The “Youth and Industry 4.0” campaign, which begins at the end of January, is very rich in various topics and their emphasis. Accordingly, the final results depend on which topics will be the main ones in the program of roundtable discussions in the regions. At the same time, these topics are not completely new, nor are the approaches to discussions – we have been conducting this practice on the Industry4Ukraine platform since 2018. So, what should we take from the past experience in these new EU Industry weeks – the publication emphasizes the most important things.

Context profiling – detailing the topics of discussion

Detailing the topics – subtopics and their selection for discussion at the roundtables – is indeed a key point in determining the event program. The final list of these topics depends primarily on the preparation of the organizers, where preliminary discussions are crucial.

The list below is based on the style of decomposition that is universal for such events: from discussing challenges to solving them by demonstrating specific solutions

  1. So, as a basis and start of the discussions, we take the challenges already mentioned in the announcement of the campaign and its concept. These are. 1) the outflow of personnel and young people from industry, 2) the poor level of training of young specialists in accordance with the requirements of the 4PD, 3) the low efficiency of industrialists’ competitive strategies in counteracting these phenomena.” These formulations “did not fall from the sky” but are the result of numerous analytical works, discussions and debates in the previous years in the Industry 4.0 movement and the APPAU. Consolidation of the campaign participants around the formulation of these challenges, their disclosure, fixing the reasons, supplementing and expanding them is obviously the block No. 1 of the event discussions.
  2. Facts and statistics in this area of research are important at the outset – they should show how serious (significant) these challenges are, how they are understood by different categories of stakeholders, and what actions and reactions to them are already present in the market. Accordingly, to this end, two surveys are being launched on January 24 – for young people and for employers – to provide a more accurate and possibly broader picture of the situation. At the same time, one should not rely only on online surveys – as a rule, they are useful for capturing and clarifying general trends. The depth and attitudes of stakeholders are revealed much more in personal interviews and analytical papers. Therefore, it is important for organizers to plan these activities before the roundtables.
  3. One of the joint initiatives in this analysis has also already been formed – a working group of 5+ universities has the task to analyze the state of European policies on Skilling, Reskilling and Upskilling, compare it with our state, and will start its work on January 25. “Where we are and where the EU (developed countries) are” is a traditional theme of our Industry 4.0 campaigns, and the benchmarks that are being formed are important for finding benchmarks and goals for the final stage. In particular, we will have a demonstration of the work of the National Qualifications Agency, which is implementing the 1st important project on new specialties in the field of agriculture.
  4. Studying and demonstrating the best Ukrainian experience is another important topic, and one that has become a tradition in our events. Generalizing somewhat, one does not need to be a prophet to predict that we are lagging behind developed countries in most topics in this campaign. Instead, demonstration of the best domestic practices is essential for coverage – these are the things that motivate, inspire and guide our audience. Therefore, the search for them and the involvement of the carriers of these practices should begin from day 1 of the campaign. Actually, we have already started this at the APPAU level, and several large industrial groups and partners – industry associations – have already accepted our invitation, more details later. What should also be part of the campaign is the disclosure of the IT industry’s experience, as we see its leadership in youth engagement and training programs.
  5. In the analysis and coverage of European educational and training programs policies, as well as in the demonstration of our best practices, there is a topic of retraining and requalification (p.3 and p.4), and a separate item is the coverage of our university and college programs. We know that many universities and colleges have introduced new programs that are directly related to Industry 4.0. Many of them participate in joint European programs. At the same time, the overall picture and the extent to which these programs are coordinated with industry employers, the extent to which these European projects are translated into Ukrainian reality, what is the feedback from business, etc. remains unclear.
  6. Demonstration of effective cooperation between key stakeholders – education and science, business, government and the expert community – is another topic that needs to be profiled. It would be great if these events demonstrated the next step in our version of smart specialization – namely, a demonstration (presentation) of specific plans and agreements between stakeholders for 2022. That is, “just talking” once again about pressing issues within the framework of the European Industrial Days was possible in 2018. In 2022, after all the numerous consolidation measures that we have already had in the regions of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, and obviously others, it is time to demonstrate concrete agreements and projects. This will be a challenge for the authorities, because they will have to say something more than “we support”. “How exactly do you respond to challenges and how do you support cluster and other business initiatives?” – this question should be on the agenda of roundtables.
  7. Finally, demonstrating cooperation at the level of central executive agencies, primarily the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, is another topic of our discussions, and it is especially important for the final conference on March 3. Invitations to join the campaign have been sent to them, but the choice of topics to be discussed here is subject to discussion, as many of our co-organizers from business and clusters have their own contacts and plans with them.

