On the 19th and 20th October Advenio eAcademy participated in a two day Symposium organized by the Lab of New Technologies & Distance Learning at University of Ioannina, Greece. The event consisted of a series of Round Table discussions bringing together the Academia, SME organisations and entrepreneurs. The sessions dealt with Innovation, Entrepreneurship and ICT; Sustainability, Regional Development & Entrepreneurship; Education in entrepreneurship; and Study programs using ICT for Development and Training – connecting universities and society. A range of speakers from various Greek universities and organisations as well as speakers from Italy, Malta, Slovakia and the UK participated.
In his interventions Stephen D’Alessandro as the Executive Director of Advenio eAcademy spoke about the entrepreneurial challenges facing SMEs and the importance of upskilling entrepreneurs to deal with such challenges. He spoke about the need for a broader more internationalist approach to take advantage of the power of ecommerce and emerging technologies. He encouraged learners to explore the opportunities offered by Erasmus+ to provide mobility and international learning experiences to students. He spoke briefly on the ARPEL Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship funded by Erasmus+ which was being implemented by the consortium of HEIs that included University of Ioannina, Advenio eAcademy, University of Bari, University of Zilina and Vilnius University. This programme included a number of full scholarships and provided learners with an internationalist approach to the development of entrepreneurial skills and competences.
He then spoke about the importance of NGOs adopting an entrepreneurial approach within voluntary sector and focusing on programmes that added value within a context of improved standards of corporate governance and transparency. He introduced another Erasmus+ project that was led by Advenio eAcademy, the Level 5 undergraduate higher diploma in NGO Management for which a number of full scholarships were available. This programme provided opportunities for executives and decision makers within the NGO sector to upgrade their skills and get familiar with best practices within each of the core areas of operations. HEI partners on this project along with Advenio eAcademy are the University of Ioannina – Greece, University Polytechnic Delle Marche – Italy, Bogazici University – Turkey.
