs interested in reaching net-zero with preexisting forest owners in Europe to monetize their environmental service. We accepts two different users in our platform: - SMEs: We give them real-time digital tools to calculate, reduce and offset their carbon footprint using big data, AI and open banking. Nowadays, this size companies are struggling as the market expects them to be greener but the other solutions are not cost efficient for them. -Forest owners: We receive their property information to both register it and control remotely using satellital data.
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Everybody talks about green economy, reaching net-zero... but the owners are excluded from the carbon market due to the actual definition of carbon sinks. We provide them a space to monetize their carbon capture so they get incentives to preserve their trees.
Smarthink
Startup
Cultural and Creative Industries Digital
Italy
Name of the digital solution
Edulai
DESCRIPTION
Edulai is a skills assessment Framework accessible via a platform that offers a service to corporate HR, recruiters and training institutions to measure and develop transversal, digital and smart working skills of candidates, workers and students. Edulai assessment system is flexible enough, to offer the possibility to always evaluate new skills based on business needs and to combine new and old skills together. It has scientific bases coming from the Social Science field, where skills are assessed "in practice" so in relation to concrete professional cases and contexts. Edulai presents also an Intelligent Library that suggests suitable resources for each user to improve skills, based on the assessment and based on the recommendations of the artificial intelligence engine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmES__c0pRQ ). Finally, a third important feature of the system which is still in Beta version, is to asses users' critical thinking and communication skills through the submission of a free written text. Critical thinking is nowadays a very important key skill required by employers since it is what basically differentiate human from machine and since workers who own this skill, are expected to bring innovation ad growth in the company
CONTRIBUTION TO EU’S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Our solution contributes to the sustainability and resilience of European Industry because it digitalizes the selection and the skills assessment and developmental process of workers and candidates, without requiring them to be physically present in specific environment and because it helps them to improve those same skills. In addition, our solution creates specific analytics on data collected on skills assessment, that are completely and fully accessible online by institutions and individuals, without the need to print them on paper. Another feature of our system provides in addition, access to an Intelligent Virtual library where individuals can access videos, podcasts, articles, wherever they are, whenever they can, without the need to print material on paper or without the need to be physically present in a specific place. The key added value or our solution is also related to the possibility for institutions and workers to identify skills gaps, their strengths and weaknesses and to improve them at the same time: this will strength the European Industry that will need to up-skill and re-skill their workers both on digital and soft skills in the very near future and will make workers more employable, resilient, ready to apply to new job and more ready for the market place. Using a tool like Edulai and its library is a strategy for making users more accustomed with digital tools and technologies especially for these same skills development. In addition, Edulai library use, is another example of resilience in developing digital skills not only when accessing and using the library but also when using its resources all available in digital format. The library in addition provides resources on how to develop skills in using different types of technologies. The library is in English version and so accessible anywhere in the world.