Past achievements – continuity and a step forward

There are a lot of developments of the previous period on the Industry4Ukraine platform. From the smart specialization model, the cluster development program, export – internationalization programs, the development of 4.0 Centers, to more local initiatives such as the creation of regional Industry 4.0 landscapes… – each of these initiatives has points of contact with the planned campaign. Accordingly, event organizers should build on these developments, take the best of them, and not “start from scratch” or pretend that nothing has happened before. Even better is to take a step forward on those initiatives that were raised in previous years but did not receive proper development dynamics. These include

  • Creation of regional Industry 4.0 landscapes (Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia): in the context of the campaign theme, the issues of accounting for I4.0 innovations by universities and the development of youth startups for industrial high-tech are particularly interesting here.
  • Finalizing medium-term cluster development projects: such attempts were made in all regions where IAM clusters operate, but no specific agreements with local authorities on their support were made.
  • Holding regular technology and innovation days: in 2022, we see only 1 such event planned – in Kyiv, and that is thanks to the BOWI project. What about other regions?

This list can be extended, but once again, the point is to take the best of the past period, which is relevant to the campaign’s themes, and bring these initiatives to a new level.

What not to include in the discussion program

The topics above are recommendations on what should be discussed and included in the roundtable programs. However, there are also things that we, on behalf of the Industry4Ukraine platform, do not recommend discussing as part of this campaign

  • “Training and attracting workers in traditional specialties” is a welcome topic, but it is important what exactly will be discussed. We are primarily interested in new specialties. That is, the discussion of curricula for training welders in vocational colleges is certainly important. But not for our campaign! In this example, we are much more interested in the availability of training programs for operators of welding robotic systems. That is, the second word in the name of our company – “Youth and Industry 4.0” – is the key to deciding whether to include it in the program.
  • We have to be careful with the focus on IT sector programs. I mean, of course, we know that they are far ahead of us and we need to better formulate all the theses of “IT as a benchmark” together. But it makes no sense to detail training programs exclusively for the IT sector when we are talking about industry. Just like in the example above, the relevance of the topic and discourse is the key to whether to include it in the program or not. And to determine “relevant or not,” each speaker should first of all look at the challenges, i.e., the problems of the market. As an example, demonstrating an IT program at University X without mentioning industrialists as key stakeholders only reinforces the impression and perception that the IT industry is isolated, self-centered, and therefore irrelevant to the campaign’s objectives. On the contrary, we are looking for examples when IT education is aimed at and leads to better competitive positions of industrial actors or other real sectors of the economy in this country. For example, the case of educational programs of Progresstech Ukraine together with KPI is very interesting for consideration in the campaign. There is no doubt that these programs generally strengthen our potential, expertise, and the quality of training in the field of aircraft construction. But how does this strengthen the domestic potential of this industry (Progresstech is essentially a Boeing center of expertise)? The preliminary analysis and answer to this question will determine whether we invite Progresstech Ukraine to participate in the event or not. We are interested in the impact of such programs not only for end customers in the United States, but also in dozens of companies in this industry in Ukraine. Instead, the example of Mykolaiv-based MDEM, which is also a branch of the Dutch DAMEN, is definitely relevant, as it has become a key actor in the Ukrainian Maritime Cluster and widely promotes the best European practices among domestic SMEs in shipbuilding. We need such examples. Also, the universities that are part of our community have a number of joint developments in educational programs with large international vendors such as Siemens, Schneider Electric, Festo and others, which are leaders in the Ukrainian market and are definitely in demand among domestic employers. Obviously, these things are worth demonstrating, but when they relate to new skills in Industry 4.0.
  • Examples of university or other programs involving the EU in the field of Industry 4.0, but which are still not connected to Ukrainian employers. By “linking” we mean bringing them to the interests of specific businesses and domestic employers. Today, we can name a dozen similar programs called Industry 4.0, and when we ask universities “where is the Ukrainian employer here?” there is no answer. In other words, these roundtables are a great opportunity to find this answer and communicate the benefits of such programs.

Areas of action and coordination

As usual, in order to reach consensus on a set of similar issues, we are going through several iterations. Therefore, in order to prepare a high-quality program of roundtables, regional co-organizers and their partners are recommended to

  • Participate in joint meetings and a general webinar scheduled for January 25 and 28, respectively.
  • Coordinate your plan (reg. level) with the involved partners based on the basic expectations, which formulate the goals and objectives of each event.
  • As a first step in local coordination, join in the distribution of surveys and engagement of target audiences (starting on January 24). After that, it is necessary to hold separate internal discussions to determine our own topics and event programs, agree on additional preparation activities (for example, interviews or meetings with HR and heads of leading companies in the region).
  • Invite relevant speakers – agree with them on the issues of speeches and discussions
  • Include representatives in the Reskilling – Upskilling WG
  • By mutual agreement, find budgets to support individual events, such as videos (for example, a series of interviews with students or employers).
  • Clusters of co-organizers of the campaign should prepare joint and pre-agreed action plans or projects with the most mature stakeholders, such as RSAs and universities, for the demonstration. Roundtables are a good opportunity to sign memorandums of cooperation, which may already contain such plans.

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