DIGITAL MERIT

Mastering Smart, Secure, Interconnected Systems

About MERIT

Helping to boost digitalisation in Europe!

Vision

Dedication to the development of the latest advanced digital skills for boosting the global economy and prosperity.

Support learning experiences and enjoyable growth by emphasizing personalized and adaptive learning.

Contribution to future technologies and innovations via participation in multidisciplinary and multicultural activities.

Generating synergies by collaborating with different partners and exchanging the most advanced knowledge and resources.

Challenges

Currently, the existing education system is not capable of boosting the digital skill level. Modern master study programs are needed to increase the number of experts in the area of advanced digital skills.

The statistical figures show that two fifths of the EU workforce have limited or no digital skills. This complicates the fast transformation of the economy and digital innovations cannot be fully exploited in industry as well as in daily life.

Society edification and life-long learning programs are also needed to support requalification and upskilling of the existing working force.

Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which summarizes relevant indicators of Europe’s digital performance and determines the evolution of EU Member States in the area of digital competitiveness, indicates a lack of digital skills, both in industry and society.

At the same time the education programs must be aligned with the industry needs, therefore a close collaboration between different institutions (higher education schools, research centres, SME, Digital innovation hubs, etc.) is needed to develop the transferable digital skills.

Impact

MERIT project aims to reach these objectives:

• Increase the reputation of consortium universities, as leaders in AI, IoT and cybersecurity areas, thus becoming a close-by expert to the society and industry of digital competencies.

• Update the teaching staff skills through knowledge and synergy received from the collaboration of different stakeholders.

• Stimulate the growth of advanced digital skills in Europe by attracting additional target groups to choose AI, IoT and Cybersecurity master studies or individual courses for an increase of gained skills.

• Increase the synergy with different stakeholders of the study program, establishing productive and long-lasting collaboration links, maintaining the current ones and extending the network by including new stakeholders.• Assure the visibility of the project activities, study program results and benefit of digital skills.• Resume the AI competency map for assurance of recent and demanded students’ skill development.

• Extend the potential of study program graduates by elaborating the learning outcomes built on the specialised and collaboration skills, needed by regional markets.

• Increase the master study program, training recognition for the development of advanced digital skills, by getting study program quality approval on a national level.

• Increase the course material accessibility, by applying recent learning material formats and environments.

• Enhance study quality monitoring, by adapting data-analytic based solutions, iterative quality estimation and improvement methodologies.

• Assure student-centred learning experience in targeted advanced digital skills by using recent and user-oriented learning methods.

• Increase students collaboration skills in international and interdisciplinary teams.

• Assure fluent integration of students to the market or to a future research career.