“AuToMa - Automation, Technology transfer and Managerial practices for the growth of SMEs, a better employability and the promotion of the entrepreneurship” project will effectively contribute to the development of high professional skills with specific regard to the fields of automation, innovation and technology transfer and sharing them at national and European level. AuToMa will develop an innovative and open training approach, including two specific learning paths (one more technical and another one more managerial), several advanced tools and will be focused on specific target groups: future entrepreneurs and students who want to develop business in manufacturing sector; entrepreneurs and employees of SMEs who want to improve their qualification or re-qualify, as well as unemployed people who want to gain initial competences; universities, research centres and VET trainers that want to improve or update their learning curricula.

Continuous innovation has become a key factor in the global competition in order to acquire the additional factors of production and the new value adding processes, which are essential to keep a sustainable economy. Innovation and technological development in manufacturing automation, whereas on the one hand require changing operational processes and organizational modalities of work, further changing staff requirements for employees and companies, on the other hand can help to create next-generation of enterprises, able to develop competitive solutions and innovative products. At the same time with innovative manufacturing approaches and methods, can born new professions, new knowledge and skills that will be more and more required to employees, managers and trainers.

The ability to produce, manage and perform innovation requires not only scientific and technological knowledge and abilities, but also organizational, managerial, and marketing skills. In this context, it is central to have innovative learning curricula for use of state-of-the-art technologies and this aspect demands to SMEs highly qualified staff.

AuToMa project addresses the problem of low and incongruous qualification of students and staff employed in SMEs in terms of automation systems and new technologies. It will give also to employed, unemployed and people that need to be requalified, more opportunities to find a job at national and EU labour markets.

These aspects take in account of the role of the lifelong learning in EU (Lisbon Strategy and Europe 2020 Strategy) and will have a strong impact on the international co-operation in the areas of automation, technology transfer and managerial practices. It will give also the possibility to remove the obstacles and the limits of traditional learning and training activities of EU organizations, also not directly linked with the automation, technology transfer and managerial topics.

Other beneficiaries will be industrial organizations (at local regional, national and European levels) that work on induced activities and public organizations that want to understand how to finance or support manufacturing SMEs or entrepreneurship in general.

The European countries involved in the project are: Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Bulgaria (involving 5 Partners, all of them having relevant experience in these sectors and also in developing transnational projects: 2 universities, 1 public research centre and 2 private companies).