ASC4INN - Alliance for Fostering Innovation in Education and Enterprises through Digitization of Agriculture Supply Chains

The ASC4INN project aims to develop innovative capability-building curricula and training tools for HE and VET in Digital Transformation Management of Agricultural Supply Chains (ASC), a sector of paramount importance for the entire EU. It is motivated by the increasing offering of digital technologies that challenge the agricultural supply chain managers in their endeavor to beat the competition, while addressing ESG goals. A consortium of experienced organizations (with 2 universities, 2 VET providers, 7 representatives of working life, and 1 EU-wide network) will carry on this project. Following a systematic needs analysis four disruptive deep techs has been selected for developing specialized courses taking into account not only their importance in the sector’s digital transformation, but also their direct impact on climate change, sustainability, and food safety (Automated robots and drones, Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain technologies, and Big data and advanced analytics). Moreover, the significant investment costs related to these technologies led us to include a fourth course (investment risk management) to help the trainees to answer questions not only on “what is this” and “how to use it”, but also on “is this feasible for my company”. An innovative learning methodology is proposed which apart from traditional blending learning tools would incorporate game-based learning integrated on the project’s central e- platform, virtual scenarios for showcasing the integration of the proposed courses in the digital SC context, an augmented reality experimentation system for hand-on training, and a modern accreditation scheme with micro-credentials and micro-pathways to tackle skill mismatches especially for VET students. The suitability and quality of the developed courses will be evaluated through intensive pilots in four countries, while further mobility activities have been designed to support transnational and multidisciplinary collaboration.