Project description
Novel scaleable hybrid AI skills for the European retail
Advances in technology, methodologies, retailer practices and consumer behaviours since the COVID pandemic have compelled retailers to adopt a digital transition to remain competitive. However, European micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been slow to embrace this transition, with fewer than 75 % of companies in Europe incorporating widely utilised AI technology. A hindrance to this shift is the lack of a qualified and skilled workforce. The EU-funded INAIR project seeks to address this challenge by creating an innovative skills development program focused on scaleable hybrid AI skills. Through comprehensive testing and the identification of skill gaps and needs, the project aims to finalise and offer its programme to assist retailers in overcoming the barriers to AI adoption and fostering a digitally savvy workforce.
Objective
Technological advancements and changes in consumer behaviours after COVID-19 require retailers to accelerate their digital transformation to deliver differentiated consumer experiences and interactions. Nevertheless, the adoption rate of key digital technologies, such as AI, by MSMEs remains significantly low in the EU (DESI 2022), positioning the Union far from the Digital Decade target of 75%+ European companies adopting AI technologies by 2030. In most of the countries represented in the consortium, the AI adoption rate does not even reach the EU average. The European wholesale and retail trade sector is the 3rd to last in the EU regarding the adoption rate of AI technologies. A lack of a skilled workforce to adopt the integration of AI in retail hinders not only market growth in the EU and represents a significant risk for European SMEs of falling behind their global competitors and missing out on significant opportunities for growth and efficiency, and for making companies greener. In this context, the INAIR project proposal aims to reduce the AI skills gap of European MSMEs in Retail, to let them exploit the potential of AI for greening their businesses, support their competitiveness in the global market and ultimately contribute to reaching the digital decade target of 75%+ European companies adopting AI technologies by 2030. To achieve its aim, over 30 months, the consortium will:
-Identify AI skills needs and gaps for MSMEs in retail in CY, DE, IT, PL and RO;
-Devise, test and implement a scalable hybrid AI skills development program to re-/up-skill at least 150 owners and employees of MSMEs working in retail;
-Develop teaching and training resources to support VET providers in integrating the project resources and tools into their work.
Key results: AI Skill Needs & Gaps Analysis in retail; AI Core Curriculum, Skills Assessment Tool and Open Educational Resources for workers and owners of micro, small and medium-sized retailers; eLearning Environment.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsmicroeconomics
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemployment
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce
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Programme(s)
- HORIZON.2.4 - Digital, Industry and Space Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support ActionsCoordinator
81100 CASERTA
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.